Hello everyone!

I recently stumbled upon a PuraData based step sequencer for my QuNeo MIDI controller, the so called Rythmboy:
http://subtersonic.weebly.com/blog/rhythmboy-a-step-sequencer-for-kmi-quneo

I want to use it as a step sequencer to use with the remix decks in Traktor, so I can add drums to the tracks I play.
Unfortunately, the Rythmboy has an internal MIDI clock, so I can't sync it with an external clock. I already tried to replace the BPM rotary in the patch with "MIDIrealtimein" and the stuff that's also needed, but I can't get it to work.

I managed to do all the other stuff that is needed to work with Traktor (changing the note output, optically mirroring the rotaries, limiting the notes ranges etc.), so I tried, but I don't know how to work with an external midi clock. Another problem that may occur is that the Rhythmboy then needs two MIDI inputs, #1 is the QuNeo and #2 is the external clock (Traktor or my Xone4D mixer).

This is the part of the Rhythmboy that controls the MIDI clock:

The blue box is a tap button to tap in the tempo. This is not needed.
The red box converts a rotary MIDI input between 0 and 127 into a BPM value between 60 and 240 bpm and gives out that value. This is where the changes need to happen I think. I need something that changes the MIDI clock in into a numerical BPM value.
The green box gives output to the rotary LEDs to show the current BPM. This is also not needed.
The other stuff lets a LED blink a metronome, I think.

So, would one of you please tell me what to put in instead of the red box, to make the magic happen?

Best regards,

Spatz

Yep, it works as it should! Thank you for showing me the way!

Now the problem with the note length remains, but you said you maybe have an easy solution for that?

Oh, and one more thing, but this is only a detail:
I want the "reset" and "play" button only to trigger on a downbeat. I tried this by filtering the button signal through a [spigot] with the MIDI clock and [mod] and [sel 0] on the right inlet, but this doesn't work as intended, no signal passes through then. Do you have any idea? To be more exact, I want to store the "play" and "reset" triggers until the next time the [mod 24] from the MIDI clock is 0.

Bye, Spatz

@Spatz said:

Now the problem with the note length remains, but you said you maybe have an easy solution for that?

I'd be glad to help. Could you describe this problem in a little more detail? I think I have an idea (that I hinted at above), but I want to make sure. Could you post an example if possible?

The samples in Traktor only trigger with the length of the note that comes out of the Rhythmboy, so especially for longer samples, the length should be high enough, something like 5000 ms.
But if the length of one note is longer than it takes to play the next note, the next note will not be played, or at least it seems like some notes are randomly skipped, whereas the chance to be faulty rises with the length:
10 ms -> everything fine, but even the base drum is just some ticktickticktick
5000 ms -> the base drum is a whoompf, as it should be, but is only triggered once per every few sceonds
So I need to make sure that the note length is always long enough to play the sample as long as it should (sample is over, or same sample triggered again), but still short enough to not disturb the triggering of the next sample. The problem is that we can't use fixed or calculated lengths, because sometimes the rhythm could not be absolutely straight, and we need the exact time at the moment the first note ist played, and then we don't know yet when the next note will be triggered.
Because of this I think it is better to concentrate on properly retriggering the notes.

Rhythmboy modded.pd

Here's the modified patch, my modifications are mainly on the first layer (MIDI clock in, metronome, syncing "play" and "reset" with the clock), and on the track layers (the part you already made a screenshot from, adapted to the midiclock, the [send subdivision_track] part is only responsible for triggering the lights and thus is not that time critical).
Furthermore, I've flipped the rotaries upside down (the QuNeo sends volumes like a watch, 0 and 127 is at the top, not like a normal rotary, where both is on the bottom. I flipped this), and changed the output notes and ranges to work with Traktor.
Maybe I didn't not find the cleanest solutions, but at least it works.

@Spatz Cool. Now what does your Traktor set up look like? What are you doing to actually play your samples in your DAW?

@rjp9: My setup basically is the following:
I have an Allen&Heath Xone4D mixer, which has an built in audio interface and some MIDI controllers. The mixer also sends a clock signal to sync up all decks and the Rhythmboy/QuNeo. The Xone is the main mixer, and the midi controllers control the first two decks in Traktor, which are normal decks to play tracks like usual.
The other two decks are set up as remix decks, which each offer 4 columns with 16 cells each (so 2 * 4 * 16 = 128 cells total), which can play one-shots or loops. These are controlled by the Rhythmboy.
My goal is to not only play normal tracks in Traktor, but to enhance them with my own samples and drums, and even do some live remixing by playing/looping non-electronic tracks on the first two decks and backing them up with my own drum loops from the QuNeo/Rhythmboy, to give my DJ sets a special touch that not everyone offers.

The Xone is the new component in this setup, until now I did all mixing in Traktor (on 2 normal decks) with my QuNeo. Now that I have this new mixer, which has enough buttons/faders etc. to render the QuNeo useless, I still want to use the QuNeo in my setup in some way. This is why I looked for step sequencers for the QuNeo and found the Rhythmboy. And the rest of the story happened more or less here.

I hope this answers your question...

Have you looked at my modifications to the rhythmboy? What do you think? Sorry for not commenting, I hope you still get what does what...

Bye, Spatz

@rjp9
Could you maybe tell me what solution you were thinking about. Just a hint, which command to use or what to do? I will then have it easier to find out for myself. Thanks!
I've already tried the flipping velocity thing, but this doesn't help.

@Spatz said:

Could you maybe tell me what solution you were thinking about.

Take a look at this sample patch and tell me if this is sort of the problem you are experiencing. As I understand it, when you are triggering the same sample multiple times, the sound is getting cut off. Is that correct?

polyhelp.zip

@Spatz said:

Have you looked at my modifications to the rhythmboy? What do you think?

As far as I can tell, it looks like you've made the right changes to use an external MIDI clock signal as the source of your timing information. Is everything working for you?

@rjp9
I'll have a look at the patch tonight. I have to work soon.

So far, the MIDI sync works as it should. I've added a [+ x] to the MIDI clock counter to fine tune the timing, so the beats of the Rhythmboy and Traktor are in sync.

The last bug I have to fix are some performance problems: When I switch pages (tracks 1-4 or 5-8) the redrawing of the LEDs causes the Rhythmboy to stutter for a moment. You can see how the beats are delayed, for example when you look at the result of the timer that measures the time between two beats. Usually it is around 125 ms for 120 BPM, but when I switch pages, the value drifts a lot for on second.
I've already tried to add small delays to the redrawing of the different tracks, but this didn't help. The redrawing only occurs of the MIDI output to the QuNeo (the LED output) is activated, else it doesn't stutter.
Do you have any idea how to reduce this stutter?