Welcome

The A³ System

Tip

New here? Start with A³ Motion’s first ten minutes, and keep On stage open before your first gig.

Three devices on one network, talking only OSC (ports):

Device	What it is	What it does
A³ Core	the sound server	takes the audio in, computes the 3D field, sends it out; remote controlled
A³ Mixer	a 4-channel DJ mixer	gain, EQ, filter, faders, cue, all as OSC
A³ Motion	the motion sampler	a loopstation for where a sound is

All audio — decks, phones, booth, main — connects to A³ Core. Two programs belong too:

Program	What it is	What it does
Beat Analyzer	the beat clock	on the Core: the beat and the level meters for every device
StemDeck	a stem player	two decks of four stems, each on its own output, so one part can move alone; tempo master without CDJs

Tip

StemDeck × A³ Motion. Put StemDeck’s four stems on A³ Motion’s four channels and let the drums, the bass, the synths and the vocal each travel the room on their own path — in time with the track, because StemDeck is the clock. See StemDeck × A³ Motion.

One state, told to everyone

Because the devices talk over OSC rather than through each other, there is only ever one state, and every device is told all of it.

What you do	What follows
turn a knob on the A³ Mixer	A³ Motion’s screen follows
move a fader in Core’s own mixer	both devices follow
switch a device on mid-evening	it asks what is already sounding before it says anything, so nothing jumps

The same feed can be given to anything else — a light or video desk, say — by naming it when the Core starts. See Adding a department.

The beat

The Beat Analyzer on A³ Core sends the tempo every device follows, and the meters they show. Its clock comes from A³ Motion’s own tempo, from the music, or from a Pro DJ Link tempo master — a CDJ, or StemDeck. Everything that moves on its own counts in bars, so a four-bar figure stays four bars when the tempo changes.

Where to go next

Section	What is in it
User	the three devices, control by control — start here — and the beat analyzer and StemDeck
Repository	the umbrella repository that carries all the others
Assembly	prototype pictures and how the boxes go together
Configuration	installing the system, each device’s hardware, and the files each device reads at startup
Development	building and hacking on the software
History	project impressions
OSC reference	every address the system speaks