I always had problems with MIDI sync from Bitwig not working well with Pyramid. The clock drifted, it wouldn’t start on time. But there is a way to make it work via analog sync. No need to spend EUR 500 on a E-RM Multiclock :). All you need is a free pair of outputs on your audio interface.
Bitwig has a HW Clock Out device. Put it on a track (I use master track). Configure your outputs and use these settings:
Patch the outputs to Pyramid’s CV and gate inputs. I had to gain the signal a bit to get Pyramid to recognize it. In Pyramid settings, go to CV/PEDAL section and set:
CV IN MODE to CLOCK+STOP GATE POLARITY to ACTIVE 0V INPUT SYNC to 24 PPQN
Important: set Pyramid BPM to the tempo set in the DAW.
Now press play in Bitwig. Pyramid should start on time.
Hi I’m trying to sync squarp/bitwig together. I want to sequence midi from pyramid and send it either over usb or 5 pin into Bitwig to control vst’s. I then want to record the midi data into Bitwig and have it lined up correctly. Bitwig midi clock to pyramid is unreliable, pyramid midi clock to Bitwig is unreliable, Bitwig CV clock to Pyramid is unstable too like all the other options. Am I missing something here?
I just have exactly the set up you explained in the earlier post. The audio/cv is coming out of the speaker connectors at the back of the audio interface and I’m monitoring through the independent headphone out. Once I hit play in Bitwig the Pyramid sequencer begins, midi is sent out over either the usb midi or 5 pin going into M-audio midi sport and then into the computer and into Bitwig. Both methods have timing variations and are not bang on. I thought that CV clock was supposed to be as tight as you can get so I’m a bit confused. I think I will message the Bitwig and Pyramid people about this too. My interface is an Audient ID14 by the way.
My use case is sequencing HW synths from Pyramid, recording the output into Bitwig. Sync via CV works for me for this use case. I haven’t tried sending MIDI back into Bitwig from Pyramid.
Thanks for your reply. I think I’m experiencing latency and Jitter. So small timing variations of the notes upon recording the midi back in, also a latency for when they get recorded in over all.
AFAIK the root cause for these things is that MIDI and audio processing is never perfectly in sync in any DAW. It’s normal to see slight jitter when recording notes because the time it takes for the computer to process incoming notes isn’t always the same. This would happen even if Pyramid clock was perfectly stable.
What I’m saying is that you might have to get used to seeing notes slightly off grid when recording them from Pyramid.
I use a Keith McMillen K-Mix. The support site says it doesn’t have DC coupled outputs but it works anyway. To be very precise, I use the headphone output with a stereo splitter cable and the volume has to be all the way up to make it work.
Hey @fjl , based on CV IN Analog Sync from Ableton it sounds like you ended up abandoning this approach. Discouraging to hear as I am looking to clock my Pyramid with an analog clock signal derived from Bitwig through a DC-coupled MOTU audio interface.
