“I want to sync my Roland VS-1880 recorder with a MIDI sequencer, but cannot get it to work. Can I make my tempo maps follow?”
Roland VS series recorders will not sync to external MIDI Clock, but they can generate it. There is a workaround that will basically make a tempo map in the VS out of the tempo of the sequencer. Then, when the VS sends MIDI Clock, it will send the appropriate tempo and bars and beats.
Set your sequencer (keyboard or software) to transmit MIDI clock and sync to Internal. Basically, set your sequencer as the MIDI clock master.
On the Roland, go to Utility – Sync – Sync track record = On.
The VS will say, “Wait for start command”.
Start your sequencer. The Roland will now record the tempo/beat information, thereby creating its own tempo map.
Now, set your sequencer to be MIDI clock slave, or to external clock, or external sync (based on the terminology your sequencer uses), and now your VS will send the correct tempo/beat information to keep your sequencer in sync with what you are doing.