293 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
293 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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! title Non Mixer User Manual
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! author Jonathan Moore Liles #(email,male@tuxfamily.org)
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-- Table Of Contents
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: User Manual
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:: The Mixer
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/ Mixer
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< non-mixer-complex.png
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The Non-Mixer is a stand-alone audio mixer, utilizing JACK as an
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audio subsystem. At the time of writing, the architecture of
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Non-Mixer is unique. By making the mixer stand-alone, concepts such
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as busses, sends, and inserts are eliminated, as the same goals can
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be achieved by simply adding more strips to the mixer.
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Start by creating a new project (menu item `Project\/New`).
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/ New Project
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< new-project.png
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After the project has been created. Hit `a` or choose `Mixer\/Add
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Strip` from the menu to add a new strip to the mixer.
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::: Display Options
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The display options, found in the `Options\/Display` submenu may be adjusted
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to suit your needs. Set the color scheme, widget style, and other graphic
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options to your liking. These options are global and affect all projects.
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::: Mixer Strips
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/ Mixer Strip
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< single-strip.png
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Each mixer strip has a name and color, each of which may be defined
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by the user. Names, but not colors, must be unique. In addition,
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each strip has controls to move it left or right (the arrows) in the
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display and to remove it entirely (the 'X').
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Strips start out in /narrow/ mode, with the /fader/ view
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enabled. Click the desired button to toggle the mode or view.
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Each strip has a context menu which lists the available options
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and their associated key-bindings. To bring up the context menu, `Right
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The fader view comprises a large gain control and digital peak meter
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indicator. These are automatically connected to the default gain and
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meter modules of the strip's signal chain.
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To see how an audio signal traveling through this strip will be
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processed, switch to its /signal/ view.
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:::: Navigation
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A strip is focused when you click on it. Focus can be moved among
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strips with the `Tab` and `Shift-Tab` keys.
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:::: Control
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The focused strip can be moved in the display order via the `[` and
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`]` keys. `Delete` removes a strip (with confirmation dialog). `n`
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and `w` set the focused strip's width to /narrow/ or /wide/,
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respectively, and `f` and `s` switch between /fader/ and /signal/
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views. The strip's context menu can be invoked without the mouse by
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hitting the `Menu` key (assuming your keyboard has one).
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:::: Signal Chain
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The signal chain view of a mixer strip provides a way to view and
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manipulate the signal processing of a mixer strip.
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::::: Modules
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/ Modules
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< modules.png
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All signal processing in Non Mixer occurs in /Modules/. Modules are
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signal processing abstractions providing ports for audio and control
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I\/O and, in addition, some simple user interface. Sink and source
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modules carry audio out of and into JACK.
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Modules are displayed as named blocks. Some modules (e.g. the Meter
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module) may have additional GUI components.
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Each module has zero or more audio I\/O ports and zero or more
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control ports. Audio routing between modules is handled
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automatically. Modules with mono audio configurations (one channel
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in, one channel out) can be automatically adjusted to support any
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number of discrete channels. Modules with more (related) channels,
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however, introduce restrictions on the order in which modules can be
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chained.
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An indicator in the upper left-hand corner of each module block
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indicates whether the module has any parameters bound to controls.
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Non Mixer has several built-in modules. They are:
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= JACK
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= Performs JACK I\/O
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= Gain
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= Applies gain in dB
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= Meter
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= Digital Peak Meter
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= Mono Pan
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= Performs intensity panning of a mono signal into a stereo signal.
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= Plugin
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= Hosts a LADSPA plugin
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:::::: OSC Control
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The input parameters of all modules are controllable via OSC,
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regardless of whether the parameter is set as controllable.
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The format of the automatically generated OSC path names is as follows:
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> /strip/[STRIP_NAME]/[MODULE_NAME]/[PARAMETER_NAME]
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The UDP port that the OSC server binds to can be set by providing
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the `--osc-port` command-line option. Without this option, a random
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port will be bound automatically (the exact OSC URL will always be
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printed to the console as a line beginning with "OSC: ").
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The default path accepts a float value between 0.0 and 1.0 (a
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Control Voltage like signal) which will be automatically scaled to
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the allowable range of the control.
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A path ending in \/unscaled is also available, which accepts exact values,
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which will be clamped to the allowable range. For example:
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> /strip/[STRIP_NAME]/[MODULE_NAME]/[PARAMETER_NAME]/unscaled
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If same module\/plugin is used twice in a signal chain
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(e.g. multiple Gain stages), then a position dependent sequence
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number will be appended to the module name. For example, a path
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might look like the following:
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> /strip/Foo/Gain.1/Gain_(dB)
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For the second instance of the Gain module on the strip named 'Foo'.
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Non-DAW accesses these same signals via a more advanced signal
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routing layer on top of OSC. Any module parameter is easily
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controlled via Control Sequences in Non-DAW without the need to
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specify an OSC URL.
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:::::: Manipulation
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Left-clicking on a module brings up a Module Parameter Editor window
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for the selected module.
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Right-clicking on a module brings up a context menu allowing you
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manipulate the module, as well as to pick a new module to insert
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before the selected one in the chain.
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Middle-clicking on a module toggles its activation state (the audio
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signal will bypass inactive modules).
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Control+Right-clicking on a module causes it to be removed from the
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chain (modules added by default cannot be removed).
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The focused module may also be controlled via the keyboard. `Menu`
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brings up the context menu for the focused module. `Space` opens the
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module parameter editor, `b` toggles the bypassed state, and
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`Delete` removes the module from the chain (without confirmation!).
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`Control-X`, `Control-C` and `Control-V`, cut, copy, and paste
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modules, respectively. Modules may be copied within or across chain
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boundaries. The normal module I\/O constraints also apply to pasted
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modules.
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:::::: Module Parameter Editor
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/ Module Parameter Editor
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< gverb-parameters-knobs.png
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The Module Parameter Editor is used to alter the values of a
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module's parameters, and in addition, to bind its parameters to
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controls. A menu button in the upper left-hand corner allows you to
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select between knob, vertical slider and horizontal slider controls.
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/ Horizontal Sliders
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< gverb-parameters-hsliders.png
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/ Vertical Sliders
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< gverb-parameters-vsliders.png
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Underneath each control is a bind button. Clicking adds a new
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control to the chain's /Controls/ view and binds it to the parameter
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in question. For simplicity, only one control at a time may be bound
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to a given parameter.
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:::::: Controls
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/ Control View
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< controls.png
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The control view of a chain groups together all of the controls
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bound to parameters of modules in that chain. The default mode of
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controls is /Manual/. Right click on a control to bring up a menu
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which will allow you to select one of the available control I\/O
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methods to use. When /Control Voltage/ (CV) is selected, a CV input
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port will be created on the containing mixer strip's JACK
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client. The control will now accept values from that input. A
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control bound and configured in this way can then be connected to
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the output of a Non-DAW control sequence using your favorite
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connection manager.
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{ NOTE:
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{ All knob and slider controls respond to mousewheel
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{ events. Hold down the `Ctrl` key while scrolling the mousewheel to
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{ achieve finer resolution.
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::::::: Control Voltages
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The control voltage concept should be familiar to anyone who has
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experience with analog modular synthesizers. MIDI, while having
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definite advantages in many respects, multiplexes control data in
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such a way as to make connecting one MIDI control to a parameter
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involve a significant inconvenience, usually requiring the
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adjustment of settings on both ends of the connection in order to
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separate the control data streams.
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Control Voltages, on the other hand, provide a simple 1:1 source to
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sink relationship and offer much higher resolution, both in time and
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value, than can be natively expressed through MIDI. The chief
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advantage of CV in the context of Non-DAW is the ease with which an
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control sequence can be connected to a mixer module parameter. If
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you have a MIDI controller that you'd like to use to control
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parameters of Non-Mixer, consider /jm2cv/, a JACK MIDI to Control
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Voltage daemon which was written by Peter Nelson specifically for
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use with Non-Mixer. jm2cv can be acquired by:
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> git clone git://fuzzle.org/jm2cv.git
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{ NOTE:
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{ The use of Control Signals (OSC) should be preferred for most types
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{ of parameter automation, as LADSPA plugins are incapable of
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{ processing Control Voltage signals at full audio resolution anyway.
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:::::: Spatialization
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/ Spatialization Control on a Strip
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< spatialization-on-strip.png
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Non-Mixer supports Ambisonic spatialization via the excellent amb-\*
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LADSPA plugin set and others. Whenever a LADSPA plugin is added to a
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strip whose set of parameters include parameters named Azimuth and
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Elevation, Non-Mixer will detect this and automatically attach a
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Spatializer control to these parameters. The Spatializer will be
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displayed at the bottom of the mixer strip. A larger version of the
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control may also be found in the Module Parameter Editor.
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/ Larger Spatialization Control
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< spatialization-in-mpe.png
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The spatialization control may be visualized as moving the sound
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source across the surface of a hemispherical dome enclosing the
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listener.
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The output of the spatializing plugin may be routed into a decoding
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plugin following it the same strip or, more usefully, the output of
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a number of Ambisonic panning plugins on different strips may be
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routed (through JACK) into a single master decoder instance on a
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final strip.
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::: Projects
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A Non-Mixer project is a directory where Non-Mixer keeps the strip
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settings, project specific settings, and some meta-data. A project
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is completely self-contained. You can rename a project as simply as:
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> $ mv Project-A Project-B
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:::: JACK I/O
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Each mixer strip is presented as a separate JACK "client". This
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helps to avoid the necessity of internally duplicating JACK's
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routing logic and, with JACK2, permits the possibility of parallel
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execution of mixer strip signal chains.
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The JACK client name of each strip will correspond to the name of the strip.
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{ NOTE:
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{ The JACK API makes implementing this far more difficult and kludgey than it should have to be.
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{ Please petition your local JACK developer to accept jack_client_set_name() into the API.
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/ Patchage
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< non-mixer-and-non-daw-in-patchage.png
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