“I remember starting my MIDI adventures way back when on an Atari 1040ST running C-Lab Notator. As those who remember can agree, the Atari’s MIDI timing (which was built in) was rock-solid. I ran my Korg T2, Akai S-1000, and various other sundries without a worry (despite the various shortcomings of the Atari).
Many years later, after a break in music for one reason or another, I decided to start writing music again. Due to space restraints and convenience I stuck mainly with software plugins. Despite their convenience and variety (some plugins do sound very good), I missed the hands-on connection one has with a physical instrument. I decided to save up and to import a couple of pieces of gear including a drum machine, a few Eurorack modules (which now fills a Doepfer Monster Base and Case) and a Sequentix Cirklon to ‘tie the room together’. It was great to have these instruments but I couldn’t deny the convenience of a computer DAW for arranging and editing. The problem was that synchronising all these elements was problematical. There would be a slight delay before the Cirklon would lock up and even then it didn’t sit ‘just right’. I would have to record the audio in Cubase and then move the events by a few ticks to make it all play on time. It was a pain but I accepted it.
I then noticed someone talking about something called a ‘Sync-Lock’ on Muffwiggler’s forum. I did my research and found out it was exactly what I needed! I contacted David at Innerclock Systems and agreed to buy a Sync-Lock II LE for my needs. I would use it along with a MIDI-THRU box for distribution and a couple of MIDI-Merge boxes to merge the Sync-Lock clock with MIDI coming from the computer.
It took a while to set up along with more MIDI cable spagetti but thankfully, it was all ‘set and forget’ with the cabling out of sight. I now press play in Cubase and all of my external gear instantly locks together as if it was one big wonderful, music-making machine. I use MIDI clock not only for syncing the Cirklon and my MachineDrum, but also for my PolyEvolver keyboard, Kurzweil PC3X, modular and Blofeld. So the Sync-Gen IILE is literally the beating heart of my system. Thanks David!”
Gear List: Sequentix Cirklon sequencer/Eurorack Modular with Kenton Pro-2000 MkII as the MIDI to CV interface/Cwejman S1MkII/Kurzweil PC3X/DSI PolyEvolver PE Keyboard with PolyEvolver rack for extra polyphony/Access Virus TI 2 rack-mounted/Elektron MachineDrum SPS-1 UW+/Sonic Core Xite-1 DSP system with A16 Ultra 16 I/O/Novation SL MkII 61 keyboard controller/Several Steinberg CMC controllers/Windows 7 64bit PC running Cubase 6 64bit and of course: Innerclock Systems Sync-Gen II LE
