The Blue Connection revisited
author: Menno Knevel
Connecting two computers, running Blue on one computer and a DAW on another, and let Blue do the controlling of that DAW. This can be done by the Jack Transport mechanism.
But there is a even better way to achieve this goal, using the OSC protocol. This protocol proves to be better, because
- it is very fast
- it is very precise, in that you can now control the DAW from Blue within the resolution of 1 sample
- does not clutter the network as Jack Transport does, so
- the secondary computer, that is being controlled by Blue, responds faster
Where, with the Jack Transport system, one computer gets TOTAL control of the sound system of the slave, in the OSC system the Slave stays autonomous and remains in control of its internal sound card. This also means that the 2 computers can achieve a much lower latency, without Xruns, using the audio and midi in- and outputs of its internal sound card instead of being dependent of the "busy" network activities of Jack Transport.
Sound SoundObjects can be downloaded from BlueShare, called "xxxx OSC control", where "xxxx" stand for Ardour or Reaper. They are designed to move the playbackhead of the DAW on the Slave quickly. Only a handful of Ardours' or Reapers' OSC options has been used for this purpose.
- at the moment, there are 5 different ways to control the playbackhead of Ardour
- the standard input port for Ardour = 3819
Playing, recording and editing sounds in a non-destructive way has always been the foundation of Ardour, and recently Ardour has been upgraded with a good Midi system.
The OSC protocol works on a one-sample level resolution and one of the Clocks of Ardour can be set to "samples". This is a handy, because entering a certain sample position in the OSC control Object of Blue and, running Blue, forces the playbackhead of Ardour to move to this exact sample. Very precise at almost no network cost!
Ardour is well suited for OSC use. Lucky for us, the new Midi system of Ardour works great, as can be seen in the Editor view of Ardour. MIdi notes can be created but also midi controllers - it looks like the Automation Lines in Blue -. The midi controller values can be drawn or recorded in a separate track under the notes track. This produces a good overview of midi notes and controllers.
Also equipped with a nice and extensive set of OSC commands is the non-free but reasonably priced Reaper. I find that Reaper has a great and easy-to-use Midi section that reminds me of the old Cubase version i ran on the AtariST. Since a few months there is a Linux native version that works well and can be downloaded from a somewhat hidden Cockos website.
The OSC syntax is different from the OSC commands of Ardour, so another OSC Sound SoundObject has to be created. Both the Ardour and the Reaper OSC Sound SoundObjects can be downloaded from BlueShare in Blue.
- at the moment, there are 4 different ways to control the playbackhead of Reaper
- the standard input port for Reaper = 8000
Of course, the standerd OSC communication ports from both Ardour or Reaper can be changed at will - as long as they are the same in Blue and in the DAW.
Addendum: Entering "localhost" as IP address allows you to run Blue and Ardour (as slave) on the same computer
october 2021