Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this. Which echo plugins allow this functionality within Zynthian and which don’t. I read that clock sync can be a little complicated, would this be possible at all in this way?
I think external midi clock is not possible yet, you can use internal clock with zynSeq, but i’m sure any delay plugins can sync
haha! I think you might be doing what I’m doing atm, using a second Zynthian as an effects unit to allow dubbing as the complex routing we were talking about in the other thread is rarely retained correctly?
I haven’t got that far with things as I’m snowed under with work, but I’ve proven this basic setup works:
signal-2021-04-28-192952|666x500
(slightly updated since I took this picture - the file date is when I sent it to myself hahaha, but largely the same)
Nevertheless I am getting issues with xruns even tho there’s only four gain layers and two effects. This doesn’t surprise me greatly, as it’s an original Pi 3 B (not the B+ or 4) and I’m using an old SD card. I’ve just burned a fresh image onto another card, but I shouldn’t even be posting here I should be working, Doh!
Anyway, as a result of work etc, I haven’t got to syncing effects with MIDI yet, and perhaps like you have found that the delay effect appears to be the one causing most of the xruns, whereas I haven’t noticed the same issue with reverbs (I think I was using Calf Reverb when I got this up and running, tho I hadn’t settled and was playing with a few)
Another thing I noticed with most available echos and delays is that they either don’t provide a wet/dry mix, or if they do it isn’t either or, but a mix of the two, so you get a slightly delayed original signal and then the effect, which is a PITA. There’s also no point in using a pre-delay as there is a significant one already hahahaha
Lots of bugs to iron out, and getting a mixer with aux sends will help immeasurably, but for now I’m locked down and overrun with work anyway.
Will do another write-up when I can, but thank you again for posting! You and I are appear to want to do similar things with the Zynthian, and you’ve already given me a heap of ideas. Please ask here or PM if you have any specific questions you think I might be able to help with. I’m no musician, nor am I a Zynthian expert, but if we keep sharing ideas we’ll eventually end up with some kind of solution.
edit: I’m not sure why that image isn’t embedding, but tis what it is.
Also @Tabula - I’ve definitely had my Zynthian synced to an external clock!
edit2: you can make out in that picture I was playing with MDA Delay on my main Zynth, which is the one I have like the most atm due to feature-set and sound, but it is the one that causes the most xruns on the RPi3 (tho it doesn’t have an issue on the RPi4, but as mentioned I will test this new card when I get a chance)
edit3: also just to describe what’s going on there, it’s just a few test layers on the main Zynth sending directly to the Zoom which is monitoring (and so sending the original signal + effected signal like an aux send on a mixer) which is then going out to a small mixer (without aux sends or I would be using it!) and then to speakers.
The MDA Delay on layer #4 on the main Zynth must have been a remnant of my tests - I was looking through all the delays for one that had all the features that I needed. I usually have drums on layers 1&2 and synths on layers 3&4 as the scribble tape on the MPD might suggest, but was obviously still playing around with something here.
There’s two effect layers and four gain layers on the second zynth, one for each input per effect. The faders on the Korg NanoKontrol are controlling effect sends (the update is I now have one fader per channel per effect, so four faders in total) and the pots on the the top I’m using to control parameters (also changed slightly since then)
Also, before Wyleu gets here, 
coming soon, I just gotta get everything routed properly first! 
(And get some work done - aaaargh!)
2 Likes