Description
The other day, I tried to use Link in a show, and the quanta didn't sync.
- Me: SuperCollider LinkClock, Ubuntu Studio.
- Him: iPad (don't know iOS version), I guess the main rhythmic thing he was running was Patterning 3 but he had some other main-control interface, which I think was responsible for the Link connection.
- Dedicated WiFi router, not connected to the outside world.
The connection itself was fine: 2 peers on both machines, and I picked up his tempo (125 bpm) right away.
So then we tried a simple test, playing simple downbeats. I was 5 16th-notes early.
So this isn't a case of drift (because the desync was immediate), and it wasn't a case of not connecting (we definitely both saw 2 peers).
We quit and relaunched, and had roughly the same problem. Workaround on the fly was that I would stick to pulsed, but unmetered, material so that downbeats would be irrelevant.
I've used Link from time to time for several years. I've seen connection failures, and I've seen it drift, but I never saw the quantum just stubbornly get stuck a beat and a half off. Wondering how to prevent this in the future. Thanks.