Manual
This manual documents versions 103, 104, & 105 of the software. They are the same except as noted in the Configuration section.
Pulsar Buddy always requires the 12V supply to work. Unlike many similar Arduino units, this one will not power via USB.
The 12V supply is a standard 5.5x2.1mm barrel jack, center positive (+). It draws 60mA, max. You can use any compatible wall converter, or a "Y" cable to split power off another device that is is 12V, center +.
Since the control connections are all single wire, you must share signal ground with the other synth. If you are using a "Y" power splitter so that the unit and the synth share a power supply - you should be good. Otherwise, use the black banana jack to connect the unit's ground to some ground connection on the synth.
All signals are presented as both pins for alligator clips, and banana jacks. You can use both at the same time if you want. The connections are all protected against mis-plugging so long as things stay in the ±15V range.
The two pins on the short edge, and the two red banana jacks on the back are trigger inputs. They are labeled "C" clock and "O" other. A rising voltage over about 2.5V is considered a trigger.
The other four pins and jacks are trigger outputs. They are labeled "T" tuplet, "B" beat, "M" measure, and "S" sequence. They trigger with a rising voltage of almost 10V.
The four LEDs correspond to the four outputs. If you don't like blinking lights, you can remove the jumper labeled "LED Power" (near the ground jack).
The four sections of the display are:
- Sync: current BPM or synchronization status
- Sequence: number of measures and meter of the sequence
- Tuplet: tuplet ratio and note value
- Memory: four memory slots
Turning the knob left and right will select a field of the display. Clicking the knob then lets you change the value by turning. Click again to set the value. If you just pause, it'll all timeout and deselect.
Some operations require a "long" click - press for about 1.5 seconds, the display will change to let you know it was long enough, then let up. Now you can adjust a secondary parameter for the field.
Note: You never have to turn the knob while it is depressed.
To protect the OLED screen, the brightness dims a bit after a few seconds of inactivity. After about 15 min. of inactivity, a screen saver will will start, which keeps most of the display off. Just turn the knob to restore the display.
Pulsar Buddy syncs to the clock signal on the "C" input. You need to set what that clock represents. To do this, you turn the knob to highlight the sync field, and long-click:
Now you can use the knob to pick a sync value:
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- quarter notes -
- eighth notes -
- sixteenth notes -
- thirty-second notes
When using PB with the Pulsar-23, these correspond to the Pulsar-23's pins labeled "4", "8", "16", and "CLK" respectively. Using "CLK" means the Pulsar Buddy will respond to clock changes a little faster, but the rest of the Pulsar-23's clock dividers may be out of phase. Using "4" means that the "16", "8", and "4" clock divider pins will be in phase w/the Pulsar Buddy. [I have ideas to fix this in the future...]
Puslar Buddy also supports DIN sync. Besure to connect ground on the DIN connector (DIN pin 2 or the shield) to the ground jack, and the clock (DIN pin 3) to the "C" input.
Then long-click on the sync field, and choose:
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- DIN 24 -
- DIN 48
Pulsar Buddy can also ignore "C" and generate it's own BPM. Choose:
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- Internal sync
When internally sync'd, scrolling to the Sync field, and clicking just once allows you to then change the BPM by twisting the knob.
If everything is sync'd and good, the Sync field shows the current BPM. When the BPM is not a perfect integer, it is annoying to see the occasional jump in the BPM on screen, so the value displayed is filtered to be stable. The internal clock tracker is following the sync signal more tightly. Listen with your ears, not your eyes!
If sync isn't happening, you'll see one these in the Sync field:
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Paused: The incoming clocks seem to have stopped. -
Confused: The incoming clock is much faster or slower than makes sense for the Sync type. Like getting 100 clock per second when the Sync is supposed to be eighth notes. That would be 3,000BPM - which isn't likely!
The Sequence area sets up the length of a looped sequence. It outputs two triggers:
- "M" measure - at the start of each measure
- "S" sequence - at the start of each loop of the sequence
The Sequence is set with these fields:
- The number of measures in the sequence
- The number of beats in a measure
- The note value of a beat
- This compound selection will let you choose from common meters easily: 4/4 - 3/4 - 2/4 - 6/8 - 12/16 - 16/16
On the Pulsar-23, you can connect the "S" output to the "LRST" input, which will make the Loop Recorders cycle at the meter and measures set on the Pulsar Buddy. This is the raison d'etre of the Pulsar Buddy! Be warned: The Pulsar-23's Loop Recorder is maximally only 128 Pulsar-23 clocks (or 4 measures of 4/4). If you set the Pulsar Buddy sequence to be longer than that... well, things will be interesting!
Note: Changes to the Sequence settings are queued and happen at the start of the next measure.
The tuplet section controls the other two outputs:
- "B" beat - once for each base beat
- "T" tuplet - once for each tuplet beat
The Tuplet is set with these fields:
- The base beat
- The number of base beats in the group
- The number of tuplet notes the group is divided into
- This compound selection will let you select common tuplets easily: 3:2 - 2:3 - 4:3 - 5:4 - 7:4 - 7:6
Note: Changes to the Tuplet settings are queued and happen at the start of the next measure.
The current settings - Sync, Sequence, and Tuplet are always persisted so that if you turn off the Pulsar Buddy (or someone trips over your power cord), it'll come right back when you turn it back on.
In addition, the Pulsar Buddy has four memory slots, each holding the Sequence and Tuplet settings, so that you can switch between rhythms easily while playing.
Selecting the Memory field will then let you scroll between the four memories. In this mode, the display will show you the contents of the selected memory - but it won't be playing. If you want to load one, you must click the knob while it is showing. If you don't, just pause, and the selection will time out.
When you select a memory, it is queued and changes on the next measure boundary, so everything stays in sync. You'll see the "queued" markers, small triangles along the top, that indicated a pending change:
You'll also see those if you change any of the Sequence or Tuplet settings.
When you change the Sequence or Tuplet settings, it only affects what is currently playing. If you want to store those settings in a memory, you need to do so explicitly.
To save, scroll to the Memory section, and "long-click":
Only one dot will display. You can scroll to pick which memory to save it in, and then click. As always, if you just pause, it'll all time out and cancel.
You probably won't ever need these configuration options, and certainly never while you're playing. But there are some tunable options here. This is also how you see what version firmware the unit is running.
To get the configuration screen, hold the knob down while you power on the unit, until you see:
— 2x, cause the text is small; In v104 the layout is slightly different.
The knob will scroll around the various options. Clicking the knob while on an option toggles it on (+) or off (-).
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Line 1
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←- saves the configuration changes and restarts
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Line 2 - Options
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extBPM- extended BPM sync range: Normally Pulsar Buddy will sync only in the range 30 to 300 BPM. Enabling this (+) will allow it to track from 10 to 900 BPM. Downside is that Pulsar Buddy will generally not ever be "confused", alerting you to a bad setting. The clock tracking jitters more outside the default range, not that you're likely to be able to hear it at those extreme BPMs.
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Line 3 - Screen
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dim- causes the screen to always be dimmer, rather than turning bright as you use it -
saver- enables the screen saver. If you disable it (-), don't leave the Pulsar Buddy on 24 hours a day - the OLED will eventually fade over a few thousand hours of continuous display.
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Line 4 - Debugging - Leave these off (
-), unless you are working on the code.-
wait- wait for the serial line, over USB, to the Arduino IDE, while starting. This ensures you see all the debugging messages. If you turn this on, the unit won't fully start unless you have the USB connected to a computer and the IDE is running. -
f- write messages about flash storage -
t- write messages about timers -
p- plot the clock state variables, using the IDE's plot facility
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If you make changes, be sure to click on ← on line 1 to save and restart. If you want to abandon your changes, just power cycle the unit.
On line 4, wait has been shortened to just w, and a new button, hw was added to the end of the line. Clicking on hw enters the hardware test routine.
The display shows an image of the trigger pins & jacks, in and out. Twisting the knob will turn on and off the four trigger outputs in various patterns, some static, and some at 120bpm... just try it and see. The trigger inputs are monitored, and displayed on the screen at all times.
See Kit Assembly for the testing procedure.