Here is my idea to use MIDI clock from Ableton to sync multiple devices: GB, GBA, Beatmachine, etc...Just want to make sure, will this work or am I missing something?
Last edited by dapperwrench (May 29, 2015 5:50 pm)
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Los Angeles, CA
It's a little bit more complicated than "wire splicing" You'll need an arduinoboy to send midi clock to a gameboy. Good news though! You can just plug a midi cable into anything else that accepts clock sync..
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Detroit, Michigan
I've been thinking about a potential daw setup, I'm just conflicted a bit. Is there any way to have a Daw send a midi clock and then press start on lsdj and have it wait for the next bar to start up? Or would I still have to rely on beat matching for this?
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Mrwimmer wrote:
It's a little bit more complicated than "wire splicing" You'll need an arduinoboy to send midi clock to a gameboy. Good news though! You can just plug a midi cable into anything else that accepts clock sync..
Can't I just use the DAW clock to send to the gameboy?
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Los Angeles, CA
snesei wrote:
I've been thinking about a potential daw setup, I'm just conflicted a bit. Is there any way to have a Daw send a midi clock and then press start on lsdj and have it wait for the next bar to start up? Or would I still have to rely on beat matching for this?
Yes? I think that's what the syncmap mode is for, but I might be crazy.
dapperwrench wrote:
Can't I just use the DAW clock to send to the gameboy?
No. Sadly, Ableton doesn't send straight up gameboy serial information, so you need an intermediary (an arduinoboy) to "translate" between the two.
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Mrwimmer wrote:
snesei wrote:I've been thinking about a potential daw setup, I'm just conflicted a bit. Is there any way to have a Daw send a midi clock and then press start on lsdj and have it wait for the next bar to start up? Or would I still have to rely on beat matching for this?
Yes? I think that's what the syncmap mode is for, but I might be crazy.
dapperwrench wrote:Can't I just use the DAW clock to send to the gameboy?
No. Sadly, Ableton doesn't send straight up gameboy serial information, so you need an intermediary (an arduinoboy) to "translate" between the two.
Ah I think I gotcha now. So I need an Arduinoboy to convert MIDI data to gameboy serial data instead of wire splicing. Has a version of this build ever been done for multiple gameboys/devices? I am thinking I could use one MIDI in on the Arduinoboy for the Ableton Clock and maybe 4 MIDI outs on the Arduinoboy to sync a bunch of devices to it. Basically I just want an easy expandable design to be able to sync up more than just two gameboys/beatmachines/whatever.
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Los Angeles, CA
There have been Aboys that can sync multiple devices, yes, but to my knowledge, there have not been any that accept multiple midi INs. You'd still want a midi THRU box like you have in your drawing to sync anything that isn't a gameboy.
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dapperwrench wrote:
I am thinking I could use one MIDI in on the Arduinoboy for the Ableton Clock and maybe 4 MIDI outs on the Arduinoboy to sync a bunch of devices to it. Basically I just want an easy expandable design to be able to sync up more than just two gameboys/beatmachines/whatever.
That should be possible with Arduinoboy or the nanoloop USB-MIDI (which is much like Arduinoboy but for MIDI via USB). Once you have a Game Boy compatible signal, it should work for multiple devices with properly spliced wires.
The volca needs to be synced separately though because it requires MIDI or analog clock (in that odd 1-clock-per-2-steps scheme).
dapperwrench wrote:
maybe 4 MIDI outs on the Arduinoboy
What comes out of the Aboy or the nanoloop USB-MIDI adaptor is not MIDI but SPI, depending on the setting: In MIDI mode, it forwards the MIDI data in Game Boy serial format (SPI). In sync mode, it filters MIDI clock signals and converts them into analog clock on the data wire (for nanoloop) and SPI-bit-clock on the clock wire (for LSDj).
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cool i got an arduino coming from amazon and will play around with this stuff soon. will keep you guys posted
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It lives!!!!
Ableton (master for tempo speed, stop, start) > Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB 2.0 Audio Interface (Midi Out) > ArduinoBoy > Nanoloop
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Michigan
snesei wrote:
I've been thinking about a potential daw setup, I'm just conflicted a bit. Is there any way to have a Daw send a midi clock and then press start on lsdj and have it wait for the next bar to start up? Or would I still have to rely on beat matching for this?
i think the latest version of lsdj has special commands that do this now. like Yxx and Zxx or something? I could be wrong.