Clocking to Moogs / No computer

Hey everyone! I just got my Organelle a few days ago. Super in love with it! Small back story: I am very new to synths and midi and I do not want to add a laptop to my set up. The goal is to perform live and the deal closer for me buying an Organelle was the related use of it being “essentially a computer” which to me means it should be able to do everything. Heres my current gear:

Moog Sub 37
Moog Mother 32
Moog DFAM
Korg Microkorg
Korg Volca FM
Korg Volca Beats
And finally… CRITTER AND GUITARI ORGANELLE

I did buy an iConnexticity Mio 1x1 but am not sure how to use it.

I want to be able to use one instrument as a master clock for everything. I’m currently trying to clock an Organelle arpeggio to what my DFAM or M32 is doing.

How ON EARTH do I do this?! To be honest… I have 0 idea how to clock ANY of my gear besides my volcas, m32, and dfam. But my sub 37, Microkorg, and Organelle are entirely out of sync. How am I suppose to make music this way!!!

I would like my chain to be this way

Organelle clocks Sub 37
Sub 37 clocks Microkorg
Microkorg clocks Volca Beats
Volca FM clocks Volca Beats
Volca Beats clocks DFAM
DFAM clocks Mother 32

Or any variation, as long as all the clocks sync together. Long story short; HOW DO I SYNC EVERYTHING WITH MY ORGANELLE AS A MASTER CLOCK?

Please please help I am SO LOST AND FRUSTRATED!

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Sounds like you have it sorted already. Just buy a reliable midi usb interface like the Roland Um-One mk2 to connect the organelle to the sub 37 then some regular midi cables for midi devices/ clock sync cables for volcas and dfam/mother 32. Next thing after this is ensuring midi note/control change information isn’t sent from one device to another if you want sync only.

Thanks! So what I have going now is…

Sub 37 midi’d to Volca Beats (because it can’t receive notes only clock. I tried turning off notes and only have clock sent in the midi settings of the Sub 37 and it got all messed up)
Volca Beats sync’d to Volca FM
Volca FM sync out to M32 tempo in
M32 assign out to DFAM adv/clock in

The Microkorg and Organelle still aren’t in sync. Is the Roland piece you mentioned anything like the iConnextivity Mio 1x1? Because I have that.

Still don’t know where the Microkorg fits into all of this.

I USB’d the Organelle to the USB in of the Sub 37 but it’s recieving AND sending notes from both devices unfortunately

Check the manual for your sub 37’s midi settings.
Yeah the i connectivity thing is just about the same as the Roland um-one so stick with that.
https://www.google.co.in/search?client=ms-android-alcatel&biw=360&bih=337&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=wxeVWu38Bor1vgTlpJToAg&q=midi+1+in+2+out&oq=midi+1+in+2+out&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3..0i24.21318.31610..32132...6…371.5704.2-10j9…1…mobile-gws-wiz-img…3…0j35i39j0i67j0i30j0i5i30j0i8i30.S9TzzuZR2HQ%3D#imgrc=mD5ZGDPReNKLJM:

I thought the Microkorg would have midi thru for some reason but it doesn’t clearly, you can use this box to take clock/midi data from the organelle and clone it to two outputs ie: sub 37 + microkorg

Before purchasing anything though, you really need to read up on the capability of each of your instruments in terms of midi data settings etc. It might be that on some of the devices midi notes can’t be filtered out. I don’t know. A way to get around this might be to set each instrument it’s own midi channel so they’re no conflict, or you could try ‘manual sync’ as a last ditch - just setting the BPM of the microkorg to match the organelle’s.

My set up is Roland Tr626, organelle, Sh101, Beatstep, Mother 32, Akai S20 , iPhone, Teenage Engineering Pocket Operators x 4.

Since my kit is old and new getting it all synced is a challenge. I use a mixture of MIDI, rim shot trigger pulse, MIDI note to trigger pulse via circuitbenders Trigger24 DIY PCB, but by the greatest leap forward was getting an old MOTU MIDI Express XT for £30 on eBay. I can’t change any of the parameters as it’s too old to work with my current computer but it is essentially a 8x8 MIDI patchbay which can run as a standalone unit - I run my master MIDI in and it sends out up to 8 MIDI Clock outs simultaneously. It has rock solid timing and loads of LEDs so you know whats going in/out at a glance.

I don’t use a computer live either!

Hey @Echopet - I know this is a very old comment, but in the off-chance you see this: do your Teenage Engineering POs sync up with Organelle easily? Plug-and-play style? I’d live to use a K.O! for sampled beats and bring arpeggiated synth or other beats in/out with the Organelle in time.

it might be an old comment but it’s taken me until now to check back in!

At the moment I run sync my Organeele over MIDI from my TR626 which also outputs trigger to my SH101 - I have a custom MDI to Trigger gizmo which sends triggers to each of my four POs depending on which note I ouput. As far as I know there’s no way to connect POs and Organelle directly as the POs run from a DC +5v trigger pulse wheres the Organelle outputs are audio only (ie NOt DC coupled) However, you might be able to write a patch which output a maximum volume short attack sound eg a filter click on one channel to trigger a PO as I find them quite easy to sync to old Roland gear with trigger out. You could output the click on one channel and the audio out of the Organelle in the other. I used to clock my SH101 from Ableton Live using a sampled “click” it might work from the Organelle too if you can get the volume load enough.

Good Luck!

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Thank you for the info and ideas! I’m very new to the world of midi and have a rudimentary knowledge of synthesizers in general. You are talking about creating a patch that sends a click track of sorts to an OP as a means of syncing one to the Organelle, right? That click wouldn’t be audible to listeners, just to the device (OP) being synced to the Organelle?

It sounds like maybe finding another piece of gear to use as a MIDI clock might be easier for me, if that could act as the “Master.” Is there such a thing as a MIDI hub that generates a pulse or clock or whatever is needed to sync gear like the OP or the Organelle? Maybe I should just find the cheapest Boss Dr. Rhythm I can?

You’ll need MIDI AND Trigger out if you’re going the way of drum machine - your options get limited here as you’ll be buying some old stuff. A TR626 isa good bet and lets you program where the triggers fall (as its the rim shot). Quite good MIDI spec for a drum machine of it’s age - I got mine for £50.

The “click” output from your Organelle is sent on a discrete channel so only your PO input will hear it! Your Organelle audio will be limited to Mono out of the other channel.

Teenage Engineering make something called OPlab I think - pricey but will sync anything to anything (I think!)

If I think of anything else I’ll let you know!

J

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Thanks again!

TR-626 looks cool! I’ll definitely consider it.

My friend seems to think I can sync the Organelle to an PO-33 using a Korg SQ-1. He has one, and is going to let me try syncing the Organelle to one of his Volcas to get an idea of (approximately) how it’d work. Fingers crossed!

I was also thinking an MPC500 might be a good solution, as it would have the sampling capability (and more, if you don’t count no onboard mic for sampling) as the PO-33 and provide a MidiClock for the Organelle’s arppegiator (I think).

found this on a forum:
"

There is an undocumented setting on the SQ-1.

In Global Parameter mode, turning the Duty/Function button off (unlit) will cause sync-out clock voltages to be higher than normal (additional 4 volts). The Pocket Operators’ sync-in can’t handle this.

Turning the Duty/Function button on (lit) in Global Parameter mode sets clock voltages to the default (under 1v) which works fine with the Pocket Operators."

I don’t have an SQ1 so I have no idea what this means but perhaps your friend will!

J

I use a volca (the keys) connected to the organelle via midi to sync to a PO-33 and it works great.

Also I’ve found if you just set them to the same BPM its pretty easy to sync them up manually without any connection (just pressing play on the PO-33 in time to the organelle output). I haven’t noticed any tempo drift between the two over pretty long sessions.

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Oh, nice. So the Volca Keys is your master clock for the other two and it goes Voca > Organelle > PO33?

Good to know, thanks!

The Volca can’t be master over Organelle as there’s no MIDI out. So:

Organelle > (via MIDI) > Volca > (via sync) > PO33

Ah, right.

N00b question: I assume the Organelle needs to be set to a patch that has arpeggiation/sequencing in order to send a tempo to the Vocla + PO-33, is that right? That’s why I was looking at the SQ-1–I want the tempo set by something that’s constant.

Yes, the Organelle patch needs to be set up so you can edit the tempo etc. The SQ1 sends MIDI clock out but doesn’t have a screen so the tempo would be approximate (although you could maybe read it off the PO33. Alternatively you could get a Volca that has an LED screen so you can see the tempo (Volca Bass, Volca Sample, Volca FM) and get a MIDI out converter kit (available on eBay and some don’t even need soldering.

It’s strange to me that there’s no real option for a simple midi clock w/ BPM display for under ~$80 USD! But maybe most folks are using gear they already have for the task (a DAW, drum machine, etc). The Organelle is the only synth-related gear I have at the moment.

At any rate, yes, I’m looking into the Volca Sample and I’ve seen a couple of those converter kits–I think I’ll go for it! Thanks :slight_smile:

Would be dope if there was an option on the organelle to turn the headphone minijack into a click output for volca and roland etc. Maybe as an option in the Settings Menu.

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