Sync-ing with external clock

[ady]

I'm still fairly new to MIDI and have been reading a lot of the posts here. There has been some mention as to some keyboard loops cannot sync up with an external clock source. What does this mean? External clock source - does that mean the tempo in the sequencer? Loops - would this be stored on the keyboard?

[Marvster]

Hey ady,

 

Here's the way oversimplified story:

 

1) When people talk about loops, they're generally referring to either a sequenced loop (individual notes playing a phrase, usually via MIDI), or a sampled loop (a single chunk of audio that contains the phrase, groove, whatever).

 

Remember, there's a difference between MIDI notes playing samples to create what you think of as a loop, and *one* sample (audio chunk) of an entire loop.

 

2) Many keyboards have built-in sequencers, some keyboards have sampling functionality (or at least space to store samples), and some keyboards have both. Plus, many keyboards have loops in ROM (their built-in sounds). So, many keyboards can store a loop.

 

3) If a loop is of the sequenced variety, and is in anything but the oldest or weirdest sequencer, you should have no problem syncing it with external clock -- provided none of the notes in your sequenced loop are triggering samples that are, themselves, phrases.

 

4) If you're working with a sampled loop, in the strictest sense of the word it can't "sync" to anything because there's no clock in the sample. Back in the day -- when I had to walk 20 miles through the snow just to make a sine wave -- we used to fake this by figuring out the tempo of the loop, matching that tempo in the sequencer, and triggering the loop with a MIDI note once every X bars (X being however many bars the loop was). It almost never worked perfectly, and you had to mess around with tempos and sample tunings to lock in a groove. (Samples get faster and slower when you "tune" them up and down, right?) Regardless, it always worked in the end, and a lot of people still make great music this way. Hard disk recording/editing also makes creating loop-based music pretty easy.

 

HOWEVER.... Now there are amazing tools like Acid from Sonic Foundry, the VP-9000 from Roland, Phrazer from BitHeadz, ReCycle from Propellerhead, and [coming soon] Live from Ableton, among many others, that take all the work out of that process through various technologies. Cheaters....

 

So the quick answer to your question is: There's no such thing as a loop that can't be synced to external clock given the right equipment and/or software. But if you're saying you have a sampled loop that's part of the ROM in a keyboard you own, it's possible you'll have to get some more gear in order to sync it with an external MIDI clock source.

 

There are many variables I didn't cover, but I hope this helps!

 

Marv

[Marvster]

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Sorry, realized I didn't answer this question! Yes, external clock would most often come from either a sequencer built into a keyboard or software on a computer.

 

The type of clock you're probably referring to is called "MIDI clock," which gives the slave device (what's receiving the clock) the tempo from the master device (what's sending the clock) -- via a MIDI connection, naturally.

 

Marv