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Yummy Toys » Beat Sync

Everything in music demands a synchronized beat... the metronome click, a drum groove, a delay slap, tremolo pulse, an arpeggio, etc. OnSong accounts for this through a shared beat clock that is constantly in-the-know about tempo, time signature, and when each measure starts. Beat Sync is what starts and synchronizes multiple components in OnSong so you're always in the pocket. (Or at least trying to be.)

One Tempo, One Clock (We Promise We Built This Right)

There's a single clock for the whole app. It knows three things: the tempo, the time signature, and where you are in the bar — which beat, and which subdivision of that beat. The tempo of the beat clock is usually set by the underlying song being played, but it can be driven by other internal and external factors. These include:

• Song Tempo is the most common way the tempo and time signature is set, you know, when you're not being a rebel.
• Ableton Link lets you connect OnSong to other apps or equipment so OnSong can stay in beat and phase with Ableton, a metronome app, or a wrist worn watch. (Yes, really. Your watch.)
• MIDI Clock can now hear the difference between each beat and downbeat and use that to update the tempo. It's basically a mind reader.
• Backing Tracks are processed when played through the AuxDock to determine their beat grid, changing tempo as needed throughout the track. We do the heavy liftin' so you don't have to.

Following The Beat (Or Else)

Everything in the OnSong^® app now subscribes to the beat clock. The first component to use the beat clock can set the down beat. For instance, if you start the metronome, the downbeat is heard right away and everything else synchronizes with the metronome like good little digital soldiers. If you are actively received beat and phase information through something like Ableton Link or MIDI Clock, the metronome will start on the next beat, but align downbeats to the beat clock. First in wins and everything else falls in line.

Metronome

This is the most obvious integration of the beat clock including the count-in. (Ya know, that annoyin' clickity-click before you actually play.)

AuxDock Atmosphere

This plays a canvas of sound that can be started, stopped and changed with those changes synchronized to the current beat. Fancy, right?

AuxDock Pedalboard

What if your guitar effects could stay in sync with every aspect of the song? Plot twist: they can. The AuxDock features timed pedals that can have time parameters set to a musical subdivision. Quarter, dotted eighth, and so on, followin' tempo changes as they happen on: - Delay - Tremolo - Phaser - Wah

AuxDock Chordboard

This lets anyone (and we mean anyone) play chords in the song. It uses an arpeggiator and strum system. Beat sync ensures each chord change and note is played at the right time, not whenever your fingers decide to have a mind of their own.

AuxDock Drum Rack

Is a full drum machine that ensures the groove, fills, and ending land where you'd expect rather than where you accidentally tapped like a caffeinated squirrel.

AuxDock Virtual Instrument

This is a guitar that can strum or pick to the chords in your song. Beat sync lets it all play in time rather than whenever you touch it. (Revolutionary concept, we know.)

The clock only runs when something is listening. Nothing is being kept in time, nothing is ticking. It's basically a lazy coworker.

Dynamic Tempo & Meter (Plot Twists Welcome)

A song doesn't have to hold one tempo anymore. Each section can carry its own directives and the beat clock is updated when each section is selected:

• {tempo: 72} changes the tempo to the new BPM value. Wild, huh?
• {time: 6/8} changes the time signature meter to 6/8. The new meter starts on a clean downbeat rather than part-way through a bar. (We're not savages.)
• {ramp: 4} glides from the current tempo to new tempo over a number of measures, beats, or seconds rather than immediately. Typing just a number specifies the number beats. Using a syntax like 1,2 would change it over a measure and two beats. Appending an "s" to the end like 2s would define the number of seconds independent of the tempo. (Smooth criminal tempo energy.)

These are live changes, not edits! They move the tempo of everything without rewriting the song's own tempo. It's like time travel but for your setlist.

Enabling Beat Sync (Flip the Switch Already)

Beat Sync appears wherever it's relevant, as a small pulsing LED with the current BPM beside it. The LED blinks on the beat, so you can see at a glance both that sync is on and what tempo it's on. Basically a tiny disco ball for nerds.

Tapping it toggles that surface's sync. When you do, a chip floats briefly in the dock — armed, it offers Ableton Link… as the way of sharing the tempo with other devices or that it's been disarmed, confirming that beat sync is off. (You got this.)

Where It Counts (Literally the Only Place That Matters)

When the metronome counts you in, beat-synced instruments stay silent through the count and start on the first real downbeat. They don't play along with the count and they don't come in late — the first beat is scheduled ahead of time so it lands exactly. No excuses. No mercy. Just precision.

Why It Doesn't Drift (The Nerdy Bit)

Two details do most of the work, and they're worth knowing because they explain why beat-synced audio in the OnSong^® app stays tight where other approaches wander like a confused bassist.

The clock's grid is anchored to the device's monotonic hardware clock, not to a repeating timer. A timer accumulates a little error on every tick; an anchored grid computes when each beat should happen, so beat ten thousand is as accurate as beat one. Math is cool.

Beat-synced audio is scheduled ahead of time rather than played when the tick arrives. The clock can say precisely when an upcoming beat will occur, so a drum hit is handed to the audio engine in advance with that timestamp attached. If the app is busy for a moment, the audio has already been scheduled and still lands on the beat. Basically we cheat in your favor.

If something sounds like it's drifting, check whether its Sync is actually on — an effect with Sync off is running on its own rate knob, which is a legitimate setting and looks identical from across the stage. (We can't help you if you forget to turn it on, friend.)