Syncing clock from Arturia drumbrute impact and microfreak with Ditto x4

clarke_111

Any synth and looper users I’d appreciate your help! I am very new to this world but have recently got a drumbrute impact and a microfreak. I’m currently using the drumbrute as the master and have used the clock out to sync the microfreak without issue. 

I have now tried to connect my ditto 4x to the microfreak - my plan is to layer loops from the microfreak - so a baseline then change patch and add a chord line on top. I currently can’t get it synced though so am reliant to exact timing which is tricky.

I have taken the clock out of the microfreak and into the midi in on the ditto and it’s doesn’t seen to do anything, I tried the midi out as well (from the microfreak) as well but again no use...

Any ideas how/if I can get this working and what I am doing wrong?

jackio

I'm not expert, but don't you need MIDI thru from the micro freak?
Best you've got until someone proper turns up...worth a try though.

clarke_111

Aha, could well be, I assumed the clock ‘out’ from the microfreak was the same as ‘thru’ but I suppose it may well not be at all...?? 

In which case I’ll have a look at the manual for that and see. Can’t find anything useful on the ditto manual online so will try that instead! 

octatonic

Clock out on the Microfreak is CV clock, not midi.
You use it for synchronising modular synthesisers to the Microfreak's internal clock.

Page 97 in the manual- it says the following:

It's possible to use the MicroFreak as a MIDI-to-CV converter; you can send note data from MIDI tracks on your DAW to the MicroFreak MIDI In. When the MIDI channels match, and the Utility>Midi>Thru is set to On, the incoming MIDI information will appear in CV format at the CV ports.

There are two things to keep in mind, though:

• If the selected MIDI track on the DAW contains polyphonic data, playback could be extremely unpredictable even when the MicroFreak is in Paraphonic mode. It’s best to send only one note at a time via MIDI.

• CV/Gate jacks can send only basic signals: pitch, velocity and note on/off; they will not transmit the info stored in the modulation tracks of the sequencer. The voltage output at the Pressure output will be either Aftertouch or Velocity, depending on what you've set in Utility or the MCC.

So you could use it to refer the clock from the MB to the MF and then clock out to a device that responds to CV clock, but not to something that responds to midi clock.
The MF doesn't have midi thru.

clarke_111

Aha, that is that then-thanks @octatonic . I have successfully synced the Drumbrute to the MF so that is ok.

  @octatonic (excuse my total noob ignorance here) if I used a 3.5 mm splitter in the Drumbrute clock out could I take a lead out into both the microfreak and the ditto to sync them both or would splitting the signal not work? Thanks 

octatonic

Does the Ditto respond to CV clock?
I don't own that pedal so I don't know but it would be extremely unusual for it to do so.
I don't know of many guitar pedals that talk CV.

Have you tried going midi out of the drum brute into the ditto, and clock out of the drum brute into the clock in of the freak?

clarke_111

Just tried that before seeing this... that works. Ish. So the midi out into the ditto syncs it with the clock there, but then the clock out of the DB and into the Freak is now not working, despite it working before. It just won’t launch sequences or arpeggios but plays mono/poly notes. I’ll keep digging but thanks for the replies... turns out these synths can be quite a rabbit hole...!! 

octatonic

Have you tried doing it via midi?
You can enable midi thru on the Microfreak

It is explained on page 86 of the manual.