Tag Archives: touchosc

Loupe 1.5 for Reaktor – now with bidirectional OSC mappings for TouchOSC

From now on, buying Loupe on this page also gets you a copy of Loupe 2!

Here’s the release version of Loupe 1.5, with some added features, bugfixes, and a new layout for TouchOSC.


Changes include:

  • Added copy / paste slice (fixed since beta)
  • Added duplex OSC mappings for TouchOSC
  • Added two page OSC iPad template 
  • Fixed release envelopes cutting off prematurely

You may download it here. Update is free for owners of Loupe 1.0 – same license info will unlock Loupe 1.5. Don’t have a license? It’s $15 USD and can be purchased here:

Loupe Add to Cart

Here’s a better look at the TouchOSC layout.

Above is the slice page. Each of the sliders gets updated from Reaktor when you trigger a new slice. This lets you see the loop area, filter settings, envelope settings, etc. of each slice and adjust them. Copy and paste buttons let you copy slice parameters to a different key – handy if you want the same thing on a different key except for panning, or reverse playback.

There’s no way to get the sample waveform to display in TouchOSC, but the large green XY pad works the same way as the Reaktor Loupe GUI – X position sets loop position, Y sets loop length. I actually prefer working with my ears this way instead of looking at the display – it’s a more hardware-y approach.

Above is the global page. This selects the sample, global position offset, position LFO and other global variables. You can use this as a performance view once the individual slices and keys are adjusted to your liking.

In order to get this fully working with Reaktor, it’s necessary to set up bi-direcitonal OSC addresses. Reaktor has to talk to TouchOSC. Here’s how to set that up in Reaktor:

The identifier “ipad” is necessary – that’s what all the OSC send terminals in the instrument are mapped to. Take note of the ports and addresses. Reaktor’s receive address should be TouchOSC’s send address and vice versa. Here’s what it looks like on the TouchOSC side:

That will get the OSC connection going both ways. But wait, there’s more! You also need to set up a WiFi MIDI session between your iPad and computer. Here’s what that looks like on my Mac:

Selecting your iPad and hitting “Connect” should be enough to enable the session, as long as you have CoreMIDI enabled in TouchOSC. Windows users can use rtpMIDI.

Whew! This may seem like a slog at first glance, but it becomes clearer when you sit down and set up the connections, and the result is worth it. It’s magical in a dark room late at night, just you and your headphones and the controls and samples. Let me know what you think, how it’s working for you and any suggestions for a better layout.

If this is your first look at Loupe, you might also be interested in the other two instruments in my sampler pack, Mirage and Frame 2.

Update: here is a download of the TouchOSC template on its own, if you don’t have Loupe and just want to check out the mappings and naming conventions I used. I didn’t know at first that leaving a TouchOSC control’s OSC address pattern as “auto” named it according to /pagename/controlname. Quite handy for homing in on the address you want when you’re trying to select from a long dropdown menu in Reaktor.

May 15th minor update: Loupe version 1.5.1 uploaded – fixes OSC address patterns for copy and paste buttons.

General MIDI layout for TouchOSC

I was experimenting with TouchOSC‘s new MIDI capabilities and created this layout:

 There are four octaves of keys – it was a bit of a pain to go to one after another and enter the pitches so I figured I’d share the fruits of my labor. The other controls are just X, Y and XY slider controls that send MIDI CC messages. They’re arranged in a “well, let’s use up this space and see what happens” pattern. I figure I’ll fine tune it after playing it for a while.

Download it here.

UPDATE: I lowered the range by an octave so C3 is on the upper row left, which I think is more sensible.  Get it here.

Setting up iPad OSC touch apps with Reaktor

Because someone asked on a forum, I decided to write a quick note on how to set up the ports and addresses for Reaktor, Konkreet Performer and TouchOSC.

First, get Reaktor set up. This is straightforward:


This is generally as simple as activating Reaktor to receive OSC. Don’t worry about the outgoing OSC setup for now – the goal is to get Reaktor listening. Take note of the IP address and “local port”.

Now, in Konkreet Performer’s setup screen:

The outgoing address and port in Performer match the local IP address and local port in Reaktor’s OSC settings.

Similarly, in TouchOSC:

Now touch some controls in Konkreet Performer or TouchOSC and you should see messages in the OSC monitor in Reaktor’s OSC settings dialog. If not, then you may have firewall or routing problems.

I’m assuming here that you’re connecting both your computer and iDevice through a standard type of router and the IP addresses you see in these dialogs reflects that. You could also create an ad hoc network in Windows or OS X which often provides lower latency than using a router.

After you have established a connection and are seeing incoming data in Reaktor, it’s time to map some controls. Go into the properties for a knob (for example) and choose an OSC parameter from the OSC Source dropdown menu on the connection tab:

More help is available here:

Konkreet Performer

TouchOSC