Use a Behringer X-Touch Mini MIDI controller to remote control a Behringer X-Air digital mixer via the OSC network protocol. Multiple layers allow you to control volume and mute for every input and output channel with only 8 physical encoders. Changes on the mixer will also be displayed accurately on the X-Touch controller.
Make sure that you are running Python 2.7. Now install the module dependencies via:
$ sudo pip install -r requirements.txt
To get help run:
$ python xair-remote.py -h
Connect your X-Touch Mini controller and identify the name of the MIDI port this controller uses:
$ python xair-remote.py -l
On MacOS, the output might look like this:
Connected MIDI Ports:
X-TOUCH MINI
X18/XR18
You need to start the app with the port name of your X-Touch Mini. If the port name contains whitespace characters (like it does in this example) you need to enclose it in double quotes.
You may specify an ip address for the mixer. If you don't specify the address, the app will try to locate the mixer on your network.
Run the app:
$ python xair-remote.py "X-TOUCH MINI"
or
$ python xair-remote.py "X-TOUCH MINI" 192.168.178.37
If the app can not find your controller or connect to the X-Air mixer, it will terminate with an error message explaining the problem. If everything started up successfully, the X-Touch mini will reflect the current mixer state and the console output will look like this:
Found XR18 with firmware 1.17 on IP 192.168.178.37
Successfully setup MIDI port X-TOUCH MINI.
Successfully connected to XR18 with firmware 1.17 at 192.168.178.37.
The following image is a schematic of all available controls on the X-Touch Mini:
You need to configure the device to have toggle buttons. Apart from that you can use the encoder mode you prefer (my favorite is fan). Make sure you don't change the default controller and note numbers. My current X-Touch Mini configuration is attached in the file xtouch-config.bin.
Currently only layer A is used. So make sure you have the button LA selected. The main volume is always mapped to the Fader F1. The lower button row is assigned globally with the following functions:
| Button | Function |
|---|---|
| B09 | Mute Group 4 (this is always my FX mute group) |
| B10 | Tap Tempo (will set tempo for all delay effects) |
| B11 | Unassigned |
| B12 | Layer 1 |
| B13 | Layer 2 |
| B14 | Layer 3 |
| B15 | Layer 4 |
| B16 | Layer 5 |
The upper row buttons and the top encoders are used to control volume and mute for different channels depending on the selected layer:
| Layer | Encoders (Volume) & Buttons (Mute) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Channels 1 - 8 |
| 2 | Channels 9 - 16 |
| 3 | Aux, 3 unassigned, DCA 1 - 4 |
| 4 | FX Sends 1 - 4, FX Returns 1 - 4 |
| 5 | Bus 1 - 6, 2 unassigned |
The Push function of encoders E1 to E3 can be used to toggle mute groups 1 to 3 in all layers. I always use mute group 4 for FX mute, therefore I have placed this mute group on button B09. This way I also get a visual feedback on the status of my FX returns.
To exit press CTRL + C.
Following features are currently on my todo list:
- Tap Tempo button on
B10with automatic detection of FX slot for delay plugin - Automatically find mixer on the network
- Think about possible ways to use layer B. Maybe edit channel details for the first 16 channels. For example: Gain, Low Cut, Gate Threshold, Compressor Threshold, 4x EQ Gain (low priority)
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details