As an advanced Ableton user, Pyramind Mentor Jor van der Poel has lots of really neat tricks up his sleeve. One of them is the use of OSC messages which stands for Open Sound Control. OSC is a network protocol for high precision networking of synths, computers, and controllers that can be used for various applications.
It allows for precise control of other hardware via a network port on your computer or to control OSC enabled plugins like Reaktor and even communicate with another application or DAW.
To get started with Ableton OSC messages you’ll need to download Ableton’s Connection Kit which contains a software called OSC Sender. This tool sends MIDI to a specific port on your network.
After installing it you’ll find it under MIDI Effects, and you can double click to load onto a track like any other plugin.
By setting the port in the app, and matching the same port in your intended MIDI destination, you can send data to that device wherever it may be. All that is required is that both sides are on the same network.
Through the use of OSC Sender, Ableton or any OSC enabled DAW can send controller information to any OSC enabled hardware or software device. This includes controlling lights and visuals or having the visuals control the sound as Jor shows us when he uses the free App Processing to demonstrate a star field animation controlling Reaktor parameters!
There are many ways to use OSC so please let us know how you’re doing it! Join the conversation in the Pyramind discord to share your use case and chat with Jor about this topic.
To become an Advanced Ableton user yourself, check out our online programs where you can learn with a professional producer by your side.
To book 1-on-1 mentorship session with Jor click here.
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