Getting Started

TouchOSC Manual

Getting Started · MIDI

In this short tutorial, we will be setting up the sending of MIDI messages from TouchOSC to another application on the network.

We'll be using the TouchOSC Bridge utility application, to handle sending MIDI messages over the network, as this is a common use-case for control surfaces running on mobile touch-screen devices.

If you want to send MIDI messages between TouchOSC and other applications or ports on the same device or computer, the set up becomes much more straight forward and you can skip the steps involving TouchOSC Bridge in this tutorial.

If you are running the Windows operating system and choose to connect via a network connection, please note that the Windows firewall can prevent this setup from working. Should you run into problems, please disable the Windows firewall temporarily and try again.

Protokol
TouchOSC Bridge
TouchOSC
Send MIDI messages

Protokol

We'll be using the Protokol application, our free tool for testing OSC and MIDI connections and messages. This is the same utility we use in-house for testing our applications.

Protokol is available for all the same platforms as TouchOSC and is a free download.

Download and install any version of Protokol

Launch the application, switch to the MIDI tab page, and check the checkbox next to Enabled

Protokol is now waiting for incoming MIDI messages on all available MIDI ports

TouchOSC Bridge

Download and install TouchOSC Bridge

Launch the application, a small icon will appear in the menu bar on macOS, or the task tray on Windows

Protokol should now display the connection of the new MIDI port created by TouchOSC Bridge

TouchOSC

Next we'll configure TouchOSC to send MIDI messages to TouchOSC Bridge and load one of the included example layouts.

Launch TouchOSC and open the Connections configuration by pressing the button with the chain link icon on the editor toolbar
Switch to the Bridge tab page

Enable the checkbox next to Connection 1 and use the Browse button to select the name of the host or device where you launched TouchOSC Bridge

The Host field should now be filled in

Switch to the MIDI tab page

Enable the checkbox next to Connection 1 and use the Browse buttons to select <Bridge 1> for both the Send Port and Receive Port fields.

Now we'll load one of TouchOSC's included example layouts.

Open the list of included example layouts, depending on your operating system:

For the desktop version, find the menu at Help > Examples

For the mobile version, find the example browser at the top of the editor panel on the right, and press the button with the book icon

Select any one of the first four documents with Mk2 in the name

With the document now loaded, and the connection configured, put TouchOSC into control surface mode by pressing the play button on the editor toolbar, or by using the CTRL/CMD+E keyboard shortcut on desktop platforms.

Send MIDI messages

With both the receiver and sender configured and ready to go, we'll send some MIDI messages.

Move a fader, press a button or interact with any other control on the control surface in TouchOSC and you should see the received MIDI messages being printed in Protokol.