MTC / MMC / Midi Clock / SMPTE - Synchronize to recorder etc. Proposal

I really would like to see the Pyramid acting like my MPC2000 (http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~mpc1000/mtcmmc43e.htm), that is able to synchronize to MTC/MMC and Midi Clock in and out as master or slave (in this case I receive MTC and send MMC). In my case I cannot integrate the Pyramid im my recording setup, because there is no way to sync it to my Alesis HD 24.

Maybe anybody has a solution for that, that does not include striping :slight_smile:

There is no MMC/MTC support in the pyramid, instead it’s supports midi clock and transport.

You could post a feature request on https://squarp.net/contact

Does the Alesis not support midi clock?

Otherwise I guess you’ll have to use some kind of ‘bridge’ - not sure if there is a hardware solution or if you can use a daw?!
Sure not ideal, but might give you a workaround.

I don’t know but midi clock seems to have much wider support/adoption - i guess because it’s simpler - none of my hardware has MMC/MTC support including Elektron gear.

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Yes, I know that it does not support more sync protocols, but this is still a myth to me. There are already requests from users for that in the forum, but it seems that there is no official plan to implement this functionality. Actually I do not really understand why, because the Pyramid is naturally the center of a production studio without DAW and therefore should support all synchronization features as other sequencers do. It rather seems to me that despite the fact that practically all the other master sequencers do support various sync protocols, the makers of the pyramid decided not to implement it on purpose to make a statement, otherwise I would not understand why we are missing such an essential function (no offense) :slight_smile:

The most basic request for such a need is to sync tape, HD recorders, video machines and even DAWs. And no, the HD 24 does not support Midi Clock, as there typically is no BPM information as such on recorded tracks. Synchronization is typically solved by the sequencer’s ability to receive MTC from the machine and send MMC to it. Normally you start the recorder on a certain position and the sequencer follows either in pattern or song mode (like a MPC). The purpose in general is to record synthesizers and drums in sync to the recorded tracks… of course.

Again, as the master sequencer with plenty of functionality, the Pyramid is predestined to control every aspect of a studio and actually it is a bit of shame that it only supports Midi clock :upside_down_face:

And yes, I am going for the DAWless studio in that case… :slight_smile:

unfortunately, we can only speculate at the demand for this feature request (vs the many others that Squarp has had) … also we don’t know the complexity, or if/how it would fit with how they have written the current software - something like a synchronisation protocol has to be done very well, or its no use at all.

my personal suspicion/guess (and its just that) is that adding MMC/MTC is perhaps not easy to add retrospectively.

(the Cirklon is the only hardware sequencer i can think of that supports MMC/MTC and thats $$$… so many manufactures don’t see it as essential… i guess depends upon market segement?)

Squarp have been great at adding features over time, but I assume they select which to do based on a some combination of demand, feasibility and effort required, and for sure… we all have features we’d love to see, and for sure its frustrating if the ones we want don’t ‘make it’.

anyway, file something on the Contact form… I’ve found that Squarp are very good at communicating, and perhaps can tell you if its possible or not.

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I bought an used Alesis BRC that has all ins and outs and voilá… it works like a charm! And you know what, there is even no Midi Jitter at all when controlling my pyramid! Very stable machine. Perfect :slight_smile: The only downside is, that the pyramid obviously does not send the received Midi commands for machine control. It does start and stop, but the connected machines like rytm mk2 do not start from the beginning, they just continue when a start signal comes. On the other hand, stopping and restarting the pyramid itself does let them restart instead of continuing. No idea, where to look here, but I can work anyways so far…