# Patchboard app



## reddognoyz (Sep 19, 2018)

This looks very interesting. It is a very boutique developer, but I know he worked for one of the major daws. It is VERY pricey at the moment, but affordable options are slated to be released. 

https://patchboard.app/


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## lp59burst (Sep 19, 2018)

I think I'll wait and see if they have a BF sale...


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## mrmiller (Sep 20, 2018)

reddognoyz said:


> This looks very interesting. It is a very boutique developer, but I know he worked for one of the major daws. It is VERY pricey at the moment, but affordable options are slated to be released.
> 
> https://patchboard.app/



Heya! Lonely developer & creator here. Lemme know if you have any questions! I quietly made Patchboard available for sale two days ago. I hadn't even announced anything yet, so it's exciting to be noticed! (I've been running a kind of private "beta" with a handful of composers for the past 6 months.)

As reddognoyz said, initial launch is very pricey but targeted at studios that need in-depth support and custom features. I'm using the time in between to work on the "DIY" and "INDIE" editions, building additional features and presets useful for those of us without dedicated assistants


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## chocobitz825 (Sep 20, 2018)

mrmiller said:


> Heya! Lonely developer & creator here. Lemme know if you have any questions! I quietly made Patchboard available for sale two days ago. I hadn't even announced anything yet, so it's exciting to be noticed! (I've been running a kind of private "beta" with a handful of composers for the past 6 months.)
> 
> As reddognoyz said, initial launch is very pricey but targeted at studios that need in-depth support and custom features. I'm using the time in between to work on the "DIY" and "INDIE" editions, building additional features and presets useful for those of us without dedicated assistants


this seems like an incredibly useful tool for folks with far too many instruments like myself. unfortunately, in this case, I'm a studio one user, and looks like the necessary EUCON support is not there yet...


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## mrmiller (Sep 20, 2018)

chocobitz825 said:


> this seems like an incredibly useful tool for folks with far too many instruments like myself. unfortunately, in this case, I'm a studio one user, and looks like the necessary EUCON support is not there yet...



I may be able to integrate directly with Studio One like I'm doing with Pro Tools, Logic and Digital Performer. I would need to create a custom control surface plug-in (or devise a non-approved way of interoperating). I'm honestly not sure what Presonus provides in that regard but I can reach out to them.

The integrations can be a lot of work and somewhat time consuming, depending on what's involved. Unless there was a lot of user demand, I'd probably want to treat it as a custom feature commission. That's how the Logic support came into existence, for example. If you want to chat more about it, send me a PM or email me at [email protected] and we can discuss more.


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## dgburns (Sep 20, 2018)

@mrmiller - will the DIY version have the same capabilities as the PRO? Not sure what the differences are...is it that we need to setup our libraries from scratch with the DIY version?


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## mrmiller (Sep 20, 2018)

dgburns said:


> @mrmiller - will the DIY version have the same capabilities as the PRO? Not sure what the differences are...is it that we need to setup our libraries from scratch with the DIY version?



All three versions are identical aside from the presets that are available in INDIE and PRO. I really don't like when software has artificial limitations. I much prefer to differentiate with additional helpful services than find some cruel way to cripple the program. I have similarly strong feelings against subscriptions for professional tools (though I'm considering a rent-to-own option).

As for the presets, they're nothing special—you could easily recreate them yourself, nor does it take very long. You'll have to do that anyways if you've changed the Kontakt (or other) patches from their default keyswitch settings, or at the very least edit the preset to match what you came up with.


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## dgburns (Sep 21, 2018)

mrmiller said:


> All three versions are identical aside from the presets that are available in INDIE and PRO. I really don't like when software has artificial limitations. I much prefer to differentiate with additional helpful services than find some cruel way to cripple the program. I have similarly strong feelings against subscriptions for professional tools (though I'm considering a rent-to-own option).
> 
> As for the presets, they're nothing special—you could easily recreate them yourself, nor does it take very long. You'll have to do that anyways if you've changed the Kontakt (or other) patches from their default keyswitch settings, or at the very least edit the preset to match what you came up with.



Nice. Just for the record, I’ve spent about 5 years developing my own ‘roll your own’ lemur solution that is no where near as elegant as what you just developed. My sincere respect and thanks for this very needed solution. Please lemme know when a diy version is available.


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## funnybear (Sep 22, 2018)

That looks very interesting!! Would love a live walk through video to see how seamless the patch recall feature is.

For example, as I select the patch in Patchboard, after it jumped to the DAW track that has the instrument loaded, would it ALSO open the VST window (Kontakt etc.) so that I can immediately edit there (and close the previous VST window)? Because that would make live SOOOOO much easier.

As a general point of interest: how did you manage to code the Eucon interface in Cubase? I have been playing around with a MIDI hardware controller (Arduino) that I built and wanted to explore the Eucon protocol to allow better parameter control but did not find anything on the web?


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## mrmiller (Sep 22, 2018)

dgburns said:


> Nice. Just for the record, I’ve spent about 5 years developing my own ‘roll your own’ lemur solution that is no where near as elegant as what you just developed. My sincere respect and thanks for this very needed solution. Please lemme know when a diy version is available.



Thanks!! And I will let you know about the DIY version. I anticipate it will be a few months. Got some things to finalize first.


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## Olfirf (Sep 22, 2018)

funnybear said:


> That looks very interesting!! Would love a live walk through video to see how seamless the patch recall feature is.
> 
> For example, as I select the patch in Patchboard, after it jumped to the DAW track that has the instrument loaded, would it ALSO open the VST window (Kontakt etc.) so that I can immediately edit there (and close the previous VST window)? Because that would make live SOOOOO much easier.
> 
> As a general point of interest: how did you manage to code the Eucon interface in Cubase? I have been playing around with a MIDI hardware controller (Arduino) that I built and wanted to explore the Eucon protocol to allow better parameter control but did not find anything on the web?


You are in the same boat as I am, I suppose ... I already got a version of my own lemur/max msp template control running. I am very excited about exactly that part of the patchboard app: a custom control surface software (or a hacked EUCON in some cases)! That is something I just couldn't get Cubase to do without really programming and hacking EUCON is probably out of my league as well. That is why I would think a very simple feature added could make the standard edition a true DIY project. That is somehow being able to access the track names send and the information of single /multiple instruments record anabled and selected. I would gladly pay the price for only that feature, even without the rest of the software. It would enable me to get my own lemur/max msp stuff to the next level. Lemur and Max, while certainly nothing that works out of the box, is a true DIY workhorse for anyone with some patience to work out almost anything in terms of template customization. But I am no programmer, so, the limitations to me were always, where the communication with the DAW had limits, like the (unfortunately) underdeveloped generic remote in Cubase! As it is, I can not buy the standard edition of patchboard, as it would not allow me to do any further customization with Max and Lemur. Spending money on a custom version could be an option, if not to expensive, but right now, with music being payed so poorly, I can not justify spending thousands on something like that. Just getting the daw feedback for Cubase would be worth a lot to me, though! I already wrote that "request" to MR Miller already. I hope others would like to get that as well. Maybe, we can do some sort of group buy ...


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## mrmiller (Sep 22, 2018)

funnybear said:


> That looks very interesting!! Would love a live walk through video to see how seamless the patch recall feature is.
> 
> For example, as I select the patch in Patchboard, after it jumped to the DAW track that has the instrument loaded, would it ALSO open the VST window (Kontakt etc.) so that I can immediately edit there (and close the previous VST window)? Because that would make live SOOOOO much easier.



The patch recall and record arming is basically instant (Pro Tools takes a hair longer than the others though). As for the instrument window, Patchboard isn’t actually doing anything there; that’s a Logic feature to have the plugin window follow the current selected track. That said, it may be possible to recreate that feature in other DAWs with Patchboard. I haven’t looked into it though to know for sure. If there is a command to open an instrument for the selected track, then definitely!

Though my goal is actually to make it so you don’t even need to see the plugin UI anymore and can just use the dashboards to control the instruments, at least for the static template stuff. Obviously doesn’t apply to synths and stuff you tweak though.



funnybear said:


> As a general point of interest: how did you manage to code the Eucon interface in Cubase? I have been playing around with a MIDI hardware controller (Arduino) that I built and wanted to explore the Eucon protocol to allow better parameter control but did not find anything on the web?



That’s a trickier question. Avid only provides a client SDK to developers, eg so you can support EUCON devices in your DAW. They don’t provide anyone the capability to make their own EUCON devices and it’s a proprietary protocol. So I maybe deciphered how that protocol works. It’s complicated to say the least...


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## mrmiller (Sep 22, 2018)

Olfirf said:


> You are in the same boat as I am, I suppose ... I already got a version of my own lemur/max msp template control running. I am very excited about exactly that part of the patchboard app: a custom control surface software (or a hacked EUCON in some cases)! That is something I just couldn't get Cubase to do without really programming and hacking EUCON is probably out of my league as well. That is why I would think a very simple feature added could make the standard edition a true DIY project. That is somehow being able to access the track names send and the information of single /multiple instruments record anabled and selected. I would gladly pay the price for only that feature, even without the rest of the software. It would enable me to get my own lemur/max msp stuff to the next level. Lemur and Max, while certainly nothing that works out of the box, is a true DIY workhorse for anyone with some patience to work out almost anything in terms of template customization. But I am no programmer, so, the limitations to me were always, where the communication with the DAW had limits, like the (unfortunately) underdeveloped generic remote in Cubase! As it is, I can not buy the standard edition of patchboard, as it would not allow me to do any further customization with Max and Lemur. Spending money on a custom version could be an option, if not to expensive, but right now, with music being payed so poorly, I can not justify spending thousands on something like that. Just getting the daw feedback for Cubase would be worth a lot to me, though! I already wrote that "request" to MR Miller already. I hope others would like to get that as well. Maybe, we can do some sort of group buy ...



Yup, request received loud and clear! Patchboard does have a minimal OSC and command line API for record arming tracks or patches by name but I can easily expand that to cover more like you’re describing. I just need to prioritize based on what users want (or if someone is willing to commission a feature specifically, that takes priority.)


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## funnybear (Sep 22, 2018)

mrmiller said:


> That said, it may be possible to recreate that feature in other DAWs with Patchboard. I haven’t looked into it though to know for sure. If there is a command to open an instrument for the selected track, then definitely!



I use Cubase, and there you have a command to open/close the instrument window of the currently focused track. But not a command that would close the instrument window of the previously focused track first.

Not sure if you can keep track of all the project tracks in the DAW or only jump to a linked track on patch selection, but what would be great is if the old instrument window closes as one selects a new patch and that track's instrument window opens.


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## mrmiller (Sep 22, 2018)

funnybear said:


> I use Cubase, and there you have a command to open/close the instrument window of the currently focused track. But not a command that would close the instrument window of the previously focused track first.
> 
> Not sure if you can keep track of all the project tracks in the DAW or only jump to a linked track on patch selection, but what would be great is if the old instrument window closes as one selects a new patch and that track's instrument window opens.



Here’s how it could theoretically work in Patchboard. When it notices your selection has changed, it could close any instrument window it previously opened. And then if the newly selected track is mapped to a patch, run the command to open the instrument for the selection. There’s some subtle edge cases like what to do when you’ve selected multiple tracks, and it would remain to be seen how disruptive it would be. Maybe it would only do this if you recall the patch from Patchboard rather than watching the selection in that case. 

Anyways, a lot of really crazy cool stuff is possible on my end. It’s just a matter of knowing what people want and need!

But yes, Patchboard is watching the tracks in real-time and knows what tracks are connected to what patch definitions and when a track changes record arm state or selection, etc.


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## lucor (Jan 11, 2019)

@mrmiller Any rough estimates to when the DIY version will be available?


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## mrmiller (Jan 11, 2019)

lucor said:


> @mrmiller Any rough estimates to when the DIY version will be available?



Aiming for end of this month. Wrapping up the custom Cubase plug-in at the moment.


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## Olfirf (Oct 1, 2019)

Somehow the website is not available anymore ... so, is this project dead? Why?


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