get volume from external program

General Discussion Other

fromage

get volume from external program

in General Discussion • Other • 2 years ago

hi,

is there an easy way to get the volume output from another program (in this case ableton live) in processing?

i use processing with promidi to trigger sounds in ableton and i would like to use the actual acoustic sound output from ableton to take an influence on my processing animation.

i know you can use minim and fft to get the volume, but i think that is only for sound that is played back with a minim output.

thanks in advance

Replies(8)

amnon.owed

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

I would say OSC. Check out this link and more specifically this link.

Haven't tried it myself yet, but apparently the LiveOSC command to get the volume is " /live/volume (int track)"

protonume..

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

I lost one day trying to get data from Ableton and thinking something was wrong with liveOSC, so I'll just add something: get the latest version!

here: http://monome.q3f.org/changeset/latest/trunk/LiveOSC?old_path=/&filename=LiveOSC&format=zip

after that just go to the "docs":

http://monome.q3f.org/browser/trunk/LiveOSC/OSCAPI.txt

After that you'll be set.

cheers

fromage

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

thanks so far, this definetly headed me in the right direction.

unfortunatly i still can't get the actual current output volume. when i use the LiveOSC command "live/volume" i only get the current setting of the volume fader.

protonume..

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

I post some test code that requests volume and pan of a track to control some visual parameters. The "live/volume" message needs an int() argument that specifies the target track (starting from 0 not from 1).

If you want the master volume, you'll need " /live/master/volume "... Ans so on.

Cheers

import oscP5.*;
import netP5.*;
OscP5 oscP5;
NetAddress myRemoteLocation;
int backcolor = 0;
float xp = width/2;
float yp = height/2;
void setup() {
size(400,400);
frameRate(25);
oscP5 = new OscP5(this,9001);
myRemoteLocation = new NetAddress("localhost",9000);
oscP5.plug(this,"volume","/live/volume");
oscP5.plug(this,"pan","/live/pan");
smooth();
}
void draw() {
background(backcolor);
fill(255 - backcolor);
noStroke();
ellipse (xp, yp, 20,20);
requestVolume();
requestPan();
}
void oscEvent(OscMessage theOscMessage) {
println("received an osc message. ");
println("addrpattern: "+theOscMessage.addrPattern());
}
void requestVolume() {
OscMessage myMessage = new OscMessage("/live/volume");
myMessage.add(2);///Replace this number with the position of the track you're testing
println("I sent a volume Request.");
/* send the message */
oscP5.send(myMessage, myRemoteLocation);
}
void requestPan() {
/* in the following different ways of creating osc messages are shown by example */
OscMessage myMessage = new OscMessage("/live/pan");///clip");
myMessage.add(2); ///Replace this number with the position of the track you're testing
println("I sent a panRequest.");
/* send the message */
oscP5.send(myMessage, myRemoteLocation);
}
void volume(int a, float b){
backcolor = int(map(b, 0,1,0, 255));
}
void pan(int a, float b){
xp = map(b, -1.0,1.0,0, width);
}

fromage

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

this example is still giving me only information about the slider settings and not the actual sound output :(

i am sorry if i probably haven't made totally clear what i meant. i try to explain it a bit better:

with liveOSC i seem to have access to all faders and buttons in ableton, including the volume fader.
now what i want is not the value of the volume fader, but the actual output volume that is coming from a specific track.
for instance, the volume fader (what you access with "/live/volume" in liveOSC) can be set to maximum (1.0), but still the actual sound output might be very quiet, if the dynamics of the playing music are that way.
in ableton (and most other audio apps too, i think) it is the green up and down jumping volume bar that i am looking for and not the overall regulating volume slider next to it.

i hope you know what i mean :D

protonume..

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

O yay, now I get it.

I guess we could call that the output levels of the track. But I cannot help more than those docs, and there is nothing about that... If I find something about it I'll post again, or if you find a way plz do the same. Anyone else?

protonume..

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

The easiest way I found is the most classical solution for MAC users (other platforms should have similar solutions): Download soundflower and configure soundflower 2ch as ableton's output device. You'll also want to set your computer's input source to be soundflower in the same 2ch mode. After that use sonia library to retrieve spectrum and levels in real time from your input device signal.

fromage

Re: get volume from external program

2 years ago

thanks man, that sounds like it could work.
i have some difficulties finding a soundflower equivalent for pc. best choice seems to be audio jack, but its not easy to get it running. i am still trying around :)