Hi - I just did it 
Does anyone know anothe tracker that can be fully synced? Defmon (cool!) I read can be started via a signal. But no tempo changes or so.
cheers! M64
17 Oct 19, 2020 1:22 am
Topic: The first C64 tracker with external sync? :D !! (14 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
18 Oct 19, 2020 1:20 am
Re: Sid Wizard NEEDS more exposure! (45 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
SID-Wizard external sync
19 May 16, 2017 4:59 pm
Re: SID Wizard (w/ Kerberos) MIDI Sync - Is this possible? (34 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
Cyberic,
yeah it's awesome ! Wait for sound videos to come 8] haha
To your question: it is almost impossible to have a C64 tracker like SID-Wizard, or DEFMON as slave. When it should have "good" accuracy it's impossible. That is for technical reasons: on the C64 the sound creation is timed usually via the raster interrupt, and sound is produced while the screen is updated. Each advancement from screen to screen a line in a table (ie arps, filter, pulsewidth) can be handled. Also note on/off etc. happen at specific positions on the screen. (On multispeed tunes you have more than 1 interrupt at a screen). It is done this way because "that's how you do it on a C64",
(to do various things "simultaneously") and for the player routine to be able to be used in demos, games, anything else, what is typically raster timed. The music being played should not stop the game/demo while it produces sound. So it's moved in the screen buildup process. So any note can only start on a fixed (assuming 50Hz) 20ms slot - to begin with. Everything else happens in multiples of that time.
That's also the reason for the timing / BPM tables you find in the SID-Wizard documentation.
When in the process of building up the screen, you can't always check for a sync signal. But I can think of a player/tracker that uses another source of a sync. Like LSDJ then this tracker can not do anything else then. I can also think of hacking a player like that .... hmmmm ... maybe one that can handle SID-Wizard tunes .... but that would be quite a project 
!
So, not in the near future imho will there be a C64 tracker you can sync (properly) as slave to anything external. Not even talking about midi. But DEFMON should be more easy to "convert" imho. But I don't have the sources - if I have time I can try to reverse engineer the player routine and give it a try.
But I am more than happy I must say to have this SID-Wizard sync now, it solves almost all my problems
cheers, M64
20 May 16, 2017 2:10 pm
Re: C64 syncing question (6 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
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
21 May 16, 2017 11:37 am
Re: SID Wizard (w/ Kerberos) MIDI Sync - Is this possible? (34 replies, posted in Commodore Computers)
Hi all! I have struggled with syncing C64 sounds with other hardware (GameBoys/LSDJ/Nanoloop, Korg Volcas, ...) a long time. I also use the great Kerberos cart!
My ideal setup would sync SID-Wizard, but that seemed impossible unfortunately. And I don't want to use the C64 as a synthesizer - like it's easy via MIDI with cynthcart, station64 (ultra amazing!), ... but needs a MIDI sequencer. I want to have no Laptop or any PC or other MIDI sequencer. Just the "retro gear" so to say.
So to make it short: I made it!!!
Due to the open source of SID-Wizard (thank you hermit!!!) I modified SID-Wizard, restyled it, and added an analogue sync feature. Of course it means SID-Wizard must be the master.
But that is cool for me.
In this way I have now SID-Wizard, 2 GameBoy DMGs (LSDJ) and 3 Korg Volcas (bass, keys, sample) in sync - which is wayyys too much ! One C64 and one LSDJ make quite incredible sound togehter. This really is my dream setup!! And I can tracker everything
Also I have built a sync device - which is not necessary at all - but it allows me to have a delayed sync. That means I can adjust how many milliseconds the sync should be finetuned. Because in SID-Wizard - the first two frames do hardrestart usually, while LSDJ in this time alrready produces sound.
I plan to set up a page for that stuff ... stay tuned
cheers, M64