mx

mx mixes all audio outputs from sound generating instruments and provides a framework for using audio effects in netpd. Effects are organized in libraries, which must be loaded as instrument in unpatch before their effects can be used in mx. Effects may be used as inserts or auxilary channels. mx as of today works with stereo channels and also the mixdown result ist stereo (two channels).

Channel strip

Each instrument using the abstraction i2mx automatically creates a channel strip in mx with the instance name of instrument labelled on top (click the label to open the instrument).

Inserts

The light grey three slots are for loading effects as inserts (ligh grey area).

Aux sends

The green sliders are auxilary sends. The number refers to the aux channel the the signal is sent to, the sliders control the send amount. pst can be toggled to pre and back to pst. pst means post fader, which means the signal after panorama and level is sent to the aux channel. pre means pre fader, which means the signal sent to the aux channel is tapped before the level and pan controls.

Mixing control

The red horizontal slider is the panorama control, the bigger red vertical one controls the level sent to the main mix. s is solo, m is mute, and ps is private solo. Private solo acts only locally and is not propagated through netpd, thus does not affect peers.

Main output

The pink slider on the left controls the output volume. mx is hard-coded to use adc 1 + 2 of Pd. It also features a section with 3 slots for insert effects.

Aux section

The aux section is displayed by clicking the aux label on the very left in the main window. Aux channels are created dynamically by clicking |+| in the aux channel. Each aux channels features a slot for an effect and three pre-fader sends that send the signal to higher number aux channels. This “downwards” restriction prevents feedback loops and ensures that no additional latency is added to the signal.

Recorder

The recorder is launched by clicking on the rec label in the main section. It records the output (post-main-fader) of mx to a wav file with Pd’s current samplerate and a bitrate format of 16, 24, or 32bit-float. Since the recording happens inside Pd, any glitches caused by audio drop-outs and similar are eliminated in the resulting wav file.