SUB37 / MIDI SYNC / External Clock

[nick71]

Hello,

I want to synchronise the SUB37 to my DAW (Ableton) via MIDI or USB. It works, BUT it is such a pain. . . :

with the Little Phatty you can set the MIDI Clock to external-clock, and the Arp/LFOs will be synced to the signal coming from my DAW. A global setting for all presets. Rather normal.

Not so with the SUB37.

To me, there seems to be no possibility to set the SUB37 in a global setting so, that is always the slave/receiver of the external clock.And all Arps/Seq and LFO of all presets run at the tempo of the external clock. I want to set an external clock as a global setting. Now it appears, I have to set/save the sync setting for every single preset. The only way around is to programe and save the Sync method. Why is there no global setting?

So have I overlooked a feature in the global setting? have I overseen an update (I have 1.07) ? do I have the wrong approach?
Is there no such global setting to set the SUB37 so, that is always the clock-slave?

I would sincerely appreciate ýour comments, opinions, help....

Best regards
Nick

[Corgy]

Hmm ... for me the global setting was that little sync button in the ARP/SEQ section. Why is it such a pain to push it down or store with the preset?

[nick71]

because you have to do it every single time you switch preset! It is a nuissance.

Also, it is not the way Midi-Machines function usually. Usually you have a global setting where you define which machine is master, which one is slave. MOOG should stick to theis tradition.

When I jam to a beat, and I want to try out different sounds, it realy intererrupts the flow. I need changes of sound fast. Of course if you only use it on its own, without a DAW , without a Band, it is no problem. But I jam with others/ and different people and set-ups. Somebody sets the clock, and all others go that one. I expect all presets to be synchronised- and not only the Ione I happen to have switched on. We dont realy need to discus the pros and cons of this feature. I just wish MOOG would just stick to the usual, logical and practical method! The way things have been done for more than 30 years . . .

[bujo]

Just save your presets with the arp/sync button ON, then you won't have to do it every single time you switch preset. To me it's very nice to have the option to have presets that are synced to the external clock and others that are not.

[nick71]

Hi Bujo, this is what I have bto do, but it doesnt make it any better. As I said, I just wish MOOG would stick to prinicples that have worked for 30 years.
To me it is no adequyte solution having to save the "Sync-Method" for every single preset. This has to be a choice within the global settings.

Also if I do save the sync the method, as you suggest, I have to hit the sync button again and save it if I decide not to sync to my DAW/external clock. Have to do it all again.

To me is realy uneccessary and akward not to have a global setting for the sync method. I dont understand MOOG at all, especailly not, as they had it all good in the SLIM PHATTY.....

[fwilleke]

I have the feeling that synching anything to a MIDI Clock is a matter of luck.

My setup is the Sub 37, a microKORG and a KORG Volca Beats that are chained with MIDI cables. If I use the Sub37 (which is first in the chain) as clock source, it works fine. If I put my MacBook before the Sub 37 and send a clock from Propellerhead Reason (using an M-Audio FastTrack interface), it works fine, too.

But if I use Ableton Live instead, getting a stable clock is close to impossible. Everytime I hit PLAY in Ableton, the clock has a different offset. Sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the first few beats are fine and then everything falls apart. It's weird. And I feel it has something to do with Ableton's MIDI implementation. Whatever settings I try in Ableton, they do change something, but they never make it work.

I tested the drum machine of a friend as clock source some days ago, synching all the devices and Ableton to that external clock. Worked fine, even Ableton was perfectly in sync. So I really think it's Ableton's fault (even though it's strange, since so many people are using that software successfully).

[MoogProg]

This has to be a choice within the global settings.

Sounds like Moog moved your cheese, man. Can be frustrating, but I think they got it right on this issue. Putting Ext MIDI Sync inside a Global Menu (off panel) would be an even larger hassle for someone like me, using a Sub37 in live situations. I engage and dis-engage the sync as needed, and per-preset. Some of my favorite textures come from free-floating arps, tempo controlled from the MOD Wheel.

Horses for Courses IMHO:
Slim = Studio Rack Machine
Sub37 = Live Performance Keyboard

[nick71]

Well what I am asking for doesnt interfere, with what you need. You can have both. As soon as you turn the Mod-Wheel/Arp-Speed then of course the SUB should respond to that and differ from the external clock. Why not? Does seem very simple. Anyhow for your setup it is fine to have it the way it is now. Fine. For me it is not. All I am asking for, is that MOOG stick to the way things have been done for over 30 years. To very basic MIDI Setup principles: Master/Slave, global setting.

[Corgy]

This has to be a choice within the global settings.

... I engage and dis-engage the sync as needed, and per-preset. Some of my favorite textures come from free-floating arps, ...

+1 same here. After OS 1.0.6. this works pretty good

[MoogProg]

Well what I am asking for doesnt interfere, with what you need. You can have both. As soon as you turn the Mod-Wheel/Arp-Speed then of course the SUB should respond to that and differ from the external clock. Why not? Does seem very simple. Anyhow for your setup it is fine to have it the way it is now. Fine. For me it is not. All I am asking for, is that MOOG stick to the way things have been done for over 30 years. To very basic MIDI Setup principles: Master/Slave, global setting.

^Not true (bold mine). Turning the Tempo knob with Ext Sync changes the division against the beat, not the tempo. So we get radically different results with sync engaged or disengaged, yet both highly desirable. Sorry to go against the grain of your wants in the Sub37. Just showing how it can be totally different for someone else. Must be tough to design something to be Right for Every Man, so "hat's off" to Moog, right?