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hi - new member here - seeking any detail that you guys might shed on the following vid:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WWmkIJTwM_Q

I have a collection of old kit that I'd like to sync like this using the archaic but reliable  "trig"/"pulse"/"gate" approach into either nanoloop or lsdj (pref both).

Looks like the user achieved it but was sketchy on the cable wiring - I've trawled around and found various  pin diagrams but I can't figure it out for a non midi/sync 24 approach.

It will be an 1/8 or 1/4 inch (mini or full jack) to gba or gb link cable - I've bought a few cables ready to experiment - any ideas on what the wiring should be?

One comment on the vid says he managed it but had ground noise issues...

Cheers !

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matt's mind

(just speculating)

i'm guessing this works because the rimshot is pseudo-squarish in its overall wave form (at least it has a sharp ramp and the volume falls back to 0v or at least below the threshold again before the next hit.  quick ADSR), and in this matter maybe acting like a 'clock'?  you can do this with a square wave LFO for example, or a 555 timer, or all sorts of things.  i mean, you can sync compatible software in the gameboy to external devices through the clock pin on the link port (or perhaps another depending on what the ROM is looking for), its just a matter of figuring out how you need to clock it.  depends on what the ROM is looking for, in some respect.

if you're hooking this up to a modular, or anything really, make sure you don't feed it more than 5V (the GB clock pin).  you could add a potentiometer and turn it up just enough to get it to sync on your signal, it doesn't have to go up the full 5V just above a trigger threshold and the pot would help out just in case the signal is over 5V

hope that makes some sense

tbh, i'm not sure the frequency range of a 555, perhaps its not appropriate.  a LFO with a square wave that has a decent frequency range should get you some results.

but, with a drum machine or something alone those lines, this could be a quick way to add sync without MIDI or anything like this.  you are more-or-less replicating the MIDI/sync 24 via audio pulses.  audio in this manner is just electricity too, so mimicking the standard syncing technique in a music making device should work fine.  you just play it to the link port, instead of through a speaker.  devices with individual outs are prime for this sort of thing.

(this is also a poor mans way to sync a variety of things)

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Thanks Kitsch - you are spot on in your description and what I'm trying to achieve - it's the basic mechanism that early Roland xox boxes used before midi.

You say the pulse/trig from the external device should hit the clock pin on the link port - cool, first mystery solved - in line with these instructions I found for a different project :


"Splice a Game Boy link cable. The green wire (clock) goes to Freeduino pin 23 (in fact, you can sync up to 6 Game Boys running LSDJ with this device... simply connect clock signals to Freeduino pins 23 - 28). Connect the blue (ground), orange (serin or serout) and red (serout or serin) to ground. You may need to make more ground connections by bridging the ground bus with another row."
http://little-scale.blogspot.co.uk/2008 … e-boy.html


So I splice my pulse carrying wire to the clock wire on the link cable - now I just have to figure out how to eliminate the ground/noise issue noted in the original video comments. Seems like littlescale quoted above has everything else going to ground...