Audio pulses to midi clock using Arduino… – Cut & Paste Productions

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Audio pulses to midi clock using Arduino…

Another little project, or rather proof of concept. I was considering solutions like the Innerclock Systems SyncLock, using an audio track to send sample accurate clock, and converting that to a very stable midi clock.

Also, I considered the problem with starting and stopping midi clocked sequencers in sync. Normally, the main sequencer sends a sequencer start to all clocked equipment when you press play, and a sequencer stop when you press stop. That’s all fine, but what if something goes wrong (especially live) and you need to stop one seuencer, fiddle with something, and then restart it in sync (or, what if you accidentally press stop on a sequencer). I, for one, would very much like the possibility to have the sequencer restart in sync on the next downbeat.

So, I thougt, what if you divide the clock signal between two audio signals, one signalling start of bar, and the other signalling running clock. I dug out my Arduino and breadboard, and with a bit of (very simple) patching and coding I came up with this:

syncstart.mov

Ableton live is feeding two clock signals (pulse waves), via an UltraLite mk3, to two digital input pins (with interrupts) on the Arduino. The arduino is generating midi clock using the timing from the clock signals and in turn driving a Machinedrum UW. A button enables me to start/stop the MD on the downbeat of the bar after the button press. In the demo you can hear the MD starting/stopping in sync with Ableton Live:s metronome.

Update: Since a few people have been asking me for the code, and since I’ve been notoriously bad at answering, the code is available here:
github.com/rydan/arduino-audioToMidiClock

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5 Responses

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  1. Hjalte Bested Møller said

    Hi :)
    This project looks just like what I’m looking for!
    I had the exact same idea – but I’ve never coded the Arduino board, but the code looks simple enough in general:)

    Might you be willing to share the code for Arduino so I can make my own Arduino do this ?? -and learn Midi/Arduino coding at same time…

    Best Regards

  2. Juur said

    Hi Patrik,
    I want to create a midi clock signal from my Doepfer A-154 sequencer controler. This seems just the thing to be able to do that. But I know nothing about Ardurio or code.
    Can you make me one of these devices, or help me make one?
    Best Juur

  3. daniel andersen said

    hey how can i have my fingers in this device … i really need tide midi sync between ableton & some hardware for live use
    :) plzz email me

  4. Lucas said

    Wow. Way to go. Looks exactly like what I’m looking for. I was curious for the code as well and some tips on setting it up. Would you mind sharing so I can get playing with this?

    Thanks, keep up the sharing :)

Continuing the Discussion

  1. Akai MPC - Chad Bonanno shows MPC-4000+ AND ABLETON LIVE MIDI Part 2 video linked to this post on 2010-06-10

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