Introducing CrossMapper: Another Tool for Mapping Musical Control Parameters

Development of new musical interfaces often requires experimentation with the mapping of available controller inputs to output parameters. Useful mappings for a particular application may be complex in nature, with one or more inputs being linked to one or more outputs. Existing development environments are commonly used to program such mappings, while code libraries provide powerful data-stream manipulation. However, room exists for a standalone application with a simpler graphical user interface for dynamically patching between inputs and outputs. This paper presents an early prototype version of a software tool that allows the user to route control signals in real time, using various messaging formats. It is cross-platform and runs as a standalone application in desktop and Android OS versions. The latter allows the users of mobile devices to experiment with mapping signals to and from physical computing components using the inbuilt multi-touch screen. Potential uses therefore include real-time mapping during performance in a more expressive manner than facilitated by existing tools.