live-rig

Working notes, diagrams, and show sheets for a hybrid audio–video performance rig.

This repo exists so that future-you can walk into a venue, open one page, and remember:

• what plugs into what,
• which device lives on which MIDI channel,
• and how the visuals are being driven by hands and by sound.

It’s not firmware. It’s the field manual for the whole ecosystem: audio, MIDI, analysis, and video endpoints.

If you need the library/catalogue view of boxes, runtimes, manuals, and muster steps, start with:

• equipment/INDEX.md
• equipment/MUSTER_MATRIX.md
• equipment/MANUALS.md

If you need the actual current studio picture rather than the stable architecture, start with:

• 12_current-studio-rig.md
• 13_hardware-registry.md
• 14_external-sources.md
• docs/SCENES.md

If something is failing right now, start with:

• docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md
• HELP_REQUEST.md
• npm run doctor:helper
• npm run collect:debug

---

QUICKSTART (start order)

1. Clock first - decide who owns clock tonight, then keep it singular. DrumKid often fills this role; REAPER can do it in DAW-led sets.
2. Audio + analysis - mixer -> Horizon / PA; frZone fed from a post-fader bus.
3. Visuals + bridge - start SCapps / Processing endpoints, then the bridge/router.

Quick start (show-night sanity check)

If you’re standing in a basement / club / warehouse right now, start here.

1. Clock (one boss only)

   • If REAPER owns clock tonight:
     • Enable the DrumKid MIDI output in Preferences → Audio → MIDI Devices.
     • Right-click it → Enable output + Send clock/SPP.
     • Keep Edirol/frZone tracks off that output: current DrumKid firmware accepts CC 16–31 on every MIDI channel.
   • If DrumKid owns clock tonight:
     • Keep REAPER out of transport ownership.
     • Use DrumKid to fan clock to SQ-64 or other devices if needed.

2. Audio (mixer → Horizon → PA)

   • Patch sources and devices according to 02_audio-mixer-fx.md.
   • Confirm main mix → Horizon → interface / PA.
   • Send a post-fader bus (e.g. Bus 1) to frZone (and LineLight, if it shares that feed).

3. Video (SCapps chain up)

   • Launch the appropriate SCapps chain from 05_scapps-rigs.md
     (Frame Buffer, Maelstrom, SC Video Mixer, etc.).
   • Confirm capture/camera → SCapps is working (or that your bridge app is feeding them).

4. Control (Edirol + frZone)

   • Move each Edirol fader/knob on the video-control channel and watch the bridge / SCapps respond.
   • Play audio and confirm frZone shows activity and is issuing CC on its analysis channel.
   • If Maschine MK1 is present, confirm only the intended safe/scene/event pads are armed; it should not own transport.

5. Safety

   • Verify you have a reliable blackout / safe scene you can trigger instantly.
   • After the set, jot any weirdness in notes/ so it can feed back into the docs.

Once those five are green, you can start pushing things into the red.

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Mental model

Three lanes, one rig:

• Audio lane
  Sources → mixer → Horizon / other FX → PA / recording.
  frZone and LineLight tap a post-fader bus here to “listen” to the mix.

• Control lane
  One device owns clock at a time.
  DrumKid often serves as the active clock controller.
  REAPER can take that role in DAW-led sets.
  SQ-64 and AE rack handle voices.
  Edirol sends visual macros.
  frZone sends analysis CCs. Maschine can optionally add a small scene/event deck.

• Video lane
  Capture / camera feed flows into a chain of Signal Culture modular video apps (“SCapps”).
  These are video endpoints:

  • They receive video (capture / Syphon)
  • They receive control (MIDI/OSC) from Edirol, frZone, and any optional semantic deck routed through the bridge
  • They do not own the global logic; they just react beautifully.

This repo describes how those three lanes weave together for different shows and projects.

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File map (what lives where)

These are the files currently in the repo and their jobs:

• 01_system-overview.md
  Big-picture map of the rig: audio, MIDI, and video lanes, plus where SCapps sit.

• 02_audio-mixer-fx.md
  Mixer channel layout, FX loop, how Horizon sits on the master bus, and how frZone / LineLight tap the audio.

• 03_midi-clock-video.md
  Clock topology and MIDI routing, including how DrumKid- or REAPER-led clock setups coexist with the video-control lanes.

• 04_scapps-overview.md
  Overview of the SCapps in use (Frame Buffer, Maelstrom, SC Video Mixer, etc.):
  what each app does, what it expects for video in, and what MIDI/OSC it listens to.

• 05_scapps-rigs.md
  “Whole-world” video setups: which SCapps are chained together for a given set or EP, and how Edirol’s controls are mapped for each rig.

• 10_maschine-mk1-lane.md First-pass field-manual page for the optional Maschine MK1 scene/event deck: pad intent, stable IDs, safety logic, and interop guidance.

• 11_repo-roles-failover.md Authority-side registry for repo roles, survivability tiers, failover paths, and show-night failure cards.

• 12_current-studio-rig.md Snapshot of what is actually in the studio now: core, dormant, planned, and under-documented nodes.

• 13_hardware-registry.md Flat current-rig registry of hardware nodes, their current roles, their sources of truth, and the next documentation move for each.

• 14_external-sources.md Provenance map for manuals, local repos, vendored code, and other off-page sources this rig still depends on.

• equipment/ Field-library atlas for anything that can be remembered, taught, loaned, patched, revived, or called into service. This is the broader equipment truth, separate from the current show-ready rig truth.

• docs/TROUBLESHOOTING.md Symptom-first recovery guide for audio, visuals, controller, clock, frZone, safety states, export drift, and hardware-source confusion.

• HELP_REQUEST.md Copy/paste intake sheet for getting help without losing time to vague state gathering.

• docs/PROFILES.md Mission profiles for show readiness: required devices, optional devices, controllers, endpoints, and clock doctrine.

• docs/CONTROLLERS.md Semantic controller maps for the physical surfaces and the web control surface.

• RigMap.drawio.png Current hand-built studio diagram: the fastest way to see which nodes are actually active right now.

• interop/
  Interop contract + play rules: mappings schema, authority contract, exported runtime profile, endpoint behavior, naming conventions, bridge expectations, and consumer notes in docs/INTEROP_EXPORTS.md.

• tools/rig-doctor.js
  Profile-aware preflight command for show readiness, environment checks, runtime context, safety mapping summaries, export freshness, and capture JSON.

• tools/collect-debug.js Builds a timestamped logs/live-rig-debug-* packet with doctor JSON, selected profile, scene file, controller maps, interop export, package metadata, and git state.

• docs/PREFLIGHT.md Show-night preflight guide with 5-minute and 20-minute checklists.

• vendor/greyBox/ Vendored snapshot of the current greyBox / Growser sketch family so the source is available from this repo alone.

• hardware/ Backwards-compatible pointers to moved equipment passports. Use equipment/ for new per-node pages.

• snapshots/ Last-known-good or documented-placeholder snapshots of profile, devices, clock, endpoint, safety anchors, and things not to change before the next test.

• 06_frzone-linelight.md
  How frZone and LineLight listen to the audio bus, what CCs frZone emits, and how those CCs bias SCapps parameters.

• 07_show-2025-12-15-basement-noise.md
  A specific basement show plan: cabling, minimal rig choices, and one-off routing notes.

• 08_midi-mapping-2025-03-15-basement-noise.md
  MIDI / OSC mapping sheet for that set: which controls go where for that particular performance.

• ep-i-hope-the-sky-will-still-take-us/
  EP-specific notes, mappings, and rig snapshots connected to i hope the sky will still take us.

• notes/
  Scratch questions, experiments, troubleshooting logs, and post-show notes that should eventually feed back into the main docs.

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MIDI channel grammar

This is the default mental model for channels. Per-show files can override, but treat this as home base.

System realtime (no channel)

• Active clock boss → followers: clock, start, stop
• DrumKid may forward clock to SQ-64 and other devices.

Device → channel summary

Device	Role	MIDI Ch	How it’s used now
DrumKid	Clock controller/follower + drums	—	May own clock or follow another master; drives drum audio; can fan clock.
SQ-64	Main sequencer	varies	Sends notes/gates; AE rack on its track set to Ch 16.
AE Rack	Modular voices	16	Receives note/gate patterns from SQ-64.
Edirol PCM-30	Visual “mission control”	10	Faders/knobs/buttons send CC/notes to bridge → SCapps.
frZone	Audio analysis → CC	15	Emits CCs (bands) for SCapps to use as modulation.
Horizon	Master FX / bus processor	—	Front-panel for now; Ch 9 mentally reserved for future MIDI.
Lo-Fi Sampler	Clocked audio texture	—	Audio + clock in; no CC/note I/O yet.
LineLight	Audio-reactive lamp	—	Follows an audio bus; no MIDI.
SCapps	Video processing chain (endpoint)	n/a	Receive video + CC/OSC from Edirol (Ch 10) & frZone (Ch 15).
REAPER (DAW)	Hub / router	n/a	Routes audio/MIDI and may own clock in DAW-led sets.

Channel 10 – Visual macros (Edirol)

• Source: Edirol PCM-30 (faders, knobs, buttons)
• Destination: bridge (TD/Max/etc.) → SCapps

Conceptually:

• Faders: big moves (clean ↔ processed, feedback amount, tunnel depth, etc.)
• Knobs: fine shape (micro-glitch, warp, hue, bias between analysis and manual control)
• Buttons: hard switches (harsh scene, soft scene, blackout)

The exact CC/Note map for each show lives in 03_midi-clock-video.md and 05_scapps-rigs.md.

Channel 15 – Analysis lane (frZone)

• Source: frZone, listening to a post-fader bus from the mixer.
• Destination: SCapps.

Typical mapping:

• CC 20 = low band (bass energy)
• CC 22 = mid band
• CC 23 = upper-mid band
• CC 24 = high band

SCapps (via the bridge) treat these as gentle bias inputs; Edirol’s macros ride on top.

Channel 16 – AE rack voices

• Source: SQ-64 track configured for Ch 16
• Destination: AE rack voices

Keeps the modular’s note lane clearly separated from the visual control lanes.

Optional Maschine MK1 scene/event lane

• Role: dedicated 4x4 hardware deck for safe/show-state actions, named scenes, hybrid hits, and section cues
• Preferred transport: OSC-first semantic commands, with hybrid MIDI+OSC only for bounded event pads
• Invariant: not transport, not clock, not a replacement for Edirol, frZone, or live-rig-control

Use stable IDs such as:

• masch.safe.blackout
• masch.scene.intro
• masch.event.noise_burst
• masch.override.manual

Treat raw note numbers and any MIDI channel assignment as TODO until the hardware template is locked.

Channel 9 – Reserved for Horizon (future)

• Planned for any future Horizon MIDI:
  • scene select
  • tilt / width / fold
  • wet/dry

Keeping one channel mentally reserved now avoids future routing chaos.

---

REAPER-specific notes

You don’t need a full how-to here, just a few anchors:

• MIDI Devices

  • If REAPER owns clock tonight, enable DrumKid as an output and turn on Send clock/SPP.
  • Enable a virtual port (IAC / loopMIDI) for sending Edirol/analysis CCs into the bridge → SCapps.

• Audio buses

  • Use a post-fader send from the master or a submix bus to feed frZone / LineLight.
  • If REAPER is feeding SCapps audio directly (for capture/feedback), document that routing in 02_audio-mixer-fx.md or 04_scapps-overview.md.

If you change those assumptions later, update this block and the relevant per-file notes.

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How to grow this repo

For each new show / project:

1. Duplicate the latest 07_show-… and 08_midi-mapping-… files as a starting point.
2. Adjust only what really changes:
   • which devices are on the table,
   • which SCapps rig you’re running,
   • any special cabling or safety constraints.
3. After the show, drop quick notes in notes/ and then:
   • update 01_system-overview.md if the rig itself has evolved, or
   • update 03_midi-clock-video.md / 04_scapps-overview.md if the logic has shifted.

The goal isn’t to keep this perfectly pristine; it’s to give future-you a single page of clarity before you start plugging things in and turning them up.

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Interop (contract + routing rules)

The interop contract lives in interop/interop.md and is the source of truth for:

• mappings schema (interop/interop.schema.json)
• authority contract (interop/rig.contract.json)
• authority contract schema (interop/rig.contract.schema.json)
• exported runtime profile (interop/exports/live-rig.default.json)
• export contract notes (docs/INTEROP_EXPORTS.md)
• control lanes (macro vs analysis)
• the optional Maschine semantic lane
• naming conventions
• endpoint behavior

Key invariant: endpoints follow clock; they never generate it.
If you’re wiring Processing endpoints, route CC/OSC through the bridge and follow the scene system notes in docs/SCENES.md (semantic scene IDs -> triggers -> router). If clock is required, forward it from REAPER/bridge into the same port.

Authority-side maintenance commands:

npm run validate:rig-contract
npm run validate:scenes
npm run validate:profiles
npm run validate:controllers
npm run doctor
npm run export:rig-profile
npm run validate:rig-profile