hi list.

we proudly announce the first public release of our compact composer for pd, mmm. grab it at http://netpd.org/mmm-0.1.0.zip mmm is best described in it's faq, see below. don't expect too much yet, there is still a lot to be done. comments, bugreports, cash, are welcome.

have fun with it! christopher charles & enrique erne

faq for mmm-0.1.0 - eden

what is mmm? mmm is a pd patch collection aimed at providing a studiolike(?), streamlined, dynamic interface for making synthetic music.

screenshots? http://www.netpd.org/mmm.png ymmv depending on your operating system. we put some effort in detecting the operating system and setting the fontsize according to it, but quirky xorg or dpi settings might screw things up again.

where can i get it? we currently host the mmm at http://netpd.org/mmm-0.1.0.zip , alternatively, you can grab netpd, enter the chat, and if either of the authors is online, download it directly through netpd and start rocking.

what does "mmm" stand for? mmm was originally just the working title, but we came to like it somehow. the original meaning is "music making machine" but you can substitute every m for whatever you want. so "massive multiplayer music" is okay with us, too.

what is the inspiration? having worked on/with the bagoftricks (lots inconsistently coloured gop-patches to be connected freely) and netpd (lots of inconsistent-looking windows to clutter up the screen), we came to mock up an clean, dynamic interface in which modules don't bring their own gop or open their own window, but log onto the interface that's provided for them by the motherpatch. all modules sharing the same interface made it easy for them to share the same sequencer and arranger.

what are the dependencies? mmm should work with pd-0.39 and zexy installed. iemlib is important for many synth and effects patches, and there's even set of gem modules you can chain if you want.

is it actually usable? no. this 0.1.0 release is rather a tech demo and a taste of things to potentially come. you can crunch some acid loops out of it already, but don't sell your protools studio equipment to start working with mmm on monday.

how does it work? mmm's interface (mmmmain.pd) is divided into 3 parts: there is the module/channel view, where you can chain up synths and effects on 8 different channels. select an empty field on a channel, and then use the scrollbox on the left to select a patch and open it. when clicking on a patch you loaded up in the module view, the 2nd view comes into play: from there you control the patch's sliders on the left, right of it is the stepsequencer for each of the slider (means everything is sequencable!). yet you won't hear anything until you did the following 2 things: press play in the uppermost row of mmmmain, and set up the arranger to play the stepsequence. the arranger is not module-based, but controls all modules of a channel are grouped in the arranger. for now, you can only select pattern 01 or nothing to play in the arranger. so set up a loop for the first pattern (loopstart:0, looplength:1) set the first field on the channel you got your patch on in the arranger to p01 and start making some noise.

does it work online? yes. mmm is compatible to netpd and will automatically log on to netpd's server if you have the netpd chat open. you can also download the whole mmm package through netpd. feel free to jam around the world.

what's not working yet / what is planned? as for now, there is no support for samples whatsoever, it isn't planned to support them soon. further, there is no hard disk recorder available yet, but it is planned. the arranger/sequencer combo is very crippled at the moment, only supporting 1 16-step-pattern to choose from and 1 page of 16 patterns in the arranger. this will change rather soon. next there are plans for luxury editing functions, especially in the sequencer like copy, paste, random pattern, interpolation and so on. plans exist for full keyboard control, but this will be worked on not too soon. the module roster is far from being complete yet, more is to come.

can i save my stuff? should be possible with the buttons above the channels. don't rely on the result though, this is still 0.1.0 :)

can i add my own modules? modules are not to hard to write, but for now, the list of selectable modules is hardcoded. look at all the 4m-* patches in the patches folder to see how they are ticking. contact us for adding your patch to the mmm or try to figure out yourself how it works ;)

what's the license? mmm is licensed under the gnu lgpl. if you think this is a too useful product to be free of charge, please consider donating the amount of money you would've paid for it (or the amount of money you got from selling your protools equipment on monday) to a trust of your choice.

who are the authors? mmm is developed by enrique erne (eni, swiss, pd{at}mild.ch) and christopher charles (syntax_tn, germany, chr.m.charles{at}gmail.com). we can be contacted via email, irc (#dataflow) or directly in the netpd chat. several patches within mmm are based upon netpd versions of them, check netpd for the original authors. mmm shares some of it's netcode with netpd, by roman haefeli.

disclaimer. we cannot give you any guarantees on using mmm, not even that you have fun. it should be relatively harmless, but don't come crying to us if mmm accidently hijacks your *mule and downloads david hasslehoff recordings to your computer.

eofaq

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