pMixUserManualv0.

UserManualv0.3

www.olilarkin.co.uk

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk

pMixUserManualv0.3

TableofContents
Introduction........................................................................................................... 3
Requirements ........................................................................................................ 3
Installation ............................................................................................................ 4
GettingStarted ...................................................................................................... 4
SettingUpYourAudioInterface.................................................................................................................. 4
InstallingPlugins................................................................................................................................................ 5
SettingUpThePluginList.............................................................................................................................. 5
LoadingPlugins .................................................................................................................................................. 6
AddingPresets .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Interpolating ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
ModifyingPresets. ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Automation ........................................................................................................... 9
UsingpMixwithothersoftware........................................................................... 11
OSC .........................................................................................................................................................................11
MIDI .......................................................................................................................................................................11
ReWire..................................................................................................................................................................11
KeyboardShortcuts ............................................................................................. 12
KnownIssues ....................................................................................................... 13
Bibliography ........................................................................................................ 13
License................................................................................................................. 13

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk

pMixUserManualv0.3

Introduction

pMix(shortforpresetmixer)isacompositionandperformancetoolthat
facilitatesthecontrolofmultiplepluginparametersusinganintuitivegraphical
interface.pMixhostsfourpluginsandletsyouinterpolatebetweenpresetsby
navigatinga2Dvisualenvironment.Presetsarerepresentedbycolouredballs
thatarepositionedonaplane.Thesizeofeachballanditsproximitytothe
cursoraffectstheweightoftheassociatedpresetintheinterpolation.pMixis
easytouseandhassomefunfeaturessuchasautomation,realtimevisual
feedbackandrandomization.

pMixisopensource,freesoftware.Ithastakenaverylongtimetomake,soif
youlikeitpleaseconsidermakingadonationtosupportdevelopment.

Requirements

2GhzCpu(IntelRecommended)
MacOSX10.4+
HardwareAcceleratedGraphicscard
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pMixUserManualv0.3

Installation

DragpMix.apptoyour[root]/Applications/folder.
Forkeyboardshortcutsupport,copythefilecom.olilarkin.pmix.app.plist
to[root]/users/[currentuser]/Library/Preferences/

GettingStarted
DoubleclickonthepMixicontostarttheapplication

SettingUpYourAudioInterface
Firstopenthepreferencestosetupyouraudiointerface.PressCommand + ,
orselectPreferencesintheFilemenu.Hereyoucanchoosethedesiredaudio
driversetthevariousinputsandoutputs.

Testyouraudioisworkingbyloadingandplayinganaudiofile.PressCommand
+ ; orselectPlayerinthePanelsmenu.Pressplay.

Youshouldhearthefilebeingplayedback.Ifyoudonthearanythingcheckthat
youselectedthecorrectaudiodriver.Toworkwithliveaudioinputinsteadof
soundfileplayback,setupyourinputchannelsintheAudiotabofthe
PreferenceswindowandchecktheAudioInputiteminthePanelsmenu:

OliLarkin2008

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pMixUserManualv0.3

InstallingPlugins
pMixcurrentlysupportsVSTeffectplugins.InstrumentsandAudioUnitswillbe
supportedinfutureversions.BeforeyoustartusingpMix,youneedtomakesure
youhaveinstalledsomepluginsinyourVSTpluginfolder.TheVSTpluginfolder
islocatedat/Library/Audio/Plugins/VST

TherearemayfreewareVSTpluginsavailableontheinternet.Herearesome
thatarenicetousewithpMix:

MaximDigitalAudio(MDA)Plugins:

http://mda.smartelectronix.com/
http://mda.smartelectronix.com/vst/mda_vst_ub.zip

Manymorefreepluginsareavailable.Formoreinfoseewww.kvraudio.com.For
thisdocumentwewilldemonstratepMixusingtheMDAPlugins.

SettingUpThePluginList
pMixletsyousetupalistoffavoritepluginsthatyouwanttouse.Thisisusefulif
youhavealotofplugins.Alsoitcanhelpyoutoavoidloadinganyunstable
plugins.ChoosethePluginstabofthePreferencespanel.

AllthepluginsinyourVST
folderarelistedhere,select
theonesyouwanttouse
andclickSaveList.Shift
clicktoselectmorethanone
atatime.

OliLarkin2008

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pMixUserManualv0.3

Presets
Plugins

LoadingPlugins
pMixhasfourplugininsertswhichcaneitherberoutedinserialorparallel.The
pluginsarecolourcoded.Tochangeapluginscolour,clickthelargecoloured
areainthepresetssection.
Toloadapluginintoslotoneselectanitemfromthelist:

Thepluginsparametersshowupbeneath

Nowselectwhichparameterstouseintheinterpolationbyclickingthem.To
avoidglitchesduringinterpolation,dontselectparametersthatarestepped(e.g.
ON/OFFswitches).NOTE:Althoughyouselectedonlycertainparametersofthe
plugin,infact,pMixstoresthevaluesofalltheparametersinthepreset.This
meansthatifyouforgottoselectacertainparameter,youcanadditatalater
stage.

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk

pMixUserManualv0.3

AddingPresets
TweaktheselectedparametersusingthepluginGUI,orbypressingtheRND
buttontorandomisethem.Whenyoufindasoundyoulike,selectAddfromthe
PresetsmenuorpressCommand + a.Anewitemisaddedtotheplugin1
presetslistandaballappearsintheiSpace(interpolationspace).Ifyour
mouseisintheiSpacewindowthenewpresetisplacedatthecursorposition,if
notitisplacedrandomly.Presetsarenamedandthesenamescanbedisplayed
intheiSpaceifdesired.Bydefaultpresetsarenamedautomatically.Ifyouwant
tobepromptedforthepresetnameeverytimeyouaddone,disable"autoname"
intheoptionsmenu.

Interpolating

WhenyouhaveaddedanumberofpresetstotheiSpaceyoucannavigate
betweenthemtointerpolate

OliLarkin2008

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pMixUserManualv0.3

ModifyingPresets.
Ifyouwanttoupdateapresettothecurrentparametervalues,selectitinthe
Presetspanelofthemainwindow,andclickupdate.Ifyouwanttodeletea
preset,selectitandclickdelete.Youcanalsohideapresetandclearallthe
presets.

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk

pMixUserManualv0.3

Automation

pMixfeaturestwomodesofautomation.Thefirstoftheseallowsfreehand
gesturestoberecorded,playedbackandlooped.Thesecondmethodusesa
pointandclickBreakPointFunction(BPF)generatorwithwhichyoucanadda
seriesofpointsontheinterpolationspace.Thepointsarejoinedtoforma
trajectory.EachlinesegmentislistedintheBPFeditorwithitsdurationin
secondsandasignedcurvefactortoadjustthevelocityastheinterpolationpoint
tracesthetrajectoryofthesegment.Positivecurvefactorsresultinapseudo
exponentialvelocitycurveandnegativefactorsresultinaninversepseudo
exponentialcurve.

OliLarkin2008

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pMixUserManualv0.3

Whendefiningthebreakpointfunction,ifyoumovethemouseoverapreset,
thatpresetishighlighted.Whencreated,thenewbreakpointisflaggedas
selectiveandissnappedtothepositionofthehighlightedpreset.Anylines
drawnbetweentwobreakpointsthatareflaggedselectivearecolouredgreen.
Duringplayback,onlythetwoassociatedpresetswillbeusedinthe
interpolationcalculation.Thisenablesprecisetransitionsfromonepresetto
anotheroveraspecifiedtimeperiod.Theusercandecidewhethertransitions
areselectiveornot,whichmakesiteasytoswitchbetweenonedimensionaland
multidimensionalpresetinterpolation.

10

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pMixUserManualv0.3

UsingpMixwithothersoftware

pMixsupportsseveralprotocolsforcommunicationwithotherapplications.

OSC
TocontrolpMixusingOSC,youneedtosetupaporttolistentoinpreferences
controllers.TickthecheckboxtoenableOSCcontrol.

TheOSCnamespaceusedtocontrolpMixisasfollows

/pmix/+theoneofthetagsbelow

Tag
Arguments
Notes
Type Range
ipos1
ff
(1:+1)(1:+1) Setplugin1interpolationposition
ipos2
ff
(1:+1)(1:+1) Setplugin2interpolationposition
ipos3
ff
(1:+1)(1:+1) Setplugin3interpolationposition
ipos4
ff
(1:+1)(1:+1) Setplugin4interpolationposition
ipos
ff
(1:+1)(1:+1) Setactiveplugininterpolationposition
setlayer i
14
Setactiveplugin

MIDI

CurrentlytheactiveplugininterpolationpostioncanbecontrolledwithMIDI
controllervalues.YoucansetuptheMIDIinputportandthecontrollernumbers
forXandYcoordinatesonthecontrollerspreferencepage.

ReWire
pMixcanoutputitsaudiotoarewirehost.Todothis,selecttherewireaudio
driverintheaudiopreferencesandconsultyourrewirehostsmanualtofindout
howtorouterewireinputs.

11

OliLarkin2008

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pMixUserManualv0.3

KeyboardShortcuts

BydefaultpMixusesthefollowingkeyboard/mouseshortcuts,whichcanbe
changedintheKeyboardpreferencepaneinOSXsystempreferences.

Key/Mouse Command
Function
rename clicked preset
shift + click preset
size dragged preset
alt + drag on preset
move one preset
cmd + drag preset
move all presets
cmd + shift + drag preset
rotate preset about centre
ctrl + drag up/down
rotate layer about centre
ctrl + shift + drag up/down
zoom in/out
mouse wheel +/cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +
space
cmd +
cmd +
cmd +

f
a
shift + a
t
d
5

[
]
c
x
p
=
0
bar
1/2/3/4

maximise interpolation space to fill screen

add preset with to active plugin
add a preset to all plugins
show/hide text labels
draw lines from ipos to each preset
link plugins
randomise selected plugin parameters
randomise preset sizes of active plugin
randomise preset positions of active plugin
force presets into a circle
force presets into a line
reset preset sizes on active plugin
zoom in
zoom out
zoom out full
start/stop automation
set active plugin
next plugin
previous plugin

cmd
cmd
cmd
cmd
cmd

,
6
7
8
9

open preferences
show/hide iSpace
show/hide Automation Panel
show/hide Player
show/hide Recorder

12

+
+
+
+
+

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk

pMixUserManualv0.3

KnownIssues

VSTinstrumentpluginsarenotsupported
VSTTempoSyncnotsupported
ResizingtheiSpaceinthepreferenceswindowisproblematic
Somepluginsareunstable
Rewiredriverisnotalwaysreliable

Bibliography

Ifyoureinterestedinthepresetinterpolatorconcept,herearesomepapersyou
mightliketoread

Teruggi,D.TechnologyandMusicConcrte:Thetechnicaldevelopmentsofthe
GroupedeRecherchesMusicalesandtheirimplicationinmusicalcomposition.
OrganisedSoundVol.12,no.3pages213231.2007

Larkin,O.Int.libAGraphicalPresetInterpolatorforMaxMSP.Proceedingsof
theInternationalComputerMusicConference(ICMC),2007.Copenhagen,
Denmark.

Allouis,JF.andBernier,JY.TheSYTERproject:Soundprocessordesignand
softwareoverviewProceedingsoftheInternationalComputerMusicConference,
Venice,Italy1982.

Bencina,R.TheMetasurfaceApplyingNaturalNeighborInterpolationtoTwoto
ManyMapping.ProceedingsoftheInternationalConferenceonNewInterfacesfor
MusicalExpression,Vancouver,Canada,2005.

Momeni,A.andWessel,D.CharacterizingandControllingMusicalMaterial
IntuitivelywithGeometricModels.ProceedingsoftheInternationalConferenceon
NewInterfacesforMusicalExpression,Montreal,Canada,2003.

Spain,M.Polfreman,R.Interpolator:atwodimensionalgraphicalinterpolation
systemforthesimultaneouscontrolofdigitalsignalprocessingparameters.
OrganisedSoundVol.6,no.2pages147152.2001

License
pMixisfree,opensourcesoftware.pMixisprovidedasis.Theauthorcannotbe
heldresponsibleforanydamagesresultingfromtheuseofthissoftware.Please
donotdistributewithouttheauthorspermission.

13

OliLarkin2008

www.olilarkin.co.uk