Ok, so using my DAW, I have a MIDI clock going to a hardware MIDI output, to a 5 way splitter, and each split goes to a different Controller/Synth daisy chain. For example, from the splitter, I have a daisy chain of Octatrack to RYTM to Machinedrum. This daisy chain never fails. Elektron have this down. Arturia, on the other chain, do not yet have this area fully developed.
On another split, I have a daisy chain of the KEYSTEP to Beatstep Pro to OP-1. The Beatstep acts as an external sequencer (soon to be replaced by a Squarp Pyramid), live-capturing whatever I play on the KEYSTEP, and pumping it into the OP-1, in full looping glory. I enable and disable recording on the Beatstep Pro and control patterns to decide what gets looped, and what simply passed straight through to the OP-1.
Press play on DAW, and the elektrons do all their stuff perfectly, and and the KEYSTEP starts with the Beatstep Pro with the OP-1, all wonderfully. You know what I’m about to say. Anything I play on the KEYSTEP will be processed by the arpeggiator or sequencer. I want the OP-1 to be able to play ARPREGGIOS AND tasteful musical ideas, on and off. The goal is to be able to switch between ARPEGGIOS and natural playing, and back to ARPEGGIOS, when ever I see musically best. Currently, the chain starts just fine if all I want is arpeggios, and to switch to natural playing, (we all know) I hit the stop button on the KEYSTEP, and yes, I can then play naturally. But that stop message is forwarded down the MIDI chain to the Beatstep and the OP-1.
Guys at Arturia, I don’t imagine it to be too hard to find a way to work around this hindrance. How about a shift command that disengages the ARP/SEQ engine alone, leaving the sync flow untouched.
Let’s assume this issue isn’t fixed. I can solve the sync problem with the splitter, doing parallel sync to the OP-1 through my OP-Lab, already in use as a MIDI host, to the OP-1. I press play on the DAW, and then eventually I press stop on the KEYSTEP, to move to natural playing, but when the time comes to nails some dreamy arpeggios perfectly to have my OP-1 accompany the pumping Elektron gear, nope, sorry folks. Using the KEYSTEP manual PLAY button to re-initiate the arp/seq engine will not resume locked to the sync; it will start whenever the human presses the PLAY button. Couldn’t we (arturia techs) get the play button quantized to the incoming sync signal, since it is hardwired with the rear switches to be sync’d to the incoming clock? Only a robot could hit that play button perfectly enough to get the arps back into perfect sync.
