Difficulty getting Pulsar-23 synced to Midi stop/start

[Chris]

Hi there, recent happy Pulsar-23 owner here. I’m trying to synch Pulsar to a BOSS RC-505 looper…

When I’m controlling Pulsar from my DAW (Logic X through M-Audio I/O to Pulsar MIDI), Pulsar responds nicely to start/stop messages from Logic (on start, Pulsar starts playing the beat I have created and stops when I stop a track in Logic).

When I try to control Pulsar from my BOSS RC-505, Pulsar in MIDI mode will initially synch to the 505 tempo but doesn’t respond to start/stop from the 505 looper. Pulsar just keeps playing whether the 505 is playing or stopped. This will disrupt the synch and then any loops I have get out of synch with the Pulsar beat.

I can’t really find any clarifying info about how Pulsar or the 505 handles start/stop messages.

Does anyone have any ideas? Or do you have a different looper you recommend for this config? (Looper as master controlling Pulsar via MIDI)

Thanks for any help!

[JoeParticipant]

Hi,

Pulsar 23 does not manage midi start/stop. In external midi mode it starts as soon as it receives a running clock so the behaviour depends on how works the synth that controls it.

Some synths send the clock only while the sequencer is running (like Ableton) others send continuously the clock while they’re on (like Elektrons, 505, etc) so it will trigger the Pulsar as soon as it is plugged and turned on.

[noiseg33kParticipant]

Hello,

What you describe is normal behavior for the pulsar as it doesn’t handle transport messages (start/stop). Once the pulsar receives clock via MIDI it will continue to play at the set tempo. There are a couple ways to make the clock start and stop on command.

A.) Use an analog pulse/clock that you can stop and run it to the pulsar clock input pin.

B.)Use a step sequencer with MIDI out, assign a pattern/sequence to one of the midi to cv pins on the pulsar (the 4 pins labeled KTR1,2,3,4 on the left of the pulsar) then run that pin to the clock input. (Try placing a step in every step of a 16/16 pattern etc then running to pulsar)

Using either of these methods you will need to hit the RST button in the clock divider array section to make sure the pulsar starts at the beginning of the pattern (if so desired).

 

 

[Chris]

Great, thanks a bunch for helping clarify this. I’m also looking into Pulsar Buddy as a way to manage start/stop (and get to additional time sigs beyond 4/4).

Cheers!

[noiseg33kParticipant]

The pulsar buddy is great! 🙂

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