sync the midiclock to DAW or dj software

[erikParticipant]

hi there,

I’ve been tweaking with the new firmware and having a blast. but i haven’t found a way to sync up the sequencer with either ableton or traktor. the tips in the manual about shifting the midi clock delay to negative 1 also didn’t work. i’m using a UMONE roland midi to usb to convert the midi clock. any tips?

[AndrewParticipant]

I have set mine up so Ableton sends midi sync to the BCR. (Remember to turn on the midi ports midi sync in Abletons midi settings)

Just make sure on the BCR Seq you set midi clock to external.

Works fine for me.

[ChristianKeymaster]

hi! ok it should work like this: on zaquencer set “clock” in global menu to “ext” (on encoder 2 in the topmost row).
then make sure that your software sends the clock on the correct midi port. does the green “in” LED light up on the BCR?

the negative 1ms delay described in the manual was meant for triggering patterns from midi CC, not for syncing to an external clock (although you might have to adjust the midi driver delay in your DAW settings).

[TheodorParticipant]

On the same subject, and forgive my hi-jacking of the OP….

@Andrew: Are you experiencing a bit of jittering (loose timing) when Zaquencer is “slaved” to Ableton Live. Here, internal clock seems to be “tighter” than the external one with a clock division of 16steps and all steps active.

Perhaps my cheapo USB-to-MIDI interface is the culprit?

ALSO: specifically, for Ableton Live compensation of the natural “latency” can be achieved by setting a negative delay value in the settings of Ableton Live’s midi clock output. Hope this helps anyone else dealing with the same set up.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by  Theodor.

[ZymosParticipant]

I’m syncing to Ableton also, and it seems pretty tight. I have beats playing on a Korg M3 that is also synced to Live’s clock, and am not hearing any drift even after 10 or 15 minutes.

[ChristianKeymaster]

Hi Theodor,
we´ve done quite a few measurements on Midi clock jitter and found that cheap USB-Midi Interfaces may introduce random delays (jitter) of up to 20 ms, which is a lot.

With a good Midi Interface, the syncing to external clock should be as tight as on internal clock.

Cheers!

[TheodorParticipant]

Aaaah thanks a bunch! I know its not of your responsibility, but if you or any other member has any recommendations for a reliable one, Im all ears. Truth is, I have 2 BCR units, and one of em has the built-in USB to midi interface broken so I am already using the cheapo one I have with my “factory” BCR so I was planning on getting a second one for the ZAQ BCR anyway. So, a recommendation will come in handy!

Thanks again!

[ChristianKeymaster]

I would love to give you a recommendation for a reasonably priced USB Midi Interface, but I´m afraid we don´t have too much experiences with isolated USB-Midi devices. We always used the RME Fireface 400 + 800 Midi Interfaces for our high-end tests but that´s most likely a bit overkill.

Maybe the other members can chime in with their experiences?

[ZymosParticipant]

I’m using the MIDI on my Presonus Firebox.

I have a cheapo USB MIDI cable, which works OK but of course I’m not going to recommend that if you already might be having MIDI problems.

I also have an iConnectMIDI 2+, but haven’t even hooked it up directly to the BCR.

[erikParticipant]

Thank you for all the info, still doing some tests with different midi options. Also tried the sound card option, using a audio 8 be still a midi delay of -43 ms. so i think there’s something else going on with my set up. will keep you posted.

[charlyParticipant]

hi there all.
I just bought the firmwave on a friends advice, but haven’t actually checked if this can do what i am looking for. I am trying to find a hands on solution to step edit ( and if possible more ) my jomox airbase99. Until now i was doing it on ableton.
Will this firmware + a BCR actually allow me to still have ableton as midi master, but then sequence and edit my jomox sounds and patterns from the BCR?
And if so probably stupid question, but what the best way to connect the midi. I work with a Fireface 400 + midi patch.
RME midi out > BCR Midi In // BCR midi Through > Airbase99 Midi in ?
Are decay or tuning or .. as well controllable from the BCR?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 12 months ago by  charly.

[ChristianKeymaster]

Hi charly,
yes what you ask is possible.
You can have ableton as master, send the clock to the Zaquencer and connect the Jomox to it´s outs to sequence it. The Midi connection you describe seems the way to go.

You need to map the Zaquencer´s and the Jomox´ drum notes to correspond to each other.
Please check out the getting started here (starting with “to create a drum track”):
https://zaqaudio.com/forums/topic/sticky-usage-getting-started

You have one velocity value per step (not per drum instrument), and can make it work similar to the accent on an 808.
You should be able to control the Jomox´ sound parameters with the CC lanes on the Zaquencer (2 per track). These are mapped from the Global Menu. If you only use one Zaquencer track for sequencing notes, you can use the CCs of the other tracks as well and route them to the same receiver (for a total of 8 CCs).

Let us know how you go!

[charlyParticipant]

wow ! thanks ‘Keymaster’ .
it seems you guys really have nailed something amazing here !
I thank you for the effort and the sharing, really great !
Picking the BCR tomorrow, will probably post an other massive THANK YOU then !!!
( and if i understand well, seems I am gonna go a 2nd one for some of my synth… )
Thanks a lot ! Really can’t wait to have some hands feeling on this Airbase.

[charlyParticipant]

Ok, not as simple as i had hoped.
I just assigned key number for each drums of the jomox aibase 99 to the BCR)but it doesn’t seem to catch :
Sequences\ cursor only moves when pressing play for the BCR, not when pressing play ableton. And no sound is coming out. Neither when pressing play from ableton or from BCR.

Few things i am un-sure of :
- couldn’t find where to edit the ”150ms delay between buffers” when transfering the new firmware. I just played the sysex to the machine. ( it went up no14, i authorsied and everything )
- I tried assigning drum midi keys to track 1 on the BCR, but then couldn’t edit the steps (it worked on BCR’s track 2 , but still no moving cursor when playing from ableton, nor any sound even from press play on BCR)
- i screened up and down the jomox manual, and found some midi infos that i might be of help, but i do not understand them fully – too technical.
I’m based in Berlin so had hoped to be able to find someone able to help me, but no one in my circles. I’m not sure what do do you now.

any possible help here?
here is the link of the jomox, maybe that can help someone to direct me.
http://www.jomox.de/upload/manuals/AirBase99_E.pdf

thanks by advance.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by  charly.
• This reply was modified 8 years, 11 months ago by  charly.

[ChristianKeymaster]

Ok, it seems your Zaquencer is still running on internal clock.
Go to Global and the turn encoder 2 until it says “etL” (external) in the display.
Press Global again to store the setting. This should make it respond to Abletons Start/Stop and clock. You cannot use Start/Stop on the Zaquencer in etL mode.

Secondly, please make sure to read this if you haven´t yet (starting with “to create a drum track”): https://zaqaudio.com/forums/topic/sticky-usage-getting-started

You need to match three things from the Zaquencer to the Jomox´s settings:
- Midi Notes of the individual drums
- Midi Channel of the track you´re using
- Midi Output A/B of the track you´re using

The trackmode needs to be set to “drum” (in Global Menu).
Also, the Track you´re using needs to be unmuted in the Mixer Menu
(Track 1 is the only unmuted by default, the others are muted).

Regarding your questions:
- 150ms delay is for safety, in many cases it might work with other settings. if it installed correctly with authorization etc you should be good to go.
- maybe in your example, only track 2 was in drum mode, and not track 1? but maybe then track 2 was still muted? did you see the Midi output light (A/B) blinking, when playing the sequence?

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