ForumsHardware ← Basic Instructions for Soundplane OSC?

Hi Randy,
Can you please give a super basic chain of instructions for how to output OSC from Soundplane to play Aalto or other softsynths using Ableton Live 9? If Live isn't compatible, is Pro Tools? A very simple list of instructions such as "check this box" and "send output to" would be great.

I am on a Macbook Pro running OS 10.9.3.

Is it possible to do this using ready-made OSC options, without any programming? Several months ago I got things working using OSCulator as a go-between, but I put the Soundplane away for a while, and now I can't seem to get things working. Not sure where the problem is. Could be something very simple I am missing.

I am a musician (violinist by trade) not a programmer, although I have learned quite a bit about electronic music over the last several years. However, all the learning curves are getting exhausting. For now I'd like to delve more into the musical aspect than the programming part.

Do you have a new manual in the works for the updated version of Soundplane software?

Thank you so much for any help! I do love my Soundplane (it's number #0028, bought on eBay.) It is a beautiful and organic interface, and I look forward to exploring the possibilities.
Best Regards,
Gloria

Hi, and welcome aboard!

The Soundplane should work well with Aalto without any need for OSCulator. You could use that program if you need a more complex OSC setup.

Aalto talks directly to the Soundplane application, and this connection should work in any DAW that can run Aalto, including Live. Pro Tools runs a different plugin format and so Aalto cannot run in Pro Tools.

steps to playing Soundplane + Aalto (or Kaivo):

  • install the latest version of Aalto (login, click "My Downloads" for link)
  • install the latest version of Soundplane app from here
  • create an instance of Aalto in your DAW of choice
  • connect your Soundplane and start the Soundplane app
  • activate OSC in the Soundplane app

You should see a red "OSC Connected" banner in the KEY section of Aalto.

Here are some Soundplane-specific Aalto patches to get started with: Aalto Soundplane patches

I apologize for the current state of the documentation, which is trying to reflect a moving target. As the Soundplane app settles down I really look forward to putting more documentation out there and generally making things more straightforward. Meanwhile, please feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

Thanks for the instructions and the presets! The basic routing is working fine, both regular MIDI and OSC directly from Soundplane to Aalto. The sound output in Ableton seems much heartier and more reliable with regular MIDI than with OSC, though. For now I'll use that until I have a better understanding of OSC.

Edited message: At first I did not see how to load the presets, because although I put them with all the other presets (in Library/Audio/Presets/Madrona Labs/Aalto) they did not appear in the preset area of the Aalto plugin. But I figured out how to access them through the Live Browser. Cool sounds!

One trick with OSC is to turn down the continuous data rate. That's just the "rate" knob. Otherwise all the data sent over OSC can flood the system.

The main drawback with MIDI, especially in Live, is that each voice is not independently controllable with pitch bend. Everything gets sent to one channel, essentially. If you are not using smooth pitch changes polyphonically then Live and MIDI may be fine.

I don't know why the presets wouldn't show up with the others. I am actually moving them again soon because of some Apple hassles. But then they will stay in one place after the next Aalto release, so I'm hoping the confusion will end soon.

I will try reducing the OSC rate. It would be nice to have as much expressivity as possible, since that is one of the Soundplane's talents.

Hello, late to the party here... Gloria how did you get Ableton live to see the Soundplane? It's not coming up as a control surface in the ableton MIDI tab, and I'm not getting any signal from the Soundplane?

ok i'm able to see the soundplane in the MIDI FROM dropdown on an instrument column, and i see my touches in the soundplane app, but nothing's coming through as a midi signal in Live. alternate midi sources working fine.

ok my problem (i'm a UI designer, duh) is that I don't understand the "on" state of the checkboxes in the MIDI and OSC sections. I thought "gray" was ON and "white" was off, but I randomly clicked them and I'm getting signal, still not sure what white and gray mean, but everything's going great now!

I'm truly sorry if that was unclear! Since this obviously wasn't intuitive to you, I'll try to think of how to improve it.

I think it's consistent that brightness equals presence, or more of something, in the dials as well as the toggles. I guess the disconnect was that you are used to seeing white as background—as we all are.

I could make the meaning of my interface more obvious, maybe, by darkening the actual background of the window. The reason I haven't done this is: light text on a dark background is generally harder to read (and IMO, less good looking) than dark on light.

I'll keep working to find a good balance!