Squarp Pyramid: Live Jamming Set-Up Tutorial 

also THANK YOU

James Hall thanks man!

@@MRTUNA wltlllelllllllllllldpfpf

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Kyle Reiff really glad it helped!

I'll keep that in mind!! Thanks for watchin.

didlisquat glad to help!! Let me know if you run into any problems setting up

It enables so much more!! good one!

@@MRTUNA Thanks for that. I just looked into the MOTU MIDI Express XT and may pick up that instead. One box instead of 2. Either way, I need MIDI routing in my life.

you are exactly right. so long as the pyramid is recording it will overdub midi info on top of the existing data. i find I have to stop recording after cc changes though because it continues to record the non movement and basically erases it if you dont start and stop the record function again (which thankfully doesnt stop playback)

Hey man- glad its helping you! depending on how lazy im feeling (which is exceptionally lazy almost always) I just record the master tracks into Logic via USB. that way I can still get the master effects on the MX1s an I like to screw around with those a lot live. But sometimes I will multi-track everything into Logic and do a proper mix if I know we are going to do something more with it later or I'm feeling ambitious (rarely). I keep the TR8 just plugged into the MX1 as a stereo track unless Im reaaally taking my time on a project. For the padkontrol because I want it to be able to record notes into the Pyramid but I *don't* want the notes to be recorded from the TR8 sequencer (otherwise it just keeps over dubbing the recording into a mess) I run it through the MIDI Solutions M8 merger and pass it through the Squarp into the TR8. that lets me play the TR8 and record variation without drawing in a sea of black MIDI.

MR TUNA Music one last question say Im using tr8 with sp404 to add more precussion / samples to the tr8. I currently have tr8 to accept external midi to keep from over dub on pyramid. Since sp404a only has midi in would you still set it to its own pyramid track? Currently its on same channel as tr8 but a little unsure how to get this working correctly. Thanks again, ur jam session w the tempest was tight.

is it powered? you can run into issues like that when there is a power drain on the receiving end. some mergers/splitters are powered, some are not. powered ones are more stable in my experience.

Thanks man! I kinda breezed through this one again but I think most people will get the gist of it. Pretty excited for what 3.0 has to offer!

he goes over this in the video

yes thats exactly how it works!

@@MRTUNA thanks, think I need a pyramid now haha. Using the octatrack for midi sequencing up till now, its nice, but less useful for polyphonic work (chords) and there is no 'note overlapping'. Also every sequence max 64 steps

that's pretty much right on! theres still lots of neat things you could do with it, but having another synth or instrument would really make a cool difference too!

Beatswanker Beatswanker if you want to play the synths and have it record like a live looper this way you need a midi in and out the synths you want to play, but if they don’t have the big MIDI din ports, they might have USB midi and pyramid works great with USB midi too. If you just have MIDI in ports on your synths you can use the pyramid to play them, or plug in a MIDI controller to the pyramid and control them all that way. The MIDI out of the pyramid goes into the MIDI in on the T8 and that copies all the data to each synth, but each synth is only listening and sending a specific channel. The synths MIDI outs all pipe into the M8 merger and that takes allll the midi info from the synths and slams it into one cable going into the Pyramid. I’ve had lots of midi info coming in and once and rarely had a problem

MR TUNA Music aahhh, as the early morning mist fades away, it all becomes clear now. I do soo appreciate you sharing your knowledge my brother🤙🦗

Zuul Bull it’s likely you have your prophet set to NPRN mode not MIDI CC mode for control changes- it’s in the menu and quick to change! Let me know if that helps

Thanks for your quick answer. I have checked about CC and NPRN already. Today, something mysterious happened when I changed MIDI canal on P6, it worked ! So I feel nice even if I dont realy understand why it is running strangely as I think CC are recorded on an another track. I ve to check MIDI deeper to unsderstand what is going on. Thanks.

This is actually a very easy one- set the OB6 midi receive mode to “NSS” (no start/stop) and you’re done!

@@MRTUNA Thanks - Id looked everywhere for that setting lol. Just got to work out the pyramid setting to "wait" for a note to start rather than a click in and Im golden.

Ive never actually used that setting---- it might be shfit+rec, but as far as i take advantage of recording, i usually just wait until the start of the next loop to hit the keys.

Thats all right on except for your controller which you will want to run directly into the squarp (or into the M8 Merger rather, and from there into the squarp) the squarp will send out all the midi info from the key step but also allow you to record it in the squarp as it passes through to the midi out A or B and into the synths. then the synth midi outs will go back into the merger if you want to record control changes from the synths themselves and back into the squarp... otherwise there is no reason to have a merger and you can just plug the midi out of the key step into the midi in of the squarp!

Im gonna try to do a new video on this soon

@@MRTUNA my friend you're awesome! I'm working on a new diagram right now! Things have just gotten a bit more complex however as I've decided to get a 1010 Black Box sampler, which also sequences externally, along with a Fishman Connect hexaphonic pickup to control my synths via my guitar. Meaning I see the possible need for secondary(smaller) merge and/or thru units? Back to the sketchpad and I'm sure some experimentation will come into play.. but and thanks so much for clearing up the path with the general routing👍👍👍

On my p6 and ob6 I have it set to “nss” (no start/stop) and I assume you can do that on the rev2 as well. Start stop lets me sync all my drum machine and sequencer timing perfectly but the built in sequences on the Ob6 and p6 always get in the way so I had to fix that

Joshua Johnson that’s a good idea for a polyphony work around! Cirklons look amazing but I’m so so happy with my Pyramid environment I feel no ambition to upgrade at all- I’ve yet to feel really limited by the pyramid in the way I want to make music, but as far as my use goes, 4 voice is just not enough on a track! I love those double-octave bass chords

MR TUNA Music are you at least going to up grade to Pyramid MK2?

Joshua Johnson I don’t really see the need unless a great deal comes around. They are exactly the same internally, you just get a nicer metal front and raised touch pad... functionally identical otherwise though!

MR TUNA Music I really thought it had to do with a major update. But yea I see the difference with the touch pad.

I want Bluetooth midi! What do I need?

offworld network this is literally my first question!!!! If it does this, then I’m gonna have to get it

Yes it can

Deepteral yes it does!

@@MRTUNA thanx mate. Great music BTW!

Wilson SPBelgium you can definitely do exactly that! The way I have mine set-up I might have to set up the second track after I had recorded the first one (quickly changing the midi channel on a track) so that it doesn’t record the 1st loop on both tracks

MR TUNA Music thanks for the quick answer! This doesn't really solve my problem as my synth will only record to track tr01a (while in multitrack bk a and my synth being on channel 1). This means my synth is restricted to record on only one track.

Wilson SPBelgium okay maybe I’m not sure about what you want to do. Do you want to switch between tracks? Or play them both at the same time? Pyramid has something called “patterns” that allow you to record different tracks and variations and patterns on a single track so you can switch between them. Or you could make a complex single track with all of your melodic info on one track (just writing more midi on top of the track) or making a new track and recording on to that after the fact.

Wilson SPBelgium what synth it it? If it’s multi-timbral it would be really easy to do to

MR TUNA Music okay I think were getting there, my intentions were to change between melodies on a same track. I hadn't heard about patterns and this is actually what my solutions is! Many thanks for helping me!

Joshua Johnson the only thing I can think of is that the midi cable you are using plugged into the T8’s midi in is not receiving power from your interface. Plug it into your synth’s MIDI out and see if that turns it on. You may need to find a powered midi port

MR TUNA Music I called sweetwater & was able to confirm it at least works by routing just one synth to T8. From there I had to reroute midi from audio interface back into T8 in & m8 out 1 along with one synth routed properly. M8 had signal but not T8. Before even doing this, sweetwater tech checked my Mac to see if I had proper audio midi setup which l wasn’t aware of lol. So it wasn’t & he fixed it, so he said. After rerouting all hardware, still no signal on T8. This is the first time ever attempting to use midi with computer. That means I could still be missing something. I’m not sure what because I’ve never used midi . Im a noob on this one lol.

I think I found some info helping me move forward. The sweetwater tech didn’t make matters better. He said by him creating one midi device within mac audio midi setup & calling it t8/m8, the computer wont tell the difference. He then routed 1 midi out & 1 midi in from the midi device to audio interface. I was then left with 1 port within the device properties. Both T8 & m8 obviously have more than 1 port lol. I guess midi solutions is basically a very bare device that requires unnecessary steps compared to iconnectivity which automatically shows up in Mac audio midi setup. Just need to configure routing & there’s no need to creat how many ports it has. Instruments like rev 2, pro 6, tempest, maschine studio & audio interface show up automatically. I assume this is apart of an instruments OS, maybe a driver installs on computer idk. With that said, I think I’m getting somewhere but still wrapping my head around more midi info which I though I was finished with lol. Let me know your thoughts man. Was your experience similar to mine when you first understood midi and how it works? Like I said, I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried this yourself as you have a sequencer. You may never need to connect 2 midi interfaces to an audio interface & run a DAW like I’m doing. And I’m doing it this way for now till I can purchase a sequencer.

I just found a list of products that will not power midi solution multi voltage products. my clarett 8 pre is in the list. I have clarett midi out going to T8 midi in/power. Oh bummer

Torey Cates the thing is, the T8 sends allllll the information on *every* port and it’s the synthesizer on the other end that chooses what information to follow. (Synth on channel 1 only listens to the info on channel 1) and then the M8 takes all the info from the synths and merges it to one cable to go back to the Pyramid.

Hope that helps!

Thanks! I understand that is the functionality of the t8/m8. However, still puzzled as to what stops two separate synths from believing they are both channel 1? If I have a Moog Model D next to an Arturia Microbrute, (choosing two synths that dont have menus/brains to dive through) will they all try to be the first channel or do they automatically assume the next available if Ch.1 is already occupied?

@@toreycates8411 You've probably long since figured this out, but on the moog you hold A#3 while powering on the unit then tap one of the 16 lowest keys (so the 1st key, the low F would set it to midi channel 1, f# would be channel 2, etc.) Its in the manual.

yes, you can set a dedicated 'transpose track' for transposing one or more track simultaneously if needed.

because the sequencer only plays midi information and doesnt record audio, what you have to keep in mind is that the midi goes out from the keyboards into the sequencer, but without that same information coming back to the synths they would not play in a loop. the synths are playing all the sounds live its not a recorded audio loop like a guitar-looper or something. that way you can still affect the sounds with controls like cutoff or resonance or even switch patches entirely. you could add arpeggios or do some really neat stuff all while its playing.

That sounds like its an essential part of the creative process. Appreciate your help and quick response.

That is very strange. Pyramid is class compliant so it should immediately recognize the pyramid. You might try doing a SMC reset on your Mac, that happened once to me with my pyramid connection. (Shift+Control+Option at start up) Sounds like everything is set up otherwise fine

you might reply its an aira mx, but you don't change my mind you have 4 tr8s on your setup.

TheA CAN working on it :(

lol

Ward de jager yeah but at least it’s hiding in the corner, all the other gear gets a little more space to play away from the green monsters