Stop the midi clock output

[cactus27]

IMPORTANT (by Simon):

This feature is now implemented in FW 4.0, to be released at the end of January.

There will be new setting called Mid (MIDI Clock) with three options:

• OFF: no MIDI Clock is sent at any time, neither MIDI Start, SPP, Stop, or the All notes off messages
• con: MIDI Clock is sent constantly (default)
• FOL: MIDI Clock follows play, i.e. the clock is only sent on port X when the port is "playing"

(all these options affect both MIDI-DIN outputs)

To match the naming in the settings list, the namings "con" (constant) and "FOL" (follows) will be reused in the AnL setting (ANLG clock output), which will now have "OFF, con, FOL, din" as options (same options as before, only their names have changed).

Simon

PS: keeping the original message by cactus27 below:


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Is there any way to stop the midi clock output? There are times I want to let my devices be free running and not synced but I can’t figure out a way to get midronome to stop sending a clock signal. I’ve just been unplugging it which is kind of a pain. It would be useful if the mute button could be set to mute the midi clock in addition to the audio output.

[HappyClocker]

I get that idea. If implemented it should be an option to be switched on/off via a setting.

[Simon]

Interesting thoughts, you're not the first one to ask about it either It seems there are no official request about it in the Feature requests forums, so I am moving this topic there.

Just FYI, this behavior comes from the very early days of the Midronome, my thoughts were that a masterclock should always be running. But I'll consider adding an option to turn it off when pressing Play (to stop) or Mute for example.

For now, the easiest workaround is to set the "inP" setting to "2.4.P." as this is the only mode where the Midronome will stop the master clock (the display will show "---"). Then set it back to OFF or something else to start the master clock again.

Cheers
Simon

[Novoline]

I would also like to see this feature. It could be another setup option, equivalent to the ANL setting ON vs PLAY.

For me it’s a question of combining two live setups; one where the midronome is master, and the other where my Atari ST is. Since the prog I use on the ST doesn’t accept a sync in, the ST is my master clock (which works great anyway)
Im at a standstill with combining these two setups currently. The only solution is to use an old “The Funnel” from Digital Music Corp and use inputs 1+2 and toggle the switch on the funnel, but that obviously adds one more step in the process (and one more thing to forget when I’m playing live!)

[Simon]

Just FYI - this has been mentioned before in viewtopic.php?t=72

[Simon]

From Stina on the Midronome Facebook Group (added for reference):

Is it possible to stop both the clock and the click? This would be great for syncing my sequencers live - first I want to trigger the arp, and after that I want to "activate" midronome, so that the arp will be perfectly in sync and not affected by my timing ))

I think using this features with arps makes a valid point

Simon

[stinasnyamobil]

Wow, that would be so convenient! When can one expect these firmware updates to be released?
I tried your workaround suggestion, but the synth didn't respond as I had hoped when I went back from "2.4.P." to another input setting. It still needed to be retriggered by hand. When I use my DAW (Logic Pro) as an external MIDI clock and send it to my Prophet 8, I can hold down a key on the Prophet, then hit play in Logic, so that the click and clock start simultaneously, as well as the arpeggio, which then is perfectly in sync to the click.
It works fine to sync manually to the click in the midronome as well, but if one has very fast synth-arpeggios or sequencers, this would have been nice, or if one is nervous when playing live and triggers the arpeggios a bit worse than one does in the rehearsal room...

[Simon]

Hi Stina - yes the workaround is not great, I understand

But yes it's correct, changing back from 2.4.P. mode will start the clock but it will not start your arpeggios or sequencers. To start your sequencers you'll need to press play on the Midronome and they will start on time.

For the arppegiators it's a bit more complicated yes, you will need either to make sure the clock starts exactly on the beat (so switching away from 2.4.P. exactly on time), or sending a MIDI note / pressing a key exactly on the beat as you mentionned yourself...

In any case, if this comes as a feature all you will need is to press Stop/Play and you will get the same behavior as you get with Logic

Simon

[spacialrob]

Hey, Simon!

Do you think this is something that will roll out relatively soon in the next small patch or firmware update? I am sorely missing the ability from 2.4.P. to have the output clock stopped while the DAW clock isn't running. My situation is I sync the Midronome to a hardware looper to keep it in time with my DAW, but only need it when the DAW is sending clock; otherwise, if I want to loop without sync, I have to unplug the DIN cable from my looper, rather than the Midronome simply having the corresponding Play/Stop with DAW sync as before in the previous firmware modes. Thanks!

[Simon]

Do you think this is something that will roll out relatively soon in the next small patch or firmware update?

Hi Rob Yes I understand, that does not sound fun. How would you imagine this feature should work in practice? How often would you need to switch the clock on/off?

My idea was a setting "Clo" (MIDI Clock) which would change when the clock is sent:

• Option 1: "On" = always on, the MIDI clock is always sent (like it is right now)
• Option 2: "PLA" = Play, the MIDI clock is only sent after MIDI Start has been (i.e. sent on a MIDI port only when its Play button is lit)
• Option 3: "P.L.A." = same as Play but a bit smarter, with the clock sent slightly before MIDI Start as some machines (the Korg Volcas for example) will not be on time if they receive all in one go. When using the Reset mode this will behave exactly like "PLA".

I was also considering that from now on all these small settings will not be changeable on the device directly, but only with a configuration software (i.e. from a computer).

What do you guys think?

[spacialrob]

Hi!

I actually like the idea of a "Clo" setting with those three options! The P.L.A. sounds like a good mode to implement for certain gear too; I'd be interested to test if it would be better to use that or PLA with my looper.

How often would you need to switch the clock on/off?

Sometimes I like to use it more as a performance tool. For example, I might have my DAW (FL) playing a track through interface monitors, while my looper is synced via Midronome with its audio output in separate speakers. Then, if I want to have the FL track keep playing but the looper stop (from
MIDI Stop), I simply press the "Play/Stop" button on Midronome, which is more or less how I was using 2.4.P. before. This also opens up the possibility of playing rubato on a purposely un-synced device for adding things mid-song like sporadic ambience or expressive out-of-time arpeggios. So to answer your question, it depends. Other times I want it all to stop in one go, both DAW and loop tracks, where pressing Stop in DAW will automatically stop both the looper tracks and audio in the DAW, which is also how I used it with 2.4.P.

I was also considering that from now on all these small settings will not be changeable on the device directly, but only with a configuration software (i.e. from a computer).

If we're talking about this setting in particular, I would personally like to have it be configured directly on the device. I can imagine myself wanting to change the setting without a laptop on hand for certain live scenarios or configurations where the gear might call for the On option. Other than that, I'm all for additional micro settings to be configured with software!

[Wolperdinger]

Hi Simon,

Tobi here piling on to this threat as many before,

any updates regarding this topic? I spent 2 hour searching through the forums etc.
because i thought i lost the 24.p.p because of a faulty firmware update only to find out
that firmware update 3.0 got rid of it and i still cant wrap my head around it.

Any chance theres an update on the Clo modus discussed in the posts before mine?
Also hope that isnt off topic but any chance windows users will get a chance to check out u-sync down the
line or do i have to invest in the new hardware?

Kind regards

[Simon]

Hi Simon,

Tobi here piling on to this threat as many before,

any updates regarding this topic? I spent 2 hour searching through the forums etc.
because i thought i lost the 24.p.p because of a faulty firmware update only to find out
that firmware update 3.0 got rid of it and i still cant wrap my head around it.

Any chance theres an update on the Clo modus discussed in the posts before mine?
Also hope that isnt off topic but any chance windows users will get a chance to check out u-sync down the
line or do i have to invest in the new hardware?

Kind regards

Hi You're asking different things, not all on topic. For the Windows U-SYNC question, see the dedicated topic and my last update. The situation has not changed, Windows audio is just very difficult to work with so there are no guarantees. But we're still developping it: we're currently trying to write a custom low-level audio driver for Windows, which is not only difficult but takes a lot of time. If we succeed, then there is a very good chance U-SYNC will become possible on Windows. Until then nothing is sure.
Regarding this topic and the stop the clock output, this is easy to implement and pretty clear that many of you need it, so this will be highly prioritized and come on the next firmware update (either 4.0 or if it takes too long to develop the "smart tap tempo" feature, then I might release a middle version like 3.5).

What you can help with, is discussing how to implement it (the user interface), in particular if the suggestion in my last post would suit you.

[Simon]

Hi all

As you may have seen this will be implemented as part of FW 4.0.
There will be new setting called Mid (MIDI Clock) with three options:

• OFF: no MIDI Clock is sent at any time, neither MIDI Start, SPP, Stop, or the All notes off messages
• con: MIDI Clock is sent constantly (default)
• FOL: MIDI Clock follows play, i.e. the clock is only sent on port X when the port is "playing"

(all these options affect both MIDI-DIN outputs)

To match the naming in the settings list, the namings "con" (constant) and "FOL" (follows) will be reused in the AnL setting (ANLG clock output), which will now have "OFF, con, FOL, din" as options (same options as before, only their names have changed).

I hope these many name changes are not too confusing - I really do believe that they make much more sense for new Nome users.

[Simon]

This is now implemented and will be released with FW 4.0.

Regarding the FOL (clock follows play) option: the MIDI Clock is sent as soon as the play button is pressed. That means your machines will get at least 7 MIDI Clock messages to sync before it receives the MIDI Start message, which some machines require to be on time when the MIDI Start message is sent (Korg Volcas in particular, but I am sure there are others).

Note that when Reset mode is enabled, or when syncing to U-SYNC / 24PPQ with autoplay enabled, there will be no time to start sending the clock before MIDI Start (since it's all happening right away), so using any of those together with the FOL option will probably result of bad timing for machines like the Volcas.
Workarounds are:

• In Reset mode, long press the play button in Reset Mode to send a "normal" play
• When syncing to U-SYNC / 24PPQ, press play on the Nome just before you press play in your DAW so that the clock is sent before

Or simply don't use the FOL option with those devices (most devices can manage receiving Start & Clock all of a sudden - so far I've only seen this behavior with the Korg Volcas).