Getting Started with The Missing Link

All the information you need to get jamming wirelessly

Powering The Missing Link

The Missing Link is powered via a 5 volt micro USB port on the back of the case. Included in the box with The Missing Link is a micro USB cable and a USB 5 v0lt power supply unit. This is the recommended way to power your Missing Link. However, most any 5 volt USB port (computer, USB hub, USB battery) will power The Missing Link. Use of power supplies other than the one included with your Missing Link is at your own risk!

Connecting The Missing Link to your WiFi Network

Out of the box your Missing Link will not know how to connect to your home WiFi network. Once The Missing Link boots up, you will see a message scrolling by “Searching for WIFI”. Once The Missing Link has determined that there are no WiFi networks it knows in the area, you will see a scrolling message that says “Access Point Mode”.

At this point The Missing Link has turned itself in to a WiFi router. The name of the WiFi network it created (also called an Access Point) is printed on the bottom of The Missing Link case as well as on the included “Quick Start” card.

  1. Connect your mobile or desktop computer to the Access Point created by The Missing Link. The name should be MissingLink-XXXX where the XXXX are four numbers or letters.
  2. You will be prompted for the password. It is “link1234”
  3. Open a web browser and type the following URL: http://missinglink-XXXX.local/
    Again, replace the XXXX with whatever the last four letters or numbers are in your Missing Link’s unique name.
    Note: if the above URL does not work, enter http://192.168.4.1
  4. Click the “Add WiFi Network” button
  5. Click the name of the WiFi network you wish to connect to.
  6. Enter the password and click Submit
  7. Your Missing Link will now reboot. When it boots back up, it should connect to the WiFi network you just added.
    Note: The software does not do any validation of the password. So if you enter the password incorrectly The Missing Link will not be able to connect to the WiFi network. It will go back in to Access Point Mode and you will have to follow the steps above again.

Connecting The Missing Link to your Gear

The Missing Link has two outputs on the back of the case. One is the clock signal and the other is a reset pulse. The clock can be configured up to 24 PPQN. The reset pulse happens at the start of each loop. The Loop setting sets the length of the loop in beats (quarter notes).

Eurorack Sequencer Modules

Most sequencer modules will have two inputs for controlling the playback of the sequence: the clock and a reset input. The clock controls the speed of sequence playback and the reset trigger input will tell the sequence to start back at the beginning of the sequence. By having The Missing Link trigger a reset at the start of every loop you ensure your sequencer will always be on the correct note at the start of each loop. This is a great safety net in case your sequencer falls out of sync. You can also use the reset feature to only play a portion of the sequence (say, just the first two quarter notes).

  1. Plug an 1/8″ TS patch cable from the Clock output of The Missing Link to the sync input of your sequencer module.
  2. Plug an 1/8″ TS patch cable from the Reset output of The Missing Link to the reset input of your sequencer module
  3. You may have to change a setting in your sequencer to have it sync to an external clock.
  4. Press The Missing Link’s encoder knob down to advance through the menu of options until you get to “Loop”
  5. Turn the encoder knob to set this to the desired number of beats. For a 1-bar loop in 4/4 this setting would be 4, a 2-bar loop would be 8, etc.
  6. Press play on the desktop sequencer. The seqencer should not start playing as The Missing Link has not started its clock yet.
  7. Press the Play button on The Missing Link. If there are other Ableton Link devices connected on your WiFi network The Missing Link will wait until the start of the next loop to start playing. If there are no other Link peers it will start the clock immediately.

Desktop Sequencers and Drum Machines

Sync Via Analog Clock

Drum machines or other desktop sequencers that have an analog clock input will most likely not have a Reset input as well. You will not be able to use the Reset trigger functionality of The Missing Link.

  1. Plug an 1/8″ TS patch cable from the Clock output of The Missing Link to the sync input of your desktop hardware.
  2. You may have to change a setting in your sequencer to have it sync to an external clock. Please refer to the owners manual for your drum machine.
  3. Press play on the desktop sequencer. The seqencer should not start playing as The Missing Link has not started its clock yet.
  4. Press the play button on The Missing Link. If there are other Ableton Link devices connected on your WiFi network The Missing Link will wait until the start of the next loop to start playing. If there are no other Link peers it will start the clock immediately.

If the drum machine or sequencer falls out of sync with the other gear that is connected via Ableton Link, do the following:

  1. Stop the sequencer by pressing its stop button,
  2. Make sure the sequencer has reset back to the beginning
  3. Stop The Missing Link by pressing the play button.
  4. Press the play button on your sequencer.
  5. Press the play button on The Missing Link.
  6. The Missing Link will start the clock at the start of the next loop.
Sync Via USB MIDI

The Missing Link supports sending MIDI clock via its micro USB jack. You will need a Micro USB to USB OTG (On The Go) Adapter. You can then plug in any class-compliant USB MIDI interface. Some drum machines and sequencers such as Elektron Digitakt and the Arturia BeatStep have MIDI interfaces built in. You can plug these directly via USB with no intermediary USB MIDI interface.

  1. Plug a Micro USB OTG adapter in to your Missing Link’s USB port.
  2. Plug a class-compliant USB MIDI interface in to the USB OTG adapter
  3. Plug the MIDI Out of your USB interface in to the MIDI In port of the device you wish to sync
  4. Power up The Missing Link and your drum machine.
  5. Press the Play button on The Missing Link. Your drum machine or sequencer should start playing as well.

Note: The analog Clock and Reset outputs are still active and usable for syncing analog gear while you are making use of the USB MIDI clock. So you can keep your modular rig and your drum machines all synced up with one Missing Link box!

If the drum machine or sequencer falls out of sync with the other gear that is connected via Ableton Link, do the following:

  1. On The Missing Link, press and hold the encoder knob down.
  2. While the encoder knob is being held down, press the Play button. You can now release both the encoder and the Play button.
  3. At the top of the next loop The Missing Link will send a “Start Transport” message to your MIDI gear. This will tell your MIDI gear to reset its transport to the beginning of its sequence and your MIDI gear will be back in time with everything else.