And another one, to start off 2020. It’s in the same as the ones before, all recorded, sliced and diced into the Blackbox and then put together and stringed into something using clips, the sequencer and the song section:
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Here’s one from me - the BB is sampling stuff from the iPad and getting sequenced by it, some internal sequences too. Using the fantastic Polyphase for ios.
Question; how are you connectin your ipad to this? I’m using a Retrokits RK005 and DIN cables, which is super fiddly.
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Very suggestive and atmospheric. I dig the vibes of this.
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I’m really interested in the BB. It sounds close to being perfect for what I’d like to do in a live situation but also with the ability to rework live material in the studio. I just wanted to ask a few questions before I pull the trigger.
- Does live loop recording work in MIDI slave mode, or does the BB need to be the MIDI master clock?
- Can loops that have been recorded live be easily and quickly saved for later use? For example, in a live set use the BB looper for transitions and also save the recorded loops for later studio use.
- Can the Master Audio-Out be recorded directly onto the SD card? For example, to record an entire live set.
- I don’t understand the sequence / pattern / bank structure and nomenclature. I understand that there’s 16 samples per sequence, but is there a way to transition to another sequence with its own set of 16 samples in a seamless fashion? To use the Digitakt as a comparison: each pattern has 8 sounds; changing patterns (and banks) is seamless, with no pause in playback required. Does the BB work in a similar way?
Many thanks!
1 - It works in slave mode. But you need to manually arm it, even if it’s slave.
2 - Yes. It’s easy and quick to save your recorded loops.
3 - You can do this with resampling. But it eats processing power, so if you’re pushing it, you will have noticeable glitches in your recording. It all depends on how complex your song is.
4 - There’s the possibility to load new projects on the fly, but you’ll notice the ugly gap. It’s not what you’re looking for, with the Digitakt as comparison.
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I reviewed the Blackbox a few months ago. I think that can give you a clear idea of how it’s structured in terms of samples and projects:
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Thanks so much for your reply. Great review too. I think I might have to try one of these!
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You’re welcome😊the Blackbox is a treat, an amazing piece of kit.
I finally got myself a Blackbox as well and it seems like a really neat little box. However, I’m noticing some performance issues when controlling it via Midi DIN from an external sequencer (with the Blackbox being slave).
As you might know, the Blackbox offers four different types of samples: Regular one-hits, Clips (these are tempo-synced loops), Slicer and Granular.
I’m mostly using Clips in order to be able to do tempo changes (especially for transitioning to another track). However - when triggering with an external sequencer connected to the Blackboxes Midi In port (with the included adapter cable) I found the the Blackbox is only able to reliably launch 4-5 Clips at the same time 
When trying to launch more Clips, the related pads on the Blackbox get cued (they display a little white rectangle) but either only start playing on the first beat of the 2nd bar or don’t play at all. The same is true for NoteOff events sent to the Blackbox - only 4-5 Clips instantly stop playing, the rest will drag on for another bar or two before stopping.
Also it seems that when using multiple Clips and doing quick tempo changes on the external sequencer, the Blackbox tends to stutter or drops the audio completely for the current bar. Overall it seems a bit slow in catching up to the new tempo (I know this was a problem before and should have been fixed in a firmware upgrade, but I’m running v1.3.6 and still experience it).
Is anyone else having similar problems? When I tried this with Samples or Slicer pads, everything is perfectly synced up, but unfortunately I need to use Clips.
CPU performance aside, I know they aimed for 20bpm variations per bar it seems. Clips will suffer the most since it has to recalculate everything and process on the fly.
Since you mentioned clips only, you could resample the clip combos and then make that a single clip per combo. Should free up some space (CPU and screen) but will be more focused.
While tedious, resampling solves a lot of issues if this is a prepared set.
Not sure if that helps. There are some limitations but I changed things up and am still happy with it!
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Thanks for your comment @selfup ! Resampling everything down to max 4 Clips sounds interesting and it would clearly help performance. However, since I’m using the Blackbox mostly as a mobile replacement for my drum machine & bass synth, I need all instruments on single pads in order to add / subtract them from the mix on the fly (via midi faders). So, combo clips are not really an option, since they heavily limit rhythmic variation.
The thing that I can’t wrap my head around is the lag in triggering the pads via Midi DIN as opposed to USB-Midi. When controlling the Blackbox directly via USB from the sequencer, all Clips start and stop precisely in sync.
This would be perfect, except for the fact that the Blackbox needs to be directly connected to the sequencer for it to work. In my case however, I’m using a USB Midi Hub (RK-005) to connect other synths to my sequencer. And apparently the Blackbox (connected via USB cable on the device port) does not accept / receive any Midi commands from the USB Midi Hub :-/
So, both Midi DIN and USB Midi are currently a no go in my specific workflow …
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You might want to re-assess your need for clips vs samples. You can trigger samples on more pads than with clips.
You can use samples where you don’t need to use the features of clips like BPM sync. If you know your BPM ahead of time and it doesn’t need to change just use samples instead of clips.
Also make sure your samples are converted to 48khz (not 44.1) since this is the native sample format it doesn’t require any CPU cycles for conversion.
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Hello @Airyck and thank you for your input!
I already tried using regular Samples, but, as you said, since my BPM value changes during the transitions from track to track, I need to use Clips to have them stay in sync. Furthermore I’m using LFO’s on most drum instruments, so the sampling & triggering of single one-shots per instrument can’t replace these Clips.
And yes, I made sure all my samples are indeed in 48KHz (but mostly I’m using samples directly recorded on the Blackbox (quantized), so this shouldn’t be an issue).
Finally - the main problem to me is not a performance issue with Clips (seeing that via USB, all Clips CAN be triggered at the same time). It’s the way the Blackbox buffers / interprets external Midi commands via Midi DIN as opposed to USB-Midi.
I understand that Midi DIN is probably slower that USB-Midi (given its age), but I’m somewhat surprised that the Blackbox seems to be unable to receive more than 4-5 noteOn events at the same time and trigger the related pads to start in sync.
I see, yeah that’s tough. Since clips are quantized is it possible for you to send the note on commands early?
I have no solutions for this, since I haven’t had any problems like this… But I’d like to ask you to please submit your problem to 1010, so that they can improve the firmware. Sync issues like this are not acceptable.
The only thing that comes to mind that the Blackbox is apparently pretty finicky about power – ensure that the USB cable and adapter are of good quality. (people have had all sorts of weird issues when using less-than-optimal power solutions, even things that work with other machines) Hope you get it sorted out!
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@Airyck
Hmm, interesting … I just tried it and the Clips all start in sync on the bar change if the noteOn events are sent BEFORE the bar change. However, I do have to trigger these noteOn events manually to retain the necessary flexibility in pattern switching.
Because if they are a part of the externally sequenced pattern (= set on the 16th step of the pattern for example), they would trigger with every loop.
Alternatively I’d need a dedicated “transition pattern” (with a different 16th step) before the intended new pattern is launched, which would double the amount of patterns in the sequencer and create a lot of manual overhead in switching them.
Another way would be to launch the pads from another external Midi controller (like a Midi keyboard), but that would still force me to trigger the pattern change twice - once on the controller AND on the sequencer, thus also doubling the interaction.
Thanks for your feedback @josker !
I already posted my problems on the 1010music forum, with lots of additional details - see here:
and here:
I’m really grateful that so many people are taking an interest in this topic and responding - but unfortunately up until now noone could either replicate my specific problems (probably due to differences in the musical/technical setup) or recommend a functioning workaround.
And, yes indeed, I tried differnt power sources (different powerbanks, USB charger, USB port with 5V/2.4A), all while using the official USB cable provided by 1010music, but the problem remains, regardless.
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Alright – seems like you’ve done a lot to troubleshoot this already. FWIW, I’m using the RK-005, as well, with an iPad/Blackbox setup.
If there’s something you’d like me to test, I can go ahead and have a look.
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@josker
Ah, very interesting ! How is the Blackbox connected to the RK-005 in your setup - via Midi DIN or USB?
DIN Midi.