Running a DAWless live setup. I run all of my drums/percussion/atmos via my 404sx (looped sections of tracks, triggered by patterns on Squarp + I also hit one shot samples directly from the 404), and everything else is live hardware.
Running the following setup:
Pyramid Out A --> Dave Smith Mopho --> Prophet --> Moog Mother
Pyramid Out B --> Roland SP404sx
CV Out --> Eurorack
ISSUE:
The 404sx seems to sit behind the beat, which subsequently makes any complex euclidean patterns/arpeggiators sound not that great when everything is in together.
Is there a way to offset tracks, rather than offsetting steps in step mode? If I must do it via step mode, what’s the most efficient way to go about this (i.e. grab entire pattern).
This would not be the answer. The idea is to micro-align sequences to account for timing idiosyncrasies of each piece of hardware in the chain, so that if a particular piece of gear has an inherent latency in its processing, like a sampler going through its own effects buss, this can then be accounted for with a slight advance in the track. Likewise very precise swings can be created, that were previously only attainable using cleverly placed silence in samples and rock solid clock (i.e. MPC3000 grooves of legend). Depending on what the internal clock resolution and source are, 1024 PPQ or finer resolutions might be attainable. The other question of course is clock deviation. Would someone be willing to determine this?
Perhaps I misspoke. It may be a solution… and it seems like a dope ass unit, but it’s kind of a band-aid. Having the parameter available internally in the Pyramid would be a preferable solution. However, good looking out.
Thanks for getting back to me! It’s not really an option for me, at this stage, to purchase another midi clock (at approx the same price as the pyramid), to do what the Pyramid’s clock should do.
Thinking I will just have to push back other tracks a tad, just because I’m unsure other options I have at this point!
I own a multiclock. It’s an amazing bit of gear. Expensive but ultimately completely necessary if you use a DAW and multiple external devices. Never used it standalone with the Pyramid though. It keeps my gear tight with my DAW
Weirdly I have had the exact problem with my SP404sx on pyramid midi out B. It seems like some drum samples trigger late so I have to nudge them earlier. I always thought this was the fault of the 404 as it has to be last in the midi chain because it doesn’t have a midi out or thru.
Currently, the only way to offset is by sliding the sequence forward or back by one note division of your choosing, the smallest increment being a 64th note, by zooming in to 16x. That was a workaround from the development team, but I think they may be on the case, because it seems to be a popular and reasonable request.
I’ve found that if I move the 404’s respective steps forward (i.e. 1/64th before step 1), the pad won’t trigger until the sequence restarts. I’m triggering singular pads with consolidated percussive and ambient parts, rather than individual pads with percussive elements, so this method isn’t ideal for me unfortunately.
My current workaround is highlighting all steps in step mode (per track), and offsetting them. Approx -27% has everything sitting nicely.
This works perfectly, with the only issue being that Euclidean rhythms can’t be offset, which means I have to consolidate my euclidian tracks. It means I can’t freestyle with rhythms as easily, however it’ll do me fine while Squarp works on a track offset function (hopefully).
The team seemed receptive to my request, and I must say, I’m very pleased with how community orientated Squarp is, so I’m confident something will be worked out
I don’t know if you found an answer to this, but grabbing all the steps in step mode can just easily be done by holding “Record”. While holding it you can then nudge all the steps to apply the same offset. It’s not as convenient as the track offsets you’re requiring because yeah it gets hardcoded in each step this way, but it’s possible
Thanks for the response @Ywen. That’s handy, and a great shortcut! If one has to move the step triggering the sampler backward to compensate for delay, we will likely still have the issue of not triggering until the start of the new sequence. That said, it’s a quick way to push everything else back to work around the lagging sampler.
For me, it was too much of a pain to try and fiddle around. I eventually moved away from the 404 towards an MPC1000. Bit more expensive but much much better for what I wanted to do. As it has an internal sequencer, the MPC syncs with the Pyramid, and I can mute and unmute tracks directly on the MPC, rather than having to trigger a midi note that corresponds to a pad.
Interestingly, I use the MPC to trigger the Pyramid, which then controls everything else. That is because if I switch sequence at different tempos on the MPC, the Pyramid automatically locks in.
Midi chain is as follows: MPC1000 --> Pyramid --> (Modular, Volca Sample).
For those trying to the use the 404 in this way, I’d highly consider upgrading (if large loop/phrase playback is what you want). It’s a beast of a machine, but just a tad limiting for that kindof thing.
You can set Note Offset on a Note by Note basis or as a Default. See Manual → Step Mode → Note stepmode → Note parameters: velocity, width, offset
Also, if you Zoom Out in Step Mode in Poly Edit, you can “grab” your Note Events and modify their Offset as a group with Encoder 5.
