Modules

A Module is the basic building block that can be used to process, generate or analyse musical sound in Integra Live. Modules can be very simple ‘effects’ such as delays and pitch shifters, or more sophisticated processing tools tailored to the needs of live electronics musicians.

Adding and connecting Modules

• To add a Module click the ‘+’ button on a Block in arrange view then drag a Module name from the Module library to the Module canvas

  

  

• To connect two Modules, click and drag from a Module output (e.g. ‘out1′) to a Module input (e.g. ‘in1′)

  

• Dragging a Module onto an existing connection, will split the connection and add the Module in the signal path

• Modules and connections can be removed by selecting and then pressing ‘backspace’

Module properties panel

• Selecting a Module will cause its controls to be shown in the Module properties panel underneath the Module canvas

Figure 1. Module properties panel showing controls for the Phase Vocoder module

• Module controls (such as sliders and dials) are used to change Module attributes in real-time and are interactive through clicking, dragging and text-entry

• Precise values can be entered by double-clicking the control’s numeric value and typing the new value in the text-entry box

  

Arrange view

The arrange view is used for organising and structuring musical processes and ideas, and visualising and editing time-dependent elements. It is accessed by clicking the view selection button in the top-left corner of the application window.

Blocks

A Block is a small collection of connected Modules. Blocks are used to organise Modules into logical groupings that make musical or semantic sense. One example is the ‘DelayShifter’ Block included with the application, which contains interconnected delays and pitch shifters.

• To add a Block from the Block library, click the Block name and drag it onto a Track

  

• To add a new Block, double-click an empty area inside a Track

• To activate a Block, drag the playhead so that it is vertically aligned with the Block

• Blocks can be re-sized by click-dragging their left or right edge

  

Tracks

Tracks are used to enable multiple Blocks to be active simultaneously.

• To add a Track, double-click in the empty space under an existing Track

• To vertically re-size a Track click the tab in their bottom-right corner

Properties panel

In the lower part of arrange view comprises a properties panel. This panel changes context depending on whether a Block, Track or Project is selected. The properties panel is used to control routing, scripting, and Envelope selection.

Figure 2. Block, Track and Project properties selection in arrange view

Routing

In Integra Live, Tracks, Blocks and Modules all have attributes that are used to store values representing their current settings. These values can be routed so that when a source attribute changes, the value any target attributes also changes. This can be used for example, to route the value of a slider on an external controller to ‘room size’ of a reverb, or to route the value of a ‘play’ button to another ‘play’ button so that playback of two separate modules starts simultaneously.

• To add routing within a Block, select a Block, then click the routing tab in the properties panel, then click the ‘+’ icon to add a new route

• The drop-down menus can then be used to set the source Module, source Attribute, target Module and target Attribute

  

• The same process can also be used for routing between Blocks or Tracks, by selecting the parent Track or Project respectively

Scripting

Integra Live has a built-in scripting facility based on the Lua programming language. Scripts can be used to set and get attributes and perform a range of procedural operations on them.

• To add scripting within a Block, select a Block, then click the scripting tab in the properties panel, then click the ‘+’ icon to add a new script. Script can then be typed into the text-area

• Integra Script is a super-set of Lua, with the added functions integra.set() and integra.get(), which can be used as follows

  x = integra.get("AudioIn1", "vu")
  integra.set("TapDelay1", "delayTime", math.abs(x) / 10.)
  

• Scripts can be triggered by routing any attribute to the Script ‘trigger’ attribute

Timeline

The master timeline provides a reference point against which musical ideas can be organised. Timeline progression can be linear, where the ordering and duration of blocks corresponds to their ordering in performance, or non-linear, where the playhead moves to arbitrary points on the timeline with some blocks being activated indefinitely or stopped and started through user interaction.

• The playhead position can be changed manually by click-dragging the control triangle

  

• The playhead state can be set to ‘play’ or ‘pause’ using the button controls in the top-left of the arrange view

• Clicking the timeline numbering, can be used to zoom and scroll time. Clicking and dragging left/right scrolls, dragging up/down zooms

Scenes

Scenes are used to create user-defined progressions through musical time. One application of this is to define Scenes that correspond to different sections of a musical work ‘Section A’, ‘Section B’, ‘Cadenza’ etc. Another application is to create multiple pathways within a work as found in improvisation and ‘open form’ composition

• Scenes can be added by click-dragging in the scene bar on the global timeline

  

• When a scene is selected, its properties are shown in the properties panel

• A scene can be activated by selecting it in the global timeline,
  or by selecting its keybinding in live view

• A scene can have three different states when it is activated:

  Hold:The playhead will be set to pause when the scene becomes
  active

  Play:The playhead will be set to play when the scene becomes
  active

  Loop:The playhead will loop back to the beginning of the scene,
  when it reaches the scene end

Envelopes

Envelopes can be used to automate the control of module attributes. This can be used for creating pre-defined musical gestures resulting from multiple module attributes changing simultaneously. Another example use is to create cross-fades between sections.

• To add an envelope select a module from the modules dropdown on the block properties panel:

  

• Select the attribute you want to control from the attributes dropdown:

  

• To add control points click on the envelope line in the block:

  

• To delete a control point, drag it to the left until it disappears and release the mouse button.

• To select an envelope use the module and attribute dropdowns on the block properties panel.

• To delete an envelope click the ‘x’ next to the attribute dropdown on the block properties panel.

Live view

The live view is designed for live performance. Its purpose is to provide a reduced set of module controls for each Block, with custom control sizes and layout for convenience. When in live view the computer keyboard also becomes active for navigating between Scenes.

• Controls can be added to live viewby selecting arrange view, clicking ‘+’ on the relevant block, and then clicking the checkbox in the top right corner of the required controls

• An entire Module’s controls can be added or removed from the live view using the per-Module checkbox

Figure 3. Live view with custom control layout and keyboard map

Scene shortcuts

• Scenes can be activated from live view by pressing the key associated with each scene

• Scene key bindings can be reassigned by click-dragging the scene names on the live view keyboard map

Control layout

• Controls in live view can be moved and re-sized by click-dragging their background and edges respectively

Other features

Lighting

• Lighting can be set to ‘on’ for studio use and ‘off’ for live use in darkened environments. This is achieved by clicking the lighting icon in the top-right of the application window

  

Import and export

Tracks, Blocks and Modules can all be exported and imported to/from disk. This enables specific components to be moved between projects. Additionally, Blocks, can be added to the block library, which allows easy drag ‘n’ drop of exported Blocks.

• Import/export is available from the context menu in arrange view. For example to export a track, context-click the track and click ‘Export…->Track’

  

Renaming

• Tracks, Blocks and Modules can be renamed by double-clicking their name and typing in the text-entry box

Further support

This guide is not intended to be exhaustive. If you have any further questions, feature requests or bug reports, please use our online feedback forum.