tearauth
Offline
UK

Just got my C64C out of the attic and it is still working great. Pretty nostalgic opening the box and having all those flashbacks from like 25 years ago when I used to play games on it at my granparents place

Apologies in advance if this has been asked before (I can imagine its a popular question), but im trying to gather the hardware and software for a basic chiptune setup and am curious about syncing. I'd like to have the tracker software on the c64 play in sync with my DMG running LSDJ. I am to understand that this should be possible with MSSIAH, which I'll need to buy online, and this should work if I run the DMG with an arduinoboy.

Ive done some searching online but I havent found anything that specifically answers this question in this scenario, are there any problems i'll run into? Any hardware im missing?

Comptroller
Offline
Edinburgh

As long as your arduinoboy does MIDI out, that's all you need to sync LSDJ & MSSIAH. However, I'm not sure MSSIAH is the best option these days, as it's pretty cumbersome to use.

If you're planning on composing on the C64 and syncing externally then you might be better tracking on SID-Wizard (http://csdb.dk/release/?id=131846) and syncing via HerMIDI or Kerberos cartridge (although the sync is still a work in progress - thread here: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/17070 … -possible/).

If you want to use the C64 as a sound module then you might consider Kerberos with Station64 (http://csdb.dk/release/?id=139930), though I haven't tried it personally. Kerberos even comes with a special MIDI version of Cynthcart pre-installed, which might do the job (http://www.frank-buss.de/kerberos/).

tearauth
Offline
UK

Thanks for the information, the sid-wizard/kerberos combination looks inviting, but there is the problem of waiting for the software to be built and ready. Is MSSIAH really that complicated? Ive mainly used goattracker so far to practise while waiting for the big payday

Comptroller
Offline
Edinburgh
tearauth wrote:

Thanks for the information, the sid-wizard/kerberos combination looks inviting, but there is the problem of waiting for the software to be built and ready. Is MSSIAH really that complicated? Ive mainly used goattracker so far to practise while waiting for the big payday

MSSIAH isn't that complicated, but it's awkward. For composing, the MSSIAH sequencer is less powerful and more fiddly than just using a tracker. For MIDI input usage, you have to navigate through multiple menus to set it up, and I seem to recall it doesn't handle CCs that well (it's been a while though).

scannerboy
Offline
Poland, Gdansk

Sorry for the shameless plug but can I propose defmon with my adapter?

Tumult
Offline
Horsetralia
scannerboy wrote:

Sorry for the shameless plug but can I propose defmon with my adapter?

Scannerboy's user-port adapter is awesome - I used it for a live gig a few weeks ago to sync my 2SID stuff in Prophet64 with two external Electribes - the set is here! (half of the set is 2SID output and electribe output, other tracks are Ableton)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHfWXjbGAq0

Also a quick vid of the actual user-port dongle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-UshY8eCrY

MARiO64
Offline
Austria

Hey! From what I understand, you want to use a tracker on the C64, and sync it to other trackers like LSDJ. I wanted it too for a long time, but there was nothing available. So I tried cynthcart, prophet64, mssiah and station64 on Kerberos.

Station64 imho is the most advanced and configurable synth you can get. It's awesome, but not a tracker.

Your best option so far is DEFMON with the new sync option.

Alternatively if you want to use SID-Wizard, I have just yesterday completed a prototype:
I modified SID-Wizard to output a sync signal, and whoop synced it to LSDJ. Works perfect!

I also noticed that it would be nice to have the sync adjustable:
I output the sync signal on the 1st frame. The first 2 frames are usually hardrestart. In the meantime LSDJ allready produces sound. I figured a delay of ca 30-60ms works wonders on the sync, which
I verified with 2 sharp kick-like instruments on SID-Wizard and LSDJ.
So I built a mini device that takes the SID-Wizard sync signal and outputs it delayed (configurable via +/- keys) showing the amount on a 7 segment display.

Summing it up: a kind of similar solution like  DEFMON sync + device is now existent also for SID-Wizard!

cheers, M64