Midi Start

Hi Guys,

disclaimer: I tried a search and didn’t find the answer to the info I am seeking here. My apologies if this was already covered somewhere in the past.

I am using my OP-1 with OPLab to sync it to external hardware synths. One example is a Korg Electribe ER-1 mk1.

I have OP-1 connected via USB to OPLab. From OPLab, it connects via MIDI out to the Electribe MIDI in.

Electribe is set to external clock.

OP-1 has a four bar loop.

When pressing the OP-1 tape transport play button works to trigger the Electribe to play at the same time, in the same tempo as OP-1…great!

But pressing OP-1 stop (which resets the loop position to the beginning), then pressing play will not cause the Electribe to play from the beginning of it’s selected pattern. It will continue on where it left off…bad!

I am wondering if the OP-1 sends MIDI Start messages? It seems that this is not being received by the Electribe.

I am guessing this operation is quite common, so I hope someone here may be able to help shed light if this is possible. Perhaps OPLab needs to be set a specific way?

Thank you and Happy New Year everyone!

Oplab and Op1 don’t send midi ‘reset’ or whatever the command is, only stop and start. Op1 can respond to midi timecode and I think it can send it too. Maybe there’s something you can try with the Electribe but I don’t think it would respond to midi timecode. Also oplab doesn’t support midi time code, which is a shame. You have to connect the op1 directly to the computer. You will probably have to just reset the Electribe each time. Hopefully the Opz will have reset command.

Ah thanks for that…i didn’t know there was another MIDI command needed to restart a sequence on an external device. I though the START message would do that. Bummer :frowning:

I looked into MIDI messaging and see that there is a MIDI “continue” message which is supposed to start a sequence where it left off. But the “start” message should start the current sequence playing. (This message will be followed with Timing Clocks).

Reference: https://www.midi.org/specifications/item/table-1-summary-of-midi-message

So it seems that the “start” signal should be sufficient to restart a sequence. I don’t believe the OP-1 sends “continue”.

Perhaps the issue is with the Electribe. I will try other devices and see if the issue sticks with the Korg or follows to other devices.

Actually, the OP-1 doesn't seem to send start messages, only continue, along with a song position pointer. Here's a read out using snoize MIDI monitor.

02:59:42.661 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:42.813 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:47.164 From OP-1 Midi Device Song Position Pointer 64 13
02:59:47.164 From OP-1 Midi Device Continue
02:59:47.611 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:48.187 From OP-1 Midi Device Song Position Pointer 68 13
02:59:48.187 From OP-1 Midi Device Continue
02:59:48.884 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:49.445 From OP-1 Midi Device Song Position Pointer 75 13
02:59:49.445 From OP-1 Midi Device Continue
02:59:50.121 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:50.511 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:50.640 From OP-1 Midi Device Stop
02:59:53.364 From OP-1 Midi Device Song Position Pointer 64 13
02:59:53.364 From OP-1 Midi Device Continue

the midi sync and the tape is weird. only if u set the play head to the very beginning of the tape will it send start

and here, which version of the firmware you’re running comes into play, since it took a while for TE to fix the OP1 to send the correct SPP so you could ffwd/rwd to nearest tape tick, and it would send a correct multiple of 16

Thanks a lot guys, especially willu47 for the MIDI dump. So i guess OP-1 never can send Start? The version on my OP-1 is R00218…I believe this is the latest release.

So I guess I could use another device in the middle that could remap MIDI Continue to MIDI start. I believe the iConnectivity products offer that function.

MIDI Solutions has an event processor. A type of passive ‘set and forget’ box. Though not sure if it can <span style=“color: rgb(37, 38, 30); font-family: “lucida grande”, “Lucida Sans Unicode”, tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: rgb(252, 252, 255);”>remap MIDI Continue to MIDI start. Probably cheaper than the iconnectivity stuff.

R00225 is the latest release and transmits SPP as intended. makes a difference on e.g. Korg Volcas

i think there may be an easier, caveman way around this.


have u tried also pressing stop on your electribe to reset its sequencer before you press play again on the op1?

or using the electribe as master, op1 as slave?

Sorry for the delay. Yup I tried to simply stop the Electribe and see if it would also start the sequence from the beginning but it doesn’t. It continues where it last stopped when externally synced to OP-1. At least for the ER-1 I have.

I didn’t realize a newer FW is out. I usually get some email from TE about that but I guess not this time. Will give it a go and see if it works!

@Brian_Westfield hey did you end up trying this? I’m trying to do something similar!