Some brief notes on my setup for syncing Arturia's Keystep 32 to Abelton.
I thought this is a quite useful & practical post as the Keystep is a really cheap and reliable
way to integrate old pre MIDI/USB vintage gear into a modern DAW.
The Keystep is very flexible ... has DIN MIDI, USB MIDI, Analog clocks, sync, CV/Gate
etc etc.
The Beatstep, Keystep Pro and Keystep 37 will probably all work the same.
My aim was to combine a Roland Jupiter 4 & Promars and record into a DAW.
The J4 only has a ARP and I have no intention to add MIDI.
The old Keystep clocks the J4 really nicely.
You need at least a 5V gate.
It also sequences & adds a basic Arpeggiator to the Promars.
The Promars has CV/gate. No MIDI or ARP.
The CV is 1V/Oct. Gate is 10V
(the Arp on the Jupiter 4 is fabulous, and Ive always wanted one on the Promars).
The keystep is plugged into my PC using USB
I've set the keystep to internal Sync.
Thus, it can still be used if the DAW is off.
I have a Mio XL MIDI interface with plenty of USB hubs.
1. Connect the Keystep 32 to your computer via USB.
2. Launch Ableton Live and open the MIDI preferences.
Double click the Ableton Live icon to launch the software.
Then, in the top menu of Ableton, go to the Preferences menu by opening the ‘Live’ menu and clicking ‘Preferences’.
3. Select the Beatstep from the list of available control surface devices.
(ableton doesnt has the keystep as an option in the settings so I choose Beatstep
like its written in the manual).
My MIDI interface can host up to 8 USB devices.
Ive picked HST 1
Click the the MIDI Sync tab, make sure that Input and Output for the Keystep are checked.
4. In the ‘MIDI’ section of this tab, make sure the ‘Track’ and ‘Remote’ boxes are checked
for both the Input and Output of the Keystep (Sync can also be optionally checked).
5. Activate the Ext tab in the top left corner.
Note that after an external sync source has be enabled, the EXT button in the Control Bar
next to the TAP button appears.
You can then activate external sync either by switching on this button or by using the external sync command in the Options menu.
The upper indicator LED next to the EXT button will flash if Live receives usable sync messages from the Keystep. The keystep will also send MIDI notes, etc.
The Keystep is now ready for use with Ableton Live.
2) Press the STOP button (to stop the rhythm if it is running).
3) While holding SHIFT, press SYNC MODE to change between the
different slave/sync modes.
Display will show:
5-n = MIDI Sync
4) Make sure you go back to PATTERN mode.
If you are using Midi sync, any of the 16 channels will work ok
On the Korg Wavestate
1) Go to Utilities
2) Scroll to Midi (page 2)
Global Channel : 1
Local Control: On
Clock : External or Auto
Starting the drum won't start the Korg wavestate until you press one of its keys.
They should be in sync with the drum
TR-707 as slave
I wasn't able to sync the two machines.
Setting the WaveState's clock to internal, external or auto didn't make a difference.
If anyone has found a way to fix this let me know.
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From the manual:
Clock [Internal, External, Auto] Internal:The wavestate will use the Performance’s Tempo setting (also shown and controlled by theTAP TEMPO button). Use this when playing the wavestate by itself, or when you want the wavestate to control the tempo of external MIDI devices such as a sequencer or drum machine. External:The wavestate tempo will synchronize to incoming MIDI Clock messages from either 5-pin MIDI or USB. If MIDI clocks are not being received, tempo-related features will not function. Auto:This combines the functionality ofInternalandExternal, so that you don’t have to manually switch between the two: •If MIDI Clocks are not being received, the wavestate uses its internal tempo. •If MIDI Clocks are being received, they control the tempo. If the clocks stop for more than 500 ms, the wavestate switches back to internal tempo
Modular Clocks ... seems simple at first, but the more you delve into this subject and try to sync
devices from different manufacturers, the more complex things can get.
If you have ever heard the Daft Punk tune "Moroder by Giorgio" you can hear Giorgio talk
about how he synced a Moog Modular.
"I know the synthesizer, why don't I use the synthesizer Which is the sound of the future" And I didn't have any idea what to do but I knew I needed a click So we put a click on the 24-track which was then synced to the Moog modular I knew that it could be a sound of the future But I didn't realize how much the impact would be..."
Basic Tempo is made up of beats.
Beats are grouped into bigger units called measures.
Most often, a measure has 2 to 4 beats (though it can really have as many divisions as is desired).
A note which lasts for 1 beat is called a quarter note..... since it divides the average measure into quarters......
For electronic instruments.... this beat is actually a pulse of electricity..... often a 5V to 10V amplitude pulse which had a regular cycle. This cycle was the sync signal and was used to clock pre midi devices.
With the advent of MIDI, instead of being measured by cycles per second, the time base
was changed to Parts Per Quarter Note (PPQN), also known as pulses per quarter (PPQ), or Pulse (per) quarter note (PQN), and ticks per quarter note (TPQN)
If the time-base divides the instrument into 48 parts, that is called 48 PPQN.
MIDI sequencing hardware and software uses a variable number of timing
resolutions. From as little as 24PPQN to 480 PPQN
A sequencer's resolution is defined as its ability to divide the beat of a quarter note into a pulses. The more pulses, the more accurate a sequencer is.
Common divisions used by sequencers are : 24 parts - 24 ppqn 48 pulses - 48 ppqn 96 parts - 96 ppq 192 ppqn, etc etc etc
A module like Pamela's Workout will sync to an external clock input between 1PPQN to 24PPQN.
My Beastek Amoeba trigger module needs a 8 TPQN clock if you require external syncronization. Note that most analog sequencers send out a pulse every 16th note which equals 4PPQN
MIDI clock = 24 pulses, so called "ticks" per quarter note Roland equipment (606,707.727,808.909) use 24 pulses per quarter note (PPQN for short), known as DIN Sync24. A notable Roland exception is the CR-78 which uses 12ppqn.
Korg equipment (eg KPR-77, DDM-110 & DDM-220) uses 48 pulses per quarter note. (You also need to make a V-trig to S-trig cable). Oberheim (DMX) & Linn is 96ppqn. The SCI Drumtraks handles 24, 48, and 96 ppqn EMU drumulator - 24ppqn - needs a din to 1/4 Y cable
-----------------
Summary:
********************************************************************************
Clock rates Equivalent in PPQN Manufacturer
********************************************************************************
STEP GATE 1 PPQN ? LFO or GATE OUT
Pre - MIDI (advances in time on a rising edge and
returns to zero on a falling edge)
eg: DOEPFER DARK TIME, Korg SQ-10.
eg: Euro - Zularic Repetitor
(Noise Engineering), Erica Pico Seq &
Pico trigger , Delptronics Triggerman,
Disting Mk3 & 4,
Modcan Touch Sequencer (ext sync)
***************************************************************************
KORG Pulse 2 PPQN KORG (SQ-1), Volcas,
Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators
(POs sync on audio pulses,
essentially a click track).
********************************************************************************
STEP CLOCK 4 PPQN ARTURIA , DOEPFER MCV 24 – MSY2
or 1/16th Korg SQ-1 analog sync , most analog
sequencers, Orthogonal Devices ER-101,
TipTop Trigger Riot & Circadian Rhythm.
Erica Synths Drum Sequencer , 1010 Black Box (clock in)
Quite common to find as the default
for Eurorack modules.
*********************************************************************************
Euro 8 or 16 PPQN Beastek Amoeba
drum trigger module
********************************************************************************
CR 78 Drum 12PPQN Roland
********************************************************************************
MIDI & Sync 24 Modcan Touch Sequencer (Midi sync)
Roland DIN SYNC 24 PPQN ROLAND, ARTURIA, ELEKTRON
Computer DAW Korg SQ-1 MIDI sync, DAW
TipTop Trigger Riot & Circadian Rhythm
Nerd Seq Mod.clock24 in (XOR)
***********************************************************************************
KORG DIN 48 PPQN LINN LM-2, ARTURIA, ELEKTRON
Sync 48
********************************************************************************
---------------------------
Step Gate
Starting off with the basic analog clock. ....
This is all pre-MIDI. The signal can be a simple
LFO or a gate module producing a square wave. The Doepfer Dark Time for
example can produce a 1 Step gate. A basic analog, pre midi modular
will use this form of timing.
This is almost a 1PPQN equivalent.
Most common in Eurorack ... eg Zularic Repetitor, (Noise Engineering), Erica Synths Pico Seq &
Pico trigger , Delptronics Triggerman, Disting Mk3 & 4, Modcan Touch Sequencer (ext sync)
Korg Pulse - 2PPQN
Korg SQ-1 sequencers and the Korg Volcas use this standard.
A single KORG pulse is equivalent to just 2 PPQN.
Step Clock (16th clock) - 4PPQN.
This is an analog trigger. It's equivalent PPQN is 4.( ie four pulses per quarter note
or 1⁄4 the duration of a quarter note.)
It's also called 16th because a note is sent or received every 16th note. This is quite common to find as a default for Eurorack modules.
This is the most common clock among old analog sequencers.
Devices like the DOEPFER MCV 24 & MSY2 can produce this type of clock. Also, Eloquencer (Winter Modular) (So too does the Tip top trigger riot though it can also be set to use 24PPPQ) MIDI - Sync 24 - Roland DIN Sync - 24PPQN
In the case of MIDI (and Roland DIN Sync), the standard is 24PPQN. MIDI clock sends a tick 96 times per quarter note.
Lots of old Roland Synths such as the TB303 & TR606, 808, 909 use this standard.
Most DAWs will also use a 24 PPQN signal
This means that you can have a triplet for each 8th note. (24/3 = 8) Korg DIN SYNC - Sync 48 - 48PPQN
Korg has it's own version of DIN Sync.
It uses the same 5 pin cable/socket, but the PPQN is 48.
When syncing Roland and Korg gear via DIN sync, they will work
however the Korg machine will run at 1/2 the tempo/speed of the Roland
unit.
This can be corrected with several devices which will
translate 24-48 sync, such as the Korg KMS-30.
Korg drums such as the KPR-77, DDM-110 & DDM-220 use 48 sync.
Other devices that use 48 PPQN are the LINN ELECTRONICS LM-2 Drum and some Oberheim Drum Machines.
The Pioneer Toraiz can input & output clock signals of value 1PPQN, 2PPQN, 4PPQN, 24PPQN, 48PPQN.
Synstrom Deluge : Trigger clock output, configurable up to 192 PPQN
Kenton Modsolo - outputs 24PPQN, 48PPQN.
I understand it can also be set to between 1PPQN to12PPQN (though I haven't tested this).
