19. MP Gain Utility - Version 2

The MP Gain Utility plugin enables you to control the  +/- gain on your tracks from the MP Controller. With the MPGU plugin you can control up to 128 gain utility plugins. You can use it for mixing and gain staging. It works on all DAWs and does not require any configuration.

Download

The MPGU can be downloaded from the user portal.

How it works

The MP Gain Utility consists of two plugins.
One server plugin (displayed on the mp controller) and one client plugin (displayed on your DAW).
Both are lightweight plugins and consume negligible amounts of cpu and ram resources.

The MP Gain Utility can be found in your DAW as vendor MPUT.

You only need to load one instance of the server plugin per DAW project. The server plugin can be placed on any track in your DAW however there must be only one instance loaded.

The client plugin can be placed on any track and it will act as a gain plugin controlled by the corresponding encoder shown on top. You can add up to 128 client plugins in the same DAW project.

You don't need to open the client plugin to control its gain from the mp controller.

 Each client plugins maps automatically onto the next available encoder on the mp controller.

Turning an encoder to the left will reduce gain in increments of 0.1 dB, turning an encoder to the right will add gain.
The values are displayed in dBs and the range is -40 to +40 dB. 

The Meter checkbox when checked (checked by default) sends the volume signal to the server to display it. 

The Invert checkbox when checked (unchecked by default) inverts the gain on the client.

Right click on the empty black area to select the target monitor of the mp controller.

Once you load the server plugin then load a client plugin where you want.

The server plugin does not process any audio, it allows audio to pass through it unaltered. The client plugin processes audio with its only function being adding or subtracting volume to the signal.

Each client plugin carries an id starting from 01 to 32. Each id corresponds to an encoder on the server plugin and the controller per page. There are 4 pages and they can be switched from the right column of the server.
Page 1 has encoders 1 to 32, page 2 has encoders 33 to 64, page 3 has encoders 65 to 96 and page 4 has encoders 97 to 128.

When you load the first client plugin, it will take id 01, mapped onto encoder 1 and it will be controlled by encoder 1. If you load another one it will take id 02 automatically and so on up to 32. 

You can load multiple client plugins per track, there is no limitation. For example, you can enter a client plugin before an audio effect and one after an audio effect, on the same track to do gain staging.

Add a client plugin before a plugin you want to control the gain staging, ie a compressor. Add another one after. Disable the meter on the first client and enable the meter on the second client and enable the Invert.

Turning the encoder to increase the value it will add gain feeding the the compressor (on the first client plugin) while at the same removing the same amount of signal after the compressor from the second client plugin. Your signal will remain at the same level and you will only hear the difference made by the compressor. You can apply the same principle to any plugin or set of plugins.

Do not copy and paste existing client plugins because the client will not take a new id automatically.
Always load a new client plugin

Selecting a new id for the client plugin will copy over the name, color and dB value to the new encoder, overwriting any existing client.

Naming and Coloring

Once you add a new client plugin you can enter the name in the client text box and it will send the name to the server.
Alternatively, you can write the name on the corresponding encoder on the server plugin and it will send it to the client that has the same encoder id.
You can also assign a color to each on-screen encoder via right click and it will show the color palette window.

You can copy the lastly used color by clicking on it on the color palette:

Reset to 0 dB

Double click on the meter of the on-screen dB meter of the server next to the encoder and the value will return to 0 dB.

Identifying a meter or an encoder.

Click on the name of the encoder and it will blink the corresponding on screen meter.

Click on the meter and it will blink the corresponding encoder.

Automation

If you would like to record gain automation using the MPGU, you can do it at the track you placed the server plugin. Each encoder is automatable like in the MPH.

The client has no controllable parameters and it only displays the value in dB.

Total Recall

When you save your project, all the values and state of the server and client will be saved with your project. When you open your project everything will be recalled. If you delete the Server plugin by mistake, just load it again and it will sync up with the existing clients.

The MPGU, unlike the MPH, does not save presets.

Using it with the MPH

You can load the MPGU and the MPH in the same DAW project. The Controller Icon button works as it does on the MPH. Clicking on the  button will close any open MPH instance and display the MPGU on the controller. Clicking on the Controller Icon button of the MPH, will close the MPGU window and display the MPH.

You can also switch to it from the small bar icon on your Mac or Windows or using the Plugin Panel.

How does work? 

The server and client use the OSC protocol to communicate and it requires port 6000 and 6001 to be open and available. 
If the client and server do not communicate you can check if the port is available.

On the Mac's terminal enter this command:
lsof -i :6000
If nothing is returned → nothing is currently using port 6000. You can check the same for port 6001.
If something is returned → it shows the process using that port.

On Windows open a cmd window and type: 
netstat -ano | findstr :6000
If nothing appears → port 6000 is not currently in use. You can check the same for port 6001.
If you see output, the last column is the PID of the process using it.

If some other process is using the port you need to stop be in order to use the MP Gain Utility.
Alternatively, you can change the port numbers from the mputility.properties file and use different ports by opening the file in a text editor.