Can someone explain syncing

I got a cable and tried to link my po-16 to my monotribe, I can only get it to play the metronome through the monotribe when I press the po-16 sync buttons.
It doesn’t seem to play any beats or notes from the po-16?
Any ideas what I am doing wrong?

As I don’t have a Monotribe I might be wrong but looking at the specifications it seems there’s two inputs: Audio and Sync. In that case you’d probably want a Y-cable that splits the two audio channels coming from your PO into two plugs that you can connect to the Sync and Audio in ports on the Monotribe.

It might be easier to use the Sync-out of your Monotribe and connect it to the PO. Hth


As I don't have a Monotribe I might be wrong but looking at the specifications it seems there's two inputs: Audio and Sync. In that case you'd probably want a Y-cable that splits the two audio channels coming from your PO into two plugs that you can connect to the Sync and Audio in ports on the Monotribe.

It might be easier to use the Sync-out of your Monotribe and connect it to the PO. Hth


Hi, yeah I have the right cable, I will try to run it the other way tomorrow.
I thought that sync would allow me to play notes through the po into the monotribe? but maybe I’m way off the mark with this idea.
Thanks for the help though.

Looking at the Sound on Sound screen shots of the Monotribe it seems to have separate Audio and Sync inputs. From my point of view you have the following options to get PO sounds (not notes, it’s not MIDI) into the Monotribe:

  • Mono-Sync-Out => PO-In and PO-Out => Mono-Audio-In: This would make the Monotribe the clock master and get you stereo out from the PO into the Monotribe
  • PO-Out -> Y-Split Cable -> 1) Mono-Audio-In 2) Mono-Sync-In: This would make the PO the clock master and get you mono audio form the PO to the Monotribe

Thanks again,really helps.
I am a bass player, so my knowledge of these things is limited,but I love to play about with them .


crudeoperator I got it.
sync out monotribe into po…
bad thing was it made realise the po is just so much more playable than the monotribe
the mono clunks along and the po dances.

With a delay pedal the monotribe rocks.

With a delay pedal the monotribe rocks.

does it? I have an old guitar fx thing, wonder if I can run things through that & how it would all sound?


I use my monoTRIBE with a monotron delay! Yay! Makes the drums sound much better…

That zoom should be worth a spin. Also @purplez a bit of synth knowledge can help the Monotiribe. Try 12 o’clock (or 1 oclock) filter freq.Set LFO speed switch to oneshot -bottom- then speed knob about 12 ish.Give some depth and tweak speed ,very gently ,to mimick an envelop A/D ,chopping the filter in and out.Use some res and then tweak all above controls ,including occasional switches of speed type and shape (tri/saw). Tweak the lot,including noise in and out.
Sequencer is also worth much experiments .Try programming (with flux on) one step at a time,with all others turned off and record that one,then move onto next one.Change octaves and pitch from Tuned into Wide and swipe finger for odd pitch sweep steps .Then activate all steps to hear your seq. also edit gate time and velocity accents.

@mixrasta Have you tried your KaOscillator through the Tribe audio input ?! Oh yes. Just those two make complete tracks.the’re a real team.

Not yet, I should try that! I have the KO here but not the Tribe. I bring it tomorrow to work. Thanks for the tip!

HaHa ,yes, everyone should travel with KO to work (Or both OP-1 and KO -just in case).

BTW no sync needed with KO and Monotribe ,just ear-ball it. Its great when the KO drifts as MT gates the melodies back in time with its note on. But the KO drift goes somewhat poly rhythm (or swing-y).

In fact @purplez I recommend to try this with your PO-16. There is no tap tempo (which is a shame) but give it a shot. If your DJ skills are any good then try matching PO to your MT -roughly. Then plug your PO into MT audio in. Make appropriate riff on MT. Be sure to set up some shorter gate times and some note offs. Then hit play on both and ride that filter.
Experiment with tempo until it clicks. Stay away from drums from PO to start with, as it works best with melodies.
If you get something nice ,make sure you record the output because you wont get that same thing again.