User Interface
X32ReaperAutoMate and X32XLiveAutoMate have simple and similar graphical user interfaces [GUI] with a low set of options so you can focus on your mixing work.
The user interface per se (how you interact with the program) spans over two sections, one is an “X/M32 User Assign bank” with actual knobs and buttons on the X/M32 and is detailed later in this chapter. The other one is on you PC screen, probably the same system as the one running REAPER in the case of X32ReaperAutoMate. The main application window is shown below:
As explained, there are more technical fields that can be set at initialization time and are modifiable using the configuration files of the respective programs. The tool main window offers several fields you can fill and a few buttons that can be actioned. These are described in the following paragraphs.
Main Application Window
X32ReaperAutoMate UI X32XLiveAutoMate UI;
“X/M32 IP”
This is the IP at which your X/M32 is present on your local network. This field is also present in the configuration file and can be left empty; In that case, the “Connect” button below will display “Search” instead, enabling you to discover your X/M32 automatically on the local network. Note that the broadcast request for X/M32 presence is done only on the last 255 IP addresses of the local network, which should be suitable for the vast majority of use cases.
“Connect”, “Search X/M32”, “Running”
This is the main button for running the applications. If the X/M32 IP address is already known at initialization time (i.e. provided with the configuration file), it will be displayed in the “X32 IP” Address field and the button will display “Connect”. If the X/M32 IP address is left blank, the button will display “Search”. In the latter case, the X/M32 will be auto discovered and its IP address will be displayed in the respective field once found. With both “Connect” and “Search” options, the program will start and initialize the X/M32, using all options and initial data found in the configuration file. If all steps go well, the button will finally display “Running”, showing the tool is ready to manage OSC data between REAPER and X/M32, or manage X-Live data.
“Mix Name” & “LoadM”, “SaveM”, “MergeM”, “S”, “M”
X32ReaperAutoMate workflow manages X/M32 events relative to REAPER audio data. This combined information can be saved and restored as ‘Mix’es using the “Save” and “Load” buttons, respectively. When using “SaveM” or “LoadM”, the tool refers to a project name which is entered or selected by the user and is used for naming project files and being echoed in the “Mix Name” user interface field. A Mix is comprised of two files, one containing OSC events and one containing an initial X/M32 state.
Using the “SaveM” and “LoadM” buttons, one can create different versions of an audio mix, and replay them at wish for comparing changes for example.
The “MergeM” button loads the automation part of an existing Mix file and populates the internal events list with data respective of their timestamps. This is a key feature when working with incremental mixes, or when having several persons working on separate parts of a same audio data. If the internal events list is empty at the time you ask for merging data, the loaded data will become the current internal list, and the reference or init scene will be the one currently active in the program.
The pushbutton on the right of the group indicates what is saved:
– When indicating “S”, “Save” will save the existing OSC events and the state of the X32 surface at the time of the “Save” request.
– When indicating “M”, “Save” saves the existing OSC events and the state of the X32 surface at the beginning of the Mix.
This enables you to work on setting up your X32 recording environment and work on or prepare your X32 state (known as an X32 scene). When you are ready to record your Mix, including for example fader moves along the REAPER Project, you should ensure the last X32 state you set up is your initial scene (either loading a saved Mix with that state, or using the “Scene Save” X32 button (see below) and select “M” to ensure the saved Mix includes the X32 state set at the beginning of your Mix.
“Scene #”, “LoadS”
X/M32 scenes play a key role in ensuring a project mix starts from or correctly maintains its proper X/M32 set of parameters. Setting a scene number value [1…96][1] in the “Scene #” field and clicking on the “LoadS” button will load the respective X/M32 internal scene and apply changes to the X/M32 digital audio engine. In all cases, the transport user interface will be secured after updating the X/M32 with a new scene, and the selected X/M32 User Assign bank section [A, B, or C] will receive the transport options and engine that comes along with X32ReaperAutoMate.
“Ch #1”, “Ch #2”, “Delete”, “Reset”
A basic feature of X32ReaperAutoMate is to record a time stamp with all X32 OSC events. This is great if you don’t make unwanted moves/actions or don’t make mistakes. But we all know this will not always be the case and it may become useful to be able to go back (a little or a lot) in time, erase changes that were made, and record new ones. These two selections enable the program to perform selected operations simultaneously on one, two, or a range of channels of your choice so you can cover for stereo channels or multiple channels covering for a single instrument such as drums, while event recording is active.
If ‘Ch #1’ or ‘Ch #2’ are set alone (i.e. of them is OFF), the Actions as described below will take place for Ch #1 or Ch #2. If Ch #2 is set and is less than Ch #1, the Actions as described below will take place for both Ch #1 and Ch #2. If Ch #1 is set and is less than Ch #2, the Actions as described below will take place for the range of channels Ch #1 to Ch #2, included.
Actions can be one of:
- ‘Delete’ the complete automation data records for the selected channels. ‘Delete’ suppresses the data that has been recorded as Automation is in Write mode. It will not change the initial state of the channels which recorded data is deleted.
- ‘Reset’ the selected channels to an initial state, so you can set again channel attributes such as name, icon, color, compression, EQ, etc. Note that ‘Reset’ does not change the values saved in the initial state scene; This is achieved by pressing the “Save Scene” button (see later in this document).
- Engage the “Auto” button (see later in the document) to temporarily suspend automation on the selected channels.
- A selective erase function with engaging the “EditMode” button; this feature should be used with caution and will be active only when at least “Play” and “Read/Write” buttons are engaged along with the “Autom_ON” button in the in the X32 User Interface;
“Undo”
This function offers a 16-level undo capability. A click on the ‘Undo‘ button will undo all changes made at the console and recorded since the last press on the “Read/Write” button.
Each time you enable “Read/Write” from its OFF state, a signature is generated and saved with all subsequent events that will be recorded, until “Read/Write” returns to OFF. X32ReaperAutoMate remembers the last 16 signatures and each press on “Undo” will use the most recent signature to remove all events signed with it, and pop to the previous signature if there is one. The ‘Undo’ Action is not dependent on the values of “Ch #1” or “Ch #2”.
“From”, “To”, “->0:0”
In addition to the above, you can click on the ‘From’ and ‘To’ buttons (after having moved the audio cursor to specific time values) to respectively set start and end times limiting the scope of ‘Delete’, “Susp.Auto”, “Edit”, or ‘Undo’ Actions to apply only between the two values represented by ‘From’ and ‘To’ (included). If both ‘From’ and ‘To’ are set to 0, the Actions above will apply on the entire mix.
Pressing on ‘->0:0’ resets the values of ‘From’ and ‘To’.
“New Mix”
This button enables you to switch from one Mix to another without exiting X32ReaperAutoMate. When you engage “New Mix”, X32ReaperAutoMate proposes you to save your current work; It also set REAPER to a STOP and RtZ state, and eventually deletes all events from the current Mix so you can start from a clean slate. What is important is that “New Mix” does not change any of the current/ongoing X/M32 scene or settings currently in place, unless of course if you also decide to load a scene using “LoadS” after calling “New Mix”.
You will also be asked if you want to reset X32ReaperAutoMate interface state to initial values, affecting “AutomationON”, “Repeat”, “Read/Write”, etc states.
————————
Internal scenes 97 and 98 are reserved by the tool. Internal scene 99 could potentially be used by MixingStation™
User Interface Features (X32ReaperAutoMate and X32XLiveAutoMate)
User Interface
X32ReaperAutoMate and X32XLiveAutoMate have simple and similar graphical user interfaces [GUI] with a low set of options so you can focus on your mixing work.
The user interface per se (how you interact with the program) spans over two sections, one is an “X/M32 User Assign bank” with actual knobs and buttons on the X/M32 and is detailed later in this chapter. The other one is on you PC screen, probably the same system as the one running REAPER in the case of X32ReaperAutoMate. The main application window is shown below:
As explained, there are more technical fields that can be set at initialization time and are modifiable using the configuration files of the respective programs. The tool main window offers several fields you can fill and a few buttons that can be actioned. These are described in the following paragraphs.
Main Application Window
X32ReaperAutoMate UI X32XLiveAutoMate UI;
“X/M32 IP”
This is the IP at which your X/M32 is present on your local network. This field is also present in the configuration file and can be left empty; In that case, the “Connect” button below will display “Search” instead, enabling you to discover your X/M32 automatically on the local network. Note that the broadcast request for X/M32 presence is done only on the last 255 IP addresses of the local network, which should be suitable for the vast majority of use cases.
“Connect”, “Search X/M32”, “Running”
This is the main button for running the applications. If the X/M32 IP address is already known at initialization time (i.e. provided with the configuration file), it will be displayed in the “X32 IP” Address field and the button will display “Connect”. If the X/M32 IP address is left blank, the button will display “Search”. In the latter case, the X/M32 will be auto discovered and its IP address will be displayed in the respective field once found. With both “Connect” and “Search” options, the program will start and initialize the X/M32, using all options and initial data found in the configuration file. If all steps go well, the button will finally display “Running”, showing the tool is ready to manage OSC data between REAPER and X/M32, or manage X-Live data.
“Mix Name” & “LoadM”, “SaveM”, “MergeM”, “S”, “M”
X32ReaperAutoMate workflow manages X/M32 events relative to REAPER audio data. This combined information can be saved and restored as ‘Mix’es using the “Save” and “Load” buttons, respectively. When using “SaveM” or “LoadM”, the tool refers to a project name which is entered or selected by the user and is used for naming project files and being echoed in the “Mix Name” user interface field. A Mix is comprised of two files, one containing OSC events and one containing an initial X/M32 state.
Using the “SaveM” and “LoadM” buttons, one can create different versions of an audio mix, and replay them at wish for comparing changes for example.
The “MergeM” button loads the automation part of an existing Mix file and populates the internal events list with data respective of their timestamps. This is a key feature when working with incremental mixes, or when having several persons working on separate parts of a same audio data. If the internal events list is empty at the time you ask for merging data, the loaded data will become the current internal list, and the reference or init scene will be the one currently active in the program.
The pushbutton on the right of the group indicates what is saved:
– When indicating “S”, “Save” will save the existing OSC events and the state of the X32 surface at the time of the “Save” request.
– When indicating “M”, “Save” saves the existing OSC events and the state of the X32 surface at the beginning of the Mix.
This enables you to work on setting up your X32 recording environment and work on or prepare your X32 state (known as an X32 scene). When you are ready to record your Mix, including for example fader moves along the REAPER Project, you should ensure the last X32 state you set up is your initial scene (either loading a saved Mix with that state, or using the “Scene Save” X32 button (see below) and select “M” to ensure the saved Mix includes the X32 state set at the beginning of your Mix.
“Scene #”, “LoadS”
X/M32 scenes play a key role in ensuring a project mix starts from or correctly maintains its proper X/M32 set of parameters. Setting a scene number value [1…96][1] in the “Scene #” field and clicking on the “LoadS” button will load the respective X/M32 internal scene and apply changes to the X/M32 digital audio engine. In all cases, the transport user interface will be secured after updating the X/M32 with a new scene, and the selected X/M32 User Assign bank section [A, B, or C] will receive the transport options and engine that comes along with X32ReaperAutoMate.
“Ch #1”, “Ch #2”, “Delete”, “Reset”
A basic feature of X32ReaperAutoMate is to record a time stamp with all X32 OSC events. This is great if you don’t make unwanted moves/actions or don’t make mistakes. But we all know this will not always be the case and it may become useful to be able to go back (a little or a lot) in time, erase changes that were made, and record new ones. These two selections enable the program to perform selected operations simultaneously on one, two, or a range of channels of your choice so you can cover for stereo channels or multiple channels covering for a single instrument such as drums, while event recording is active.
If ‘Ch #1’ or ‘Ch #2’ are set alone (i.e. of them is OFF), the Actions as described below will take place for Ch #1 or Ch #2. If Ch #2 is set and is less than Ch #1, the Actions as described below will take place for both Ch #1 and Ch #2. If Ch #1 is set and is less than Ch #2, the Actions as described below will take place for the range of channels Ch #1 to Ch #2, included.
Actions can be one of:
“Undo”
This function offers a 16-level undo capability. A click on the ‘Undo‘ button will undo all changes made at the console and recorded since the last press on the “Read/Write” button.
Each time you enable “Read/Write” from its OFF state, a signature is generated and saved with all subsequent events that will be recorded, until “Read/Write” returns to OFF. X32ReaperAutoMate remembers the last 16 signatures and each press on “Undo” will use the most recent signature to remove all events signed with it, and pop to the previous signature if there is one. The ‘Undo’ Action is not dependent on the values of “Ch #1” or “Ch #2”.
“From”, “To”, “->0:0”
In addition to the above, you can click on the ‘From’ and ‘To’ buttons (after having moved the audio cursor to specific time values) to respectively set start and end times limiting the scope of ‘Delete’, “Susp.Auto”, “Edit”, or ‘Undo’ Actions to apply only between the two values represented by ‘From’ and ‘To’ (included). If both ‘From’ and ‘To’ are set to 0, the Actions above will apply on the entire mix.
Pressing on ‘->0:0’ resets the values of ‘From’ and ‘To’.
“New Mix”
This button enables you to switch from one Mix to another without exiting X32ReaperAutoMate. When you engage “New Mix”, X32ReaperAutoMate proposes you to save your current work; It also set REAPER to a STOP and RtZ state, and eventually deletes all events from the current Mix so you can start from a clean slate. What is important is that “New Mix” does not change any of the current/ongoing X/M32 scene or settings currently in place, unless of course if you also decide to load a scene using “LoadS” after calling “New Mix”.
You will also be asked if you want to reset X32ReaperAutoMate interface state to initial values, affecting “AutomationON”, “Repeat”, “Read/Write”, etc states.
————————
1 Internal scenes 97 and 98 are reserved by the tool. Internal scene 99 could potentially be used by MixingStation™
MJ Klein
MJ has done hundreds of 24-track sessions from the 80s and 90s. His private studio, Phoenix Media Forge, is available for Mixing, Mastering and collaborations. You can reach MJ at: info@phoenixmediaforge.com