Getting Touch OSC to work on Windows XP

INTRODUCTION

Friends, DJs, musicians, once again I have run across software that is super-cool-awesome but is a little weak in the instructions department. Maybe I'm just slow. Whatever the case my be, I have set up Touch OSC for my iPhone, and have it controlling Traktor 3 on my Windows XP laptop. Simple enough? No! This is my attempt to make it as simple, or at least as thorough, as possible. With hope, this will be helpful to someone—including me when I forget how I did this in the first place.


STEP ONE: DOWNLOAD THE RAW MATERIALS

1. TOUCH OSC—Get yourself Touch OSC. Go to your iPhone or iPad. Click on the Applications icon and do a search for Touch OSC. Or get it from iTunes. As of December 2010, it is $4.99.

The develope who made Touch OSC has a website at Hexler.net

2. MIDI YOKE—Get yourself Midi Yoke. It's a program that's been around for several years that basically turns the signals from your Ipod-pad-phone into midi signals. Download it HERE or go to their WEBSITE (this is easier to navigate, trust me).

3. PURE DATA EXTENDED—Download Pure Data Extended. I don't know why. But you must install it.

4. PURE DATA FILES—Now you have to download some Pure Data configuration files. Again, don't ask. Just do it. Get it HERE. There are other configuration files that you can download, but let's get you up and running first.


SUMMARY

You will be downloading, and installing four (5) programs/files to your PC.

1. Touch OSC (from iTunes)
2. Midi Yoke [get it]
   
3. Pure Data Extended [get it]
4. Pure Data Basic [get it]
5. Pure Data mix2-midi.pd [get it]

STEP TWO: SETTINGS

2.1 Setting up Touch OSC on your iPhone-pad-pod

Once you set up Touch OSC and open it, you will see one of two configuration screens. Slide over to the one that says NETWORK. There will be four fields.

1. Hostname (more than likely, something like 192.168.1.x)
   
2. Port (outgoing) 9000
   
3. Port (incoming) 8000
   
4. Local IP address (this should already have a number in it)
   

To get your Windows XP hostname-ip address on your computer:

1. Go to the START menu and click on RUN.
2. In the popup window, type CMD
3. In the DOS popup window, type ipconfig /all
4. A bunch of information will appear including:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link xxxxxx
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.x.x
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.x.x
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.x.x
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.x.x

You are looking for the number on line:

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3

Enter this number on the Touch OSC Host line.

If you want to see where I got this information, go to wirelessforums.org.


2.2 Setting up Midi Yoke on your Windows PC

1. Install the file
2. Reboot your computer
3. Midi Yoke is now where it is supposed to be so go to the next step.
   

2.3 Setting up Extended Pure Data on your Windows PC

1. Install the file.
2. No need to reboot.
3. Open the program. It will need to be running for Touch OSC to connect to your DJ program. In my case, this is Traktor 3.
4. The program window will open. It will have a bunch of code in it, gibberish more or less. That's ok. Note that somewhere in the lines of code, you will see evidence of Midi Yoke running:

MIDI input devices:
1. In From MIDI Yoke: 1
2. In From MIDI Yoke: 2
3. In From MIDI Yoke: 3
4. In From MIDI Yoke: 4
5. In From MIDI Yoke: 5
6. In From MIDI Yoke: 6
7. In From MIDI Yoke: 7
8. In From MIDI Yoke: 8
MIDI output devices:
1. Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth
2. Out To MIDI Yoke: 1
3. Out To MIDI Yoke: 2
4. Out To MIDI Yoke: 3
5. Out To MIDI Yoke: 4
6. Out To MIDI Yoke: 5
7. Out To MIDI Yoke: 6
8. Out To MIDI Yoke: 7
9. Out To MIDI Yoke: 8

This is a good thing. It means that Extended Pure Data (or Extended PD as it's also known) is recognizing Midi Yoke. Below is a screenshot of Extended PD.

All that Midi Yoke does is take whatever signals are coming from the iPhone-Pad-Pod and converting it to midi signals.


2.4 Connect Midi Yoke

1. Go to the Main Menu bar and select Media > Midi settings...
   
   
   
   


2. Press the Output to Device 1 button. You will get this drop down menu. Select Out to Midi Yoke: 1.
   
   
   Midi Yoke is now activated.
   

2.5 Setting up Extended Pure Data Configuration File on your Windows PC

1. This will seem a little backward, but go to your iPhone-Pad-Pod and run the Touch OSC application.
2. Go to the main option screen. You will know you're there because you'll see the following fields: Network, Layout, and Options.
3. Tap on the Layout field and choose Mix 2. Technically you can choose any of the options, but I think this is the easiest way to go. When you get this working, then you can go and select other options. Be sure to click Done.
   
4. Go back to Extended Pure Data, select File from the menu, and open the file named mix2-midi.
5. If you cannot find this file for some reason, you can download it here. It's actually somewhere in the middle of the Hexler Touch OSC site, although it's located under the midi heading, it's still not in the easiest to find spot. You will also be able to find the corresponding files for the other Touch OSC configuration options under the midi heading.
6. Once mix2-midi is opened, another Extended PD will pop up. For mix2-midi you will see a representation of the three screens on your iPhone-Pad-Pod.
7. Now the moment of triumph. Go to your iPhone-Pad-Pod and start moving the controllers around. If everything went right, then you will see a little black line moving around.

2.6 Programs that need to be running

1. Touch OSC on your iPhone-Pad-Pod
2. Extended Pure Data w. the Extended Pure Data mix2-midi.pd window.
3. Traktor 3 (or whatever DJ program you have)
   

3.0 Start your DJ program

1. In the case of Traktor 3, go to File > Midi Setup and open the midi setup window
2. Click on Midi Interfaces
   
   
3. In the Midi In window (the top one) click on the first box under the Active column and click it and an X will appear in it. Notice that to the right it should read: In From Midi Yoke: 1 [Emulated]. This tells Traktor to treat your iPhone-Pad-Pod as a midi device.
   
4. Go to the Midi Setup option (just below Midi Interfaces) and start assigning the Touch OSC keys.
5. At this point, you are on your way to a better tomorrow.

4.0 Notes
4.1 Assorted Source-Resource Pages

• Pure Data Download page
• Hexler Touch OSC
• Download Midi Yoke
• wirelessforums.org

The Crestock Blog

http://www.crestock.com/blog/design/propaganda-parodies-part-1-burger-king-babies-kim-jong-il-in-pink-180.aspx

Quotes Collected 1

Display of superior knowledge is as great a vulgarity as display of superior wealth.
—Henry W. Fowler, The King's English, 1926

Prince. Erotic City

I've posted this for those who may have never known this classic song from the 80s. It's never really gone out of style and holds up as well as Doo Wah Ditty (Blow My Mind) by Zapp or Hypnotize by Notorious B.I.G. The Filipinos will know what I am talking about.

I forget exactly how long ago 1984 is. I recall that back then my name was Winston Smith. I worked in the Ministry of Truth. And I had yet to love Big Brother.

At the Two Minutes Hate, I think you can see Julia in the third row. It's hard to tell as we are all dressed similarly. Taken with my iPhone (1984)

Space Invasion: In smartphones, everyone can hear you scream

I should have written "With smartphones..." but that would negate the impact of the emotional reference to the movie Alien.

Decades ago, let's say in the 1980s, there was a device affectionately (or derisively) referred to as either a boombox or the ghetto-blaster. Despite the name, it was not a weapon as such. It was a giant portable stereo system, typically very wide and thin that could rest comfortably (depending on your arm size) upon the shoulder with a handle atop.

A boombox with turntable

The most popular configuration per my memory is that it would have a radio tuner built-in as well as a cassette deck. What made it a blaster is that it could play music very, very loudly.

There's a well-known seen in the Mel Brooks movie History of the World Part I where a fella is grooving down a crowded ancient Roman street with one on his shoulder. He was listening to Donna Summer's version of Funkytown.

History of the World Part I: The Roman Empire.

I should mention that the archetypal image has the speakers facing toward the head. It could be said to be a sort of early portable surround sound, albeit one that was both asymmetrical and brutal for the owner's ears.

If you perhaps have some misgivings that this image is stereotypical, possibly racist, then you may be right. Mel Brooks after all directed the cinema classic Blazing Saddles which unabashedly indulged the racial stereotype, more specifically, everyone's racial stereotype. But this is besides the point.

The point is that having to listen to someone play music loudly is not always very appealing. Even if you happen to like the music being played, it's still amounts to an invasion of space. I realize that may be a bit severe, and may categorize the sound of a car driving by as no different. But there is a difference between the two. A car driving by does not tax the attention the same way as a song, especially one with lyrics. If for instance, you are sitting at an outdoor cafe reading the Sunday editorials, the sound of a car driving by doesn't really jar the attention. You can tune it out. Now if there's music playing loudly, that's a whole different matter. Music engages the attention in a way that a car doesn't. You don't have to be a scientist to know this to be true.

Which brings me to the issue: Music played on cellphones.

For the past several months I have been running into situations where perfectly normal looking people will play their music, or a movie (for the love of god) on their cellphone using the external speaker. This makes it so I have to listen to their music or whatever. This means that I either have to put up with it, get the hell out of there, or confront the kid (because it has been the younger generation thus far).

The actual act is not as bad as the effect on my incredulity. I'm more flummoxed by the act of it, someone playing music out loud in a public space (waiting room, library, elevator, etc.) with no deference to others who have to listen to this crap. In fact it's always crap and will be crap as long as people insist on being buggers about it.

What does this mean? What is going through the mind of the person as he or she shares the music with people who may not be friends, even Facebook friends? That is the fun part. Trying to figure out what the angle is. My sense is that they don't care. That there is a lack of respect for the space of others. This is probably nothing shocking to the older generation who decry (to no end) the lack of respect these days. As always there's got to be more to it than that. The more could be the sense of entitlement that psychologists have been writing about, that these younger generations (the Millenial generation, of the ME Generation) have been imbued with the sense that anything goes. Not only that anything goes, but that this is a virtue unto itself. To do any less would render one in-genuine. They would be censoring themselves, end up being untrue to themselves.

The purpose here however is not to tender an explanation. It is to produce a kindly worded rant against those who would perpetrate space invasion.

Please note that if it already has not been coined, I hereby coin the idea of space invasion on this Tuesday, March 2, 2010.

Space invasion (n.) An act or instance of imposing an unsolicited burden on another person through the violation of implicit social mores. This person sitting next to me committed space invasion when he started playing music loudly on his iphone.

—This article could go a bit longer, but the time is nigh and I've other things to attend. Consider this a work in progress.

Some sort of design auction site—Neat

Wright

amped

Originally Posted on Myspace: Saturday, December 06, 2008

be not mistaken, that i am here in the computer lab doing research on a friday night does not make me a total loser--but i'm getting close.

Recently, I recalled a couple of run-ins with celebrity types. This happens from time to time in the Los Angeles area. They're not everywhere mind you. But they are about. Sometimes they're doing some shopping. Other times they are exactly where you'd expect like that one time I sat across from Hillary Duff (who I believe was underage at the time) at Cinespace in Hollywood. She was in the smoking lounge (it'll stunt your growth baby!) sitting next to that guy from Good Charlotte .

(what a twattish name, almost as twatter as Coldplay--whose music I'm generally cool with despite the objectionable name. Come on! Coldplay? Sounds like something a writer for Charles in Charge would come up with. That's bad by the way. As an aside, wasn't Nicole Eggert just a great 80s fox? A friend of mine knew her. I actually had her phone number in my hand. But I was a high school kid with an amateur's game. I could probably get her now. Back then...No.)

But I digress...

Anyway, so there's Hillary Duff. I met that nutty gal Bai Ling. I intend nutty as a compliment. In fact I always intend it as a compliment.

Recently I bumped into Olivia Williams, the British actress from Rushmore and a couple other movies. She was just finishing up at the Literati Cafe down on Wilshire with her kid, or so I assume, and a couple others. I wasn't sure if it was her at first. The tip off was a couple of people whispering to each other and looking in her direction. So much for being discrete. She pretty much looks the way she does on film. Tall and lithe with that British look. You know the look. I liked her in Rushmore. In fact I love that movie. As Soomi would say, it's so Gerr-ish.

Before that I ran across, oh lord, who the hell was it now? I already said Olivia Williams right? I can't remember.

There was that one time I cut in front of Felicity and that guy she was dating on the show that wasn't Noel. Yeah I watched it! I watched Ally McBeal too whaddya gonna do?! Yeah my gal and I back in the 90s were at 3rd Street Promenade at that fancy shabby chic clothing store. Aw shit, what was it called? Anthropologie. And we sidled into line for the register only to discover that the real line was behind us. Low and behold there was Felicity and the blond dude. They were cool about it so kudos to them.

And that's all I have to say about that.

my gut reaction

it should be immediately clear that these writings run the gamut.

I was listening to KPFK 90.7 while sitting in the CGU parking lot just above Drucker Way. I can't recall the name of the host, but she was peddling a probiotic supplement called the Dr. Ohira Probiotic12Plus.

I've heard the argument made many times that one of the strongest determinants of longevity is the quality of one's intestinal tract. It seems to make sense. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. If this is true then I must be very salty, sweet, and overall delicious. I suppose one can say, that on any particular day, I am a steak eclair. That's bad.

My concern with all this talk about health is that it is difficult to discern what works and what doesn't. I have been trained somewhat to be scientific in the way that I approach all subjects. In a practical sense, it means that I'm skeptical. I not only need proof, I need statistically significant proof. It's crazy.

So the question is, what works? And if it does, to what degree?

This I cannot answer as yet. Of course I hope it works, but this is the same bias that leads Jenny McCarthy to assail the use of immunization shots (apparently they cause autism, a claim that most research suggests to be wrong). I can't recall from where the following idea comes, but having control (perceived or otherwise) over one's environment is a tendency inherent in all humans. So why would Jenny McCarthy care about a connection between autism and her autistic child? Because although there's nothing she can do about the past, she can feel as if she had the power to do something about it. It is in this that a measure a comfort can be found.

But I digress...

What I would like is proof that this stuff works. Lisa Garr of The Aware Show (1pm on local station KPFK) claims that it does, and again I would really like to believe her. But sincerity and being earnest lends itself to bias as much as, if not more than duplicity and outright, lies. I require more, but maybe not much more because of my own bias. I want this stuff to work. As a result I'm willing to compromise. Yeah I'm a sucker. There's got to be a paper written about his sort of thing. Not just bias but the bias of the skeptical observer given a sincere and earnest source. Ah, but that's for another discussion altogether.

Of course I can just try this crap and see what happens.

If it doesn't cost too much and won't kill me, then why not? Maybe because principles prevent me from doing so? Posh to principles. I don't really mean that. Was it Whitman who said that, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds?

Back to work.

Inaugural

for the past hour I have struggled mightily to set up this blog. I have posted nothing, blogged nothing since neglecting my MySpace blog. It was an impressive blog by my own estimation. In the span of a year or two I had posted over 250 items of varying length. Some were inconsequential, a sentence or two to express a fancy. Others went on for several pages. Whether or not these were of any quality I cannot say at the moment. I would have to revisit them. If experience is any indicator, then more than likely they will embarrass me.

However, as it is with photography, should one take enough shots, snap enough pictures, set to paper enough wordage, then some are bound to be of decent quality.