Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

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narrowcaster
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Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by narrowcaster » Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:31 pm

I just got a Sub 37, and am really happy with it. The only thing I'm wondering is whether it's possible to set it to ignore play/stop messages but still be synced to external MIDI clock? I'm using a Roland TR-8 as the master clock for my whole setup, but it's driving me nuts not being able to independently start/stop the drum machine without having the Sub 37 arpeggiator also start/stop along with it. From going over the menus I suspect there isn't a workaround right now, but I thought I'd ask anyway. Any advice would be great, thanks...

dhocks76
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by dhocks76 » Fri Feb 06, 2015 5:24 am

If you turn of 'latch' in the arpeggiator section it should not be playing..
At least it does not with my setup (connected to Tempest with midi din plug)

Daan

narrowcaster
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by narrowcaster » Fri Feb 06, 2015 7:16 am

Thanks Daan, but that doesn't quite get at what I'm asking. Picture this scenario: I've got a latched sequence playing on the Sub 37, and a pattern playing on the drum machine, and I want to stop the drum machine but have the Sub 37 sequence keep going. Right now, I can't find a way to do that because when I press 'stop' on the drum machine the Sub 37 sequencer also stops without me touching anything on the synth, in response to the MIDI 'stop' message sent out by the drum machine. The only way I can see right now to get around it would be to use something else as my master MIDI clock (likely the Sub 37 itself), but I'd rather keep using the drum machine because it's very convenient and that's how everything's set right now.

This is only a problem in a situation where you're doing a fair bit of live jamming based around switching sequences in and out on different machines, but it would be nice if there was a way to make it work. I know that some MIDI gear has a setting to ignore external play/stop messages while still remaining synced to external MIDI clock, which is why I asked if a similar facility exists on the Sub 37.

klfnk
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by klfnk » Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:22 am

Hi,

You write " I want to stop the drum machine but have the Sub 37 sequence keep going"
Unless I'm mistaking you use the drum machine as your main midi-clock, right?
In that case this is normal behavior for any midi instrument, because by stopping the drummachine the masterclock stops as well.

What you could try is create a blank pattern on your drum machine and trigger that.
This way you keep midi clock running to any external gear/instruments and do not hear the drums.

Cheers
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narrowcaster
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by narrowcaster » Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:26 am

Thanks klfnk -- I didn't know that. What's weird is that the TR-8 seems to send clock when it's first turned on even if I haven't pressed play. But then once I've pressed play the first time, the clock toggles on and off as you describe.

Oh well, I guess that means my options are to see if the TR-8 has a mode to send clock all the time regardless of play/stop (probably not), or to use something else as my clock.

Will the Sub 37 send clock all the time regardless of whether the Arp is playing? Or is clock output from the Sub 37 connected to play/stop on the Arp, like it is on the drum machine?

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araucaria
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by araucaria » Fri Feb 06, 2015 11:13 am

narrowcaster wrote: Will the Sub 37 send clock all the time regardless of whether the Arp is playing? Or is clock output from the Sub 37 connected to play/stop on the Arp, like it is on the drum machine?
Fresh & happy Sub 37 owner here :)

Firmware 1.0.7 introduces global menu item 2.5 where you can set send clock to OFF / ARP / ON. OFF never sends clock, ARP only when the arp is on, and ON will always send clock. Previously the behaviour was the same as the ARP setting.

dhocks76
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by dhocks76 » Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:24 pm

not shure about the continuous clock output of the sub37, but I would not have the Sub37 as my master clock. Somehow it feels more natural to have your drum computer as the master clock. However, is it a feasible option to mute the TR-8, or as the post before mentioned switch to blank preset?
That sounds like the way to go.

D

kvitekp
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by kvitekp » Fri Feb 06, 2015 2:33 pm

Many sequencers and drum machines send clock while being stopped: this allows other devices down the chain to measure the incoming clock frequency and generate their internal clock which may have higher frequency than 24PPQN MIDI Clock standard.

Starting/stopping sequencer/arp in response to incoming MIDI Start/Stop messages is standard behavior, I don't think one can expect an option to prevent this behavior. It looks like your best option is to find a device that would filter out MIDI Start/Stop messages before Sub37 sees them. You may want to look at Mutable Instruments MIDIpal (http://mutable-instruments.net/midipal) -- i'm not sure if it does what you need though, but it's a good start. Maybe you can use MIDIpal as the clock source (it's super stable!) and set you TR8 to be a slave, in which case it will not send MIDI Start/Stop messages that bother your Sub37.

/Peter
www.midisizer.com - home of MidiALF MIDI/CV step sequencer, MidiREX MIDI Looper and more synth DIY stuff...

narrowcaster
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Re: Sub 37: Ignore play/stop possible?

Post by narrowcaster » Sat Feb 07, 2015 11:37 am

Thanks again for all the replies. On digging a bit deeper, it seems that the TR-8 definitely does keep sending clock even when stopped, so what I'm experiencing has to do with the Sub 37 start/stop being slaved to the TR-8 start/stop.

Ironically, it looks like the only piece of gear I have that has a mode for syncing to external clock but ignoring external start/stop messages is the TR-8 itself! This would be nice to have on the Sub 37 as well, but it's a minor thing. Still a stunning synth...

So I guess I'll start using the Sub 37 as my master clock in ON mode, which will take some getting used to but should work fine.

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