The musicians' phones

Every musician can adjust their own in-ear mix from their phone: levels, where each source sits, their master, 3D or not. It runs in the phone's browser – nothing to install, no account. A phone only ever reaches its own musician's mix.

Giving a musician their link#

Click the phone button on their strip on the MUSICIANS page, or PHONE on their MIX page. The phone panel opens:

1234

1. 1Their personal link as a QR code
2. 2The same as an address - click it to switch networks
3. 3How many of their phones are connected
4. 4A new link: the old one stops working

The musician scans the QR code with the phone's camera, or types the address into the browser. The page opens straight into their mix.

• The address is the Mac's network address, the port and the musician's key, for example 192.168.0.132:8768/#k=6hgf6d2x. The port is normally 8768 (the next free one up to 8777 if that's taken).
• The lamp reads "1 PHONE ON", "2 PHONES ON" or "NO PHONE ON". The same number shows as a green badge on the musician's strip.
• Several phones may open the same mix (a tablet and a phone, say). They all follow each other and the app.
• The link stays the same after restarts and when the session is reopened: musicians scan once.

The network#

• The phone has to be on the same network as the Mac – usually the band's Wi-Fi router.
• If the Mac is on more than one network (Wi-Fi plus a cable network, for example), the panel shows "CLICK: ANOTHER NETWORK (1/2)" under the address. Click the address to show the link for the other network. Wi-Fi comes first.
• The page is served by the in-ear engine, not by Shadow Rack, so phones keep working while Shadow Rack is closed or restarting.
• The panel reads "NO NETWORK" when the Mac isn't on any network.

The phone page#

At the top: the logo with a status dot (green = connected, red = not), the musician's name tile, CLR SOLO (lit only while something is soloed), MUTE for their whole mix, and the ME fader – their master, with a meter.

At the bottom, three tabs:

In portrait the faders are long and horizontal. Turn a phone sideways and the mix becomes vertical strips side by side, like a little console, with the scene and its panel next to each other on 360.

Gestures#

• Faders move relative to the finger – the cap doesn't jump to where you touch. Double-tap a fader for 0 dB. 0 dB sits at three quarters of the travel; the top is +10 dB.
• On 360, drag a source with one finger to move it around the head.
• Two fingers on one source, moving up or down, raise or lower it.
• A stereo source turns as one. To make it wider or narrower, hold one side still with a second finger and move the other. The width stops at 170°; double-tap the Width fader for 60°.
• Tap empty space to unpick.

What a phone may change#

A phone sees the names, colours and icons of the sources and its own mix – never file paths, interface channels, outputs or anybody else's settings. Whatever a musician changes shows on the Mac at once, and the other way round.

Full screen#

On Android (Chrome) and iPad the first touch takes the whole screen. If the musician leaves full screen (a swipe, Back), the page doesn't force it again; SETTINGS > Screen > FULL SCREEN brings it back. The choice is remembered on the phone.

iPhone pages can't go full screen by themselves. The page says what to do instead: Share, then Add to Home Screen, and open it from there. It then opens like an app, called "My mix".

When the link doesn't work#

The phone remembers its key and reconnects by itself when the Wi-Fi drops or the engine restarts. If it can't get in, it says why:

A new link#

The link is a key: whoever has it can change that musician's mix. If a phone ends up with someone else – a link sent to the wrong group chat, a borrowed phone – click NEW LINK, then again on "SURE? CLICK AGAIN" within 3 seconds. Every phone on the old link is locked out at once; show the new QR code to the musician.