Is there a clock divisor that triggers on first step for any divisor?

Plugins & Modules
1

This is related to the problem of ‘how do I get a sequencer to play the first step when the clock starts?’ That’s a problem I’ve always solved by not caring too much about sequencers starting any particular place :grinning:

But this is a question that came up in a discussion of how to replicate Caterina Baribieri’s SOTRS sequences. The backbone of that piece is a 5 note sequence that rises in pitch, where the first note changes with each repetition. I solved that by using a @synthi “Dual Five Steps” module plus @jeremy 's JW Patterns module to do the division.

The catch with Patterns (and, as far as I know, all clock dividers) is that if you tell it to divide the clock by 5, it triggers on the 5th, 10th, 15th etc clock after reset.

It would be useful for dividers to have a ‘trigger on first clock’ mode, where divide by 5 would trigger on the 1st, 6th, 11th, 16th etc clock pulse.

This doesn’t matter in the case where you just want different clock divisors to cycle against each other and aren’t particular about how it turns out.

2

Aren’t all clock dividers supposed to behave this way? This is how I’d do it if we ever release a VCV Clock Divider module.

3

Pretty sure mental’s does and aridacity.

Oops sorry, wasn’t meant to reply to you Vortico.

4

It’s ambiguous in @vortico’s response what “That Way” refers to. Testing with scopes it appears: Aradicity Clock Divider: Nth Divisor puts out trigger on first clock Synthkit Clock Divider: Nth Divisor first pulse on Nth Clock.dividers.vcv (9.3 KB) AS Rebit Trigger Seq/Clock Divider: " " Autodafe Clock Divider: " " JW Patterns: " " If there are are more clock dividers than that they’re not tagged as “clock dividers”

5

“This way” means “the clock divisor triggers on the first step after a reset for any divisor.”

6

4ms Rotating Clock Divider well-documents this. https://4mscompany.com/clocker/manual/manual1.1.pdf
The mode I prefer is what they call “downbeat mode” and is switchable with a jumper shunt.

7

So you are saying both ways are valid? And what Patterns does now is up-beat counting?

8

Clocked will do 1 and 6 on a divide by 5 clock. The 1.1.1 version even has some handy new features about whether or not to reset on run or stop, and sending a 1ms pulse, which can be a lifesavers when trying to trigger multiple sequencers on the same beat in a reproducible manner.

2 Likes
9

Both ways are common, but “downbeat mode” is how I’d personally do it. I think the Doepfer A-160 also has a jumper in the back, but don’t quote me on that.

Downbeat mode seems more useful because a /4 divider for example will turn quarter notes 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, … into whole notes 1, 1, 1, … I wouldn’t want to have whole notes on beat 2, 2, 2, … by default. If I wanted that, I’d intentionally use a clock delay module.

1 Like
10

ok, thank you. Maybe I need to add an option on mine.

11

Frankly, I think that’s the only approach that makes musical sense for the reasons stated.

Luckily, Jeremy’s modules are sort of my go-to for more random stuff, so it’s less of an issue with Grid and Note-Seq. At least how I use them. :wink:

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12

A context menu option is best for modules that already use upbeat mode. You don’t want to break patches that rely on upbeat behavior. You can even make downbeat mode the new default by checking the existence of a JSON setting.

mode = downbeat

dataFromJson(json_t* root) {
	...
	if root["mode"] exists {
		mode = root["mode"]
	}
	else {
		mode = upbeat
	}
}
1 Like
13

You will love Gaps from holonic.systems.

14

The RKD with Break module in VCV Rack, clone of 4ms clock divider, has the switch for down-beat/up-beat

https://github.com/DomiKamu/Ohmer/blob/v1/res/Manuals/RKD%20&%20BRK%20User’s%20Manual.pdf

1 Like
15

It’s an old topic (October 2019, I agree), now the link for V2 manual is https://github.com/DomiKamu/Ohmer/blob/v2/res/Manuals/RKD_BRK_Manual.pdf

I’m the developer of RKD module.

16

KRTPluginA module I. It clocks a modulo ring based on a GCD of 1 to 16, and phase can be set as a percentage for each of the three 1 to 16 ranged dividers. If you find bugs let me know.

There is a minor bug. The phase controls have to be really full hard right to select the highest phase. I submitted a fix to the library for building and distribution. It slightly moves the phase required to select a point, so the phase knobs might need a tweek when the update is out.

1 Like
17

My way round this issue - mute everything for a bar or two at the start of your piece, gives everything time to sync up. Especially external clocks based on pulse signals from a DAW.

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