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Terminology of modular tracking systems.

This section defines most of the important terms used in the rest of the document, focusing on those associated with new unit-generator based tracking systems like OCTAL.

Machines.
A machine is an object which processes or generates audio signals. These are the basic building blocks of a signal network, in which machines that generate signals route their audio through other machines, and so on. Traditionally the term unit generator has been used, but recent systems have augmented the basic concept with ideas from the tracking world.
Parameters.
Parameters are data items that can be recieved by machines to control their generation/processing of audio. Things like ``note'', ``volume'', ``delay length'', or ``wave shape'' can be parameters. These can be controlled in two ways: patterns and controls.
Patterns.
A pattern organizes musical data into a grid, with time running downwards. Each parameter of a machine corresponds to a column in the pattern editor. Each row is a moment in time, called a tick.
Control widgets.
A control widget is anything that lets you interactively change the value of a parameter on a given machine. For instance, a graphical slider is a control widget.
Formats.
OCTAL machines can make requests as to how their parameter columns are displayed and interpreted by the host when the user edits patterns. These are called formats.
Machine library.
If machines are instances, this is the class. A machine library is a dynamically-loadable library that can create, destroy, and operate machine objects.
Block.
The continous audio output of OCTAL is generated in small blocks of a few hundred samples at a time. The block size changes dynamically.


next up previous contents
Next: Including the machine interface Up: Using OX_API Previous: Using OX_API
David O'Toole
2000-07-19