Octatrack Midi-Question

Dawid · 2014-05-21T08:23:11.000Z

Hello! I have my OT as master with the A4, an Electribe ER-1, and a Volca Bass “daisy chained,” I believe it’s called. That is, midi goes Out from the OT, into the In on the A4, and then Thru to the In of the ER-1, which then goes Thru to the In of the Volca Bass.

Problem is, the Volca Bass only has Midi In. So the daisy chain ends there. (And the Bass Station unfortunately doesn’t have Midi Thru.)

Now, I have a Bass Station 2 that I would like to clock sync and also, control via midi with the OT.

Is this possible somehow, without using a computer? I’m new to working with DIN-sync cables so please excuse my ignorance!

(Right now I set the same bpm manually on the Bass Station and try to sync the arp and step sequencer as well as I can manually.)

Thank you for any help!

Goseba · 2014-05-21T11:23:55.000Z

Just get a midi thru box, I am currently using the V4 from this link as an example, but there are many options.

http://www.philrees.co.uk/products/thruunit.htm

In the early days of midi it was always recommended to use a thru box rather than daisy chaining lots of midi gear.

MichalHo · 2014-05-21T11:26:54.000Z

as goseba, said, get a midi thru box, you won’t regret it, esp. if you keep adding gear to your setup.

i use this one, it does not need batteries or PSU, as it draws power from OTs midi out:

http://www.midisolutions.com/prodqth.htm

jaalmadakan · 2014-05-21T11:33:06.000Z

Hey, I don’t know how the A4 works, but if it works like the MD you may not need a thru-box.

In my setup, I have :

OT as master clock going to MD
then MD MIDI OUT goes to some synth
MD MIDI THRU goes another synth

When slaved, the MD still sends MIDI clock info on its MIDI OUT, and copy the MIDI IN (from OT) to its MIDI THRU. This way, you get two clock outputs on one machine. Neat.

Maybe try and see whether the A4 could do the same?

udenjoe · 2014-05-21T13:27:33.000Z

""MichalHo"":

MIDI Solutions Quadra Thru; Four Output MIDI Thru Box

I second this. It works great out of the box. No extra power cord!

NickD · 2014-05-21T13:28:25.000Z

If you’re using the Volca’s internal sequencer you could sync it using a gate signal from the A4, and drop the BS2 in where the Volca used to be. This could be interesting because you can vary the gate pattern on the A4 CV sequencer to add some variation / shuffle etc. to the Volca pattern. The only real hassle will be sorting out a suitable lead (stereo 1/4" to dual mono 3.5mm).

2Bit · 2014-05-21T13:51:13.000Z

i used the quad thru mentioned above and all i can say is it works great. bus powered too, so nice!

JuanSOLO · 2014-05-21T14:43:25.000Z

Bus powered will not work with some things, like Moogs.
I’m sure most things will, but not all things.

I tried the Midi Thru thing for a while and thankfully someone on this forum suggested getting something like a Motu Midi Express XT.
I got an older one for $60, but they go for as little as $30 sometimes.
I’m sure there are similar boxes, but I knew with the Motu it has a facotry preset called “live keyboards.”

Basically you take all of your midi outs from your gear and plug it into the midi in’s on the XL, and all of the midi ins and plug them into the outs of the XL.
There are 8 in/out ports.
Then you just set the midi channels properly on your gear to avoid conflicts.
Another cool part about this live keyboards preset on the XL, is what ever is going to the in port, is not sent thru to that same numberd out port. In other words what ever is going into port 3, is not sent “thru” to out port 3.
Comes in handy for complex rigs with a lot of gear.

Dawid · 2014-05-21T21:19:21.000Z

""jaalmadakan"":

Hey, I don’t know how the A4 works, but if it works like the MD you may not need a thru-box.

In my setup, I have :

OT as master clock going to MD

then MD MIDI OUT goes to some synth

MD MIDI THRU goes another synth

When slaved, the MD still sends MIDI clock info on its MIDI OUT, and copy the MIDI IN (from OT) to its MIDI THRU. This way, you get two clock outputs on one machine. Neat.

Maybe try and see whether the A4 could do the same?

This worked, everything here is now in perfect sync. Thank you!

Now I just need to figure out how to control the BS2 via midi from the OT. Maybe get one of those Thru-boxes.

Mystic38 · 2014-05-23T11:14:25.000Z

I have a bunch of the midi solutions boxes… but they aint cheap. fixing any one midi problem is $50.

A motu micro express, the 4 port version of the express xt should run you $60-$100 used though.
install the drivers and clockwork software on your computer, then connect the box, make the routings you want in clockworks. Then take it off the computer and you are ready to go standalone.

I have both the micro express, an express xt and also recently added an iconnectMIDI4+. its way more capable in filtering and mapping than the older used motu stuff… but of course, more expensive, but at $200 new its a relative bargain