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Spitfire BBCSO control surface for DAWS using TouchOSC on IOS and Android devices

Thank you so much for your template. I’ve got three old iPads in use now. Ditched my old Mackie MCU in favor of OSC and Logic remote. It just works and your template for BBCSO made me invest in Touch OSC. I have Lemur and Mididesigner Pro but never really understood the way they work. To me Touch OSC is easier to understand. Just purchased EW Choir during the sale. Anybody know if there is a EWC Touch OSC template I could buy for that library? I know I could try making my own, but I’m foremost a musician and not a programmer.
 
Thank You Sir! Can you please let me know
where do i Donate or Buy this?
Hi BarsariStudios. Thanks for the kind and thoughtful offer, but you really don't need to buy it or make a donation. Like other musicians, I've enjoyed info, templates and help that has been given freely to the community, and this is my way of saying a very small thank you.
 
Hi BarsariStudios. Thanks for the kind and thoughtful offer, but you really don't need to buy it or make a donation. Like other musicians, I've enjoyed info, templates and help that has been given freely to the community, and this is my way of saying a very small thank you.
Thank You!
 
Many thanks I was just searching for a way to get all articulations switches accesible with only 61 keys for instruments with a big range and found the link to this post. That is solved by the TouchOSC app and your great layout but the XYgrid also solves my second issue of combined expression and modulation. If you have two iPads you have the functionalities of an Streamdeck and a multi fader controller which would probably cost €500 for a very low investment.
 
Many thanks I was just searching for a way to get all articulations switches accesible with only 61 keys for instruments with a big range and found the link to this post. That is solved by the TouchOSC app and your great layout but the XYgrid also solves my second issue of combined expression and modulation. If you have two iPads you have the functionalities of an Streamdeck and a multi fader controller which would probably cost €500 for a very low investment.
Actually, if you have a decent size smartphone running either IOS or Android, you don't need a second iPad. I use the iPad for articulation selection since you need a reasonable size touchscreen to hit the right button, but the X/Y grid works fine on a phone!
 
Do it all on one screen :) it is actually really easy.

Using TouchOSC ‘Touch Editor’ I setup a single ipad screen that has an XY Pad on the left (CC1 and CC21 vibrato) and a slider CC11 and 24 push buttons for articulations on the right (I used to use stream deck for this).

I made a variation of this for my iPhone, which also is extremely useable.

If you really want to get fancy, you can simply add separate pages adapted for Woods, Strings, Brass and Percussion. You don’t have to place the buttons in order, so you can, for example, easily group the shorts separately from the longs.

Hope this helps :)

Claude
 
Do it all on one screen :) it is actually really easy.

Using TouchOSC ‘Touch Editor’ I setup a single ipad screen that has an XY Pad on the left (CC1 and CC21 vibrato) and a slider CC11 and 24 push buttons for articulations on the right (I used to use stream deck for this).

I made a variation of this for my iPhone, which also is extremely useable.

If you really want to get fancy, you can simply add separate pages adapted for Woods, Strings, Brass and Percussion. You don’t have to place the buttons in order, so you can, for example, easily group the shorts separately from the longs.

Hope this helps :)

Claude
Any chance of sharing it ?
 
Yes, no problems. Once I get back to my computer I will add an attachment.
OK. Here you go. My TouchOSC template for BBCSO is attached as a zip file in case it is of use.

The template has 3 pages (images attached), but most things can be done on the first page. You access the 3 pages using the 3 buttons across the top (BBC keyswitches, BBC Percusion, DCPImages Chromatic). The pictures are probably self-explanatory, but I have added explanations below in case it helps.

Page 1 BBCSO Instrumental Controls
* The left of the page has sliders and an XYPad. The XY Pad sliders are also separated out above in case that becomes more convenient or to help with midilearn.
* The right of the page has three columns labelled Woodwinds, Brass and Strings. These are the BBCSO articulations.
* There is a little redundancy here because the keyswitches for the different groups are the same, but the labels help you to see what articulation you are triggering. Most keyswitches are shared with several instruments. Where they vary you will see the a second name listed For example, Falls and Runs in woodwinds only apply to Piccolos. The keyswitches for the Cimbassos (Cbo) are non-standard, so while they use the same keys, their articulations are listed in orange. Same goes for the Trombones (Tb). Keyswitches marked with a star such as multi-tongue* only apply to certain instruments.
* Towards the centre are keys labelled from C0 to C7 these are midi notes. I find them useful to check that everything is connected and to confirm the octave range of the loaded instrument. CC64 typically triggers the sustain.

Page 2 BBCSO Percussion Controls
* The lower left of the page shows the sliders that are used in BBCSO Percission. Not all sliders apply to all instruments. For example, instruments which play Rolls usually require 'CC17 release' as does Bibisgliando for harp.
* The right contains midi note pads (from notes C2 to B5) to play percussion, but keep in mind that iPad/TouchOSC does not handle velocity well so you will probably prefer to use your keyboard or edit velocities later.
* The buttons outlines in blue are the articulations. Many articulations are shared so the instruments are grouped and labelled in Yellow below. Some only apply to single instruments and are marked (eg Hits Damped# for Tubular Bells; Vibraphone* only has hits; Harp has GlissFX and Bibisgliando*). Note that there is also a button next to Harp to set the direction of the Gliss (UP or DOWN). This is arbitrarily attached to CC3 and you will need to midilearn this in the BBCSO Plugin.
* The buttons outlined in purple are for the untuned percussion.

Page 3 Chromatic keys
* This set is generic and can be used with any plugin.
* Blue keyswitches are for articulations from C-2 to B-1.
* Red keys are chromatic notes from C0 to C8 in case you want to enter musical notes. Elsewhere I have adapted these keys for different scales (including Akebono, Double Harmonic, Major & Minor Pentatonic etc). I have not included these here to avoid confusion, but feel free to make your own modifications.
* Because TouchOSC does not handle velocity well, you would probably prefer to enter notes from a keyboard.

I find this system works really well and is very portable, which is good because in normal times I do a lot of travelling. You can connect your iPad to your computer with Bluetooth, But I recommend USB.

Hope this is useful,
David
 

Attachments

  • p1 BBC Keyswitches.PNG
    p1 BBC Keyswitches.PNG
    46.5 KB · Views: 77
  • p2 BBC Percussion.jpg
    p2 BBC Percussion.jpg
    129.3 KB · Views: 71
  • p3 BBC Keyswitches.PNG
    p3 BBC Keyswitches.PNG
    55 KB · Views: 71
  • DCPImages BBC IPad.touchosc.zip
    7.7 KB · Views: 48
OK. Here you go. My TouchOSC template for BBCSO is attached as a zip file in case it is of use.

The template has 3 pages (images attached), but most things can be done on the first page. You access the 3 pages using the 3 buttons across the top (BBC keyswitches, BBC Percusion, DCPImages Chromatic). The pictures are probably self-explanatory, but I have added explanations below in case it helps.

Page 1 BBCSO Instrumental Controls
* The left of the page has sliders and an XYPad. The XY Pad sliders are also separated out above in case that becomes more convenient or to help with midilearn.
* The right of the page has three columns labelled Woodwinds, Brass and Strings. These are the BBCSO articulations.
* There is a little redundancy here because the keyswitches for the different groups are the same, but the labels help you to see what articulation you are triggering. Most keyswitches are shared with several instruments. Where they vary you will see the a second name listed For example, Falls and Runs in woodwinds only apply to Piccolos. The keyswitches for the Cimbassos (Cbo) are non-standard, so while they use the same keys, their articulations are listed in orange. Same goes for the Trombones (Tb). Keyswitches marked with a star such as multi-tongue* only apply to certain instruments.
* Towards the centre are keys labelled from C0 to C7 these are midi notes. I find them useful to check that everything is connected and to confirm the octave range of the loaded instrument. CC64 typically triggers the sustain.

Page 2 BBCSO Percussion Controls
* The lower left of the page shows the sliders that are used in BBCSO Percission. Not all sliders apply to all instruments. For example, instruments which play Rolls usually require 'CC17 release' as does Bibisgliando for harp.
* The right contains midi note pads (from notes C2 to B5) to play percussion, but keep in mind that iPad/TouchOSC does not handle velocity well so you will probably prefer to use your keyboard or edit velocities later.
* The buttons outlines in blue are the articulations. Many articulations are shared so the instruments are grouped and labelled in Yellow below. Some only apply to single instruments and are marked (eg Hits Damped# for Tubular Bells; Vibraphone* only has hits; Harp has GlissFX and Bibisgliando*). Note that there is also a button next to Harp to set the direction of the Gliss (UP or DOWN). This is arbitrarily attached to CC3 and you will need to midilearn this in the BBCSO Plugin.
* The buttons outlined in purple are for the untuned percussion.

Page 3 Chromatic keys
* This set is generic and can be used with any plugin.
* Blue keyswitches are for articulations from C-2 to B-1.
* Red keys are chromatic notes from C0 to C8 in case you want to enter musical notes. Elsewhere I have adapted these keys for different scales (including Akebono, Double Harmonic, Major & Minor Pentatonic etc). I have not included these here to avoid confusion, but feel free to make your own modifications.
* Because TouchOSC does not handle velocity well, you would probably prefer to enter notes from a keyboard.

I find this system works really well and is very portable, which is good because in normal times I do a lot of travelling. You can connect your iPad to your computer with Bluetooth, But I recommend USB.

Hope this is useful,
David
Awesome thanks a lot , I travel a lot too and although I have streamdeck for key switches I often dont have access to faders as my travel keyboard doesn’t have more than a mod wheel so this will really help Especially having it all on one page.
 
Awesome thanks a lot , I travel a lot too and although I have streamdeck for key switches I often dont have access to faders as my travel keyboard doesn’t have more than a mod wheel so this will really help Especially having it all on one page.
Interestingly, I too used StreamDeck, but it has now been replaced by my iPad - more flexible, includes faders, don’t have to worry about mechanical buttons failing, packs flat, can easily back up & transfer. Having said that I’d like to see an update in TouchOSC that can use velocity and can do transport control and navigation, but I still haven’t been able to work that out :)
 
Interestingly, I too used StreamDeck, but it has now been replaced by my iPad - more flexible, includes faders, don’t have to worry about mechanical buttons failing, packs flat, can easily back up & transfer. Having said that I’d like to see an update in TouchOSC that can use velocity and can do transport control and navigation, but I still haven’t been able to work that out :)
Is there a way to edit an existing layout on the ipad that I dont have the touchosc original file anymore . ie can I sync back from the ipad to the touchosc editor ? if not how could I transfer the touchosck layout from ipad to mac ?
 
The template I uploaded is fully editable. You need the TouchOSC Editor for your computer is free to download from Hexler. You also need the Hexler Bridge (a small app) that is used to transfer the the edited file from your computer to your iPad. That is how I made and edited these templates.
 
The template I uploaded is fully editable. You need the TouchOSC Editor for your computer is free to download from Hexler. You also need the Hexler Bridge (a small app) that is used to transfer the the edited file from your computer to your iPad. That is how I made and edited these templates.
Yes , I got that thanks. I have used the editor before. I just wanted to see if it’s possible to go the other way round.Transfer from IPad to TouchOSC editor. I have some old layouts on the iPad that I dont have the original TouchOSC file for. I would like to adapt them and add a few things
 
Nicely compact like this. I just changed the XY Grid to channel 1 and 11 Modulation (Dynamics) and Expression as that is what I mostly use. Could it be that X and Y are switched in your original template using Vibrato and Dynamics? What would be very nice is if the buttons would highlight or change color upon pushing to know what the setting is but I did not find any option for that
 
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Yes , I got that thanks. I have used the editor before. I just wanted to see if it’s possible to go the other way round.Transfer from IPad to TouchOSC editor. I have some old layouts on the iPad that I dont have the original TouchOSC file for. I would like to adapt them and add a few things
I am not sure, but it will be a file and the file must be in the file system of the iPad and I am sure with a bit of poking around you could find it. I would start by looking in the folder that TouchOSC set when it was installed.
 
Nicely compact like this. I just changed the XY Grid to channel 1 and 11 Modulation (Dynamics) and Expression as that is what I mostly use. Could it be that X and Y are switched in your original template using Vibrato and Dynamics? What would be very nice is if the buttons would highlight or change color upon pushing to know what the setting is but I did not find any option for that
I did do a version where you have CC1 and Cc11 and also two XY pads and you can use either or both. There is something quirky about the software in that the X and Y seems to be reversed and you need to just for that when setting things up.
 
Yes , I got that thanks. I have used the editor before. I just wanted to see if it’s possible to go the other way round.Transfer from IPad to TouchOSC editor. I have some old layouts on the iPad that I dont have the original TouchOSC file for. I would like to adapt them and add a few things
Hi Molemac. Yes, I just checked my iPad and there is a TouchOSC folder in the files on my iPad and in that folder are the template files. They have .touchOSC as a suffix. It should be easy for you to find the file you are looking for and send it back to your desktop computer for editing.
Claude
 
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