Subject: RE: [linux-audio-dev] Modular synths of the world, unite and take over :-)
From: Ivica Bukvic (ico_AT_fuse.net)
Date: Wed Mar 19 2003 - 06:41:38 EET
> >I'm new to LADSPA, but isn't that what LADSPA control
> >protocol does?
> >
> Dunno. have to do some reading. What is Open Sound Control?
See http://cnmat.cnmat.berkeley.edu/OSC/ for more info.
Basically it is a network protocol that by default uses UDP via LAN to
communicate between various apps.
By default it was designed to convey midi data (commercial synth Reaktor
uses it), but it does so in a much more efficient fashion since it has
timestamps and one can thus send events that are to happen in future
prematurely in order to assure their timely execution.
Also, events can be bundled together so that they are executed at the
same time.
Finally, the syntax is very flexible and a number of other types of data
could be streamed (i.e. ints floats and strings).
Typical example of a OSC-type message would be:
Timestamp: /midi/<channel>/noteon <pitch> <velocity>
But it could be also:
Timestamp: /midi/*/noteon <pitch> <velocity>
This means that all channels receive the message.
Finally it could be used for a variety of other purposes, such as
changing an envelope on a synth:
i.e. Timestamp: /module1/envelope a d s r (4 ints)
OSC already supports (from the website):
Csound
The EyesWeb project
Grainwave
Flash (via flosc)
HTM
Max/MSP
Java
Macromedia Director Xtra "OSCar"
Objective C
Open Sound World
Pd
Perl
PHP
Python (via ProctoLogic or OSC.py)
SuperCollider
Reaktor (notes on OSC in Reaktor 3. Reaktor 4 (now in Beta) will have
many more OSC features.)
Sodaconstructor
Squeak (via Siren)
VisualWorks Smalltalk (via Siren or VW OSC)
"The Toaster": hardware that converts analog sensor data to OSC output
Also it is supported by my app RTMix which can be used as a MIDI
server/router (among many other things). For more info see
http://meowing.ccm.uc.edu/~ico/.
As you can see OSC is very powerful and already present in a number of
apps. While LADSPA protocol might be also very useful, it implies that
the module or synth is presented in a LADSPA plugin form, while OSC can
also manipulate self-standing apps (and there is no reason why LADSPA
plugin could not benefit from it as well).
Before I implemented MIDI sharing feature in my app, I spent some time
seriously considering various alternatives and settled for this one
since it provides (IMHO) for greatest flexibility and easiest
implementation (OSC-kit is available in a form of a lib, so the
implementation is a breeze). Hope this helps!
Ico
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