ICST AmbiEncoder – OSC Syntax

• 2025-03-16
• 2-minute read

Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) Zurich University of the Arts

OSC Syntax for the ICST AmbiEncoder Plugin

For whom: Level: Advanced | Audience: Technician, Developer, Max/OSC user.

The ICST AmbiEncoder supports OSC and JavaScript, enabling seamless communication with OSC tools such as TouchOSC, IanniX, MaxMSP, and other OSC-enabled software. This page is the syntax reference. For a practical quickstart and debugging sequence, use:

• OSC im ICST AmbiEncoder - Die 10 wichtigsten Messages

OSC Syntax & Address Specification

1. Accessing OSC Specifications

Click the question mark in the ICST AmbiEncoder.

Figure: OSC specifications in the Help section.

Available sections:

• Help (?)
• OSC Syntax
• Sections

2. Incoming OSC Messages

Messages can be:

• Index-based (source index), e.g., 1
• Name-based (source name), e.g., flute

Set Source Position (AED Format)

	/icst/ambi/source/aed [ChannelName] [Azimuth] [Elevation] [Distance]
	/icst/ambi/source/aed 'S1' 45 10 0.8

Set Source Position (XYZ Format)

	/icst/ambi/source/xyz [ChannelName] [X] [Y] [Z]
	/icst/ambi/source/xyz 'S2' 0.2 0.2 0.0

Note: The channel name (e.g S1, S2) will be sent as symbol.

Set Source (Index) Position (AED Format)

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed [ChannelIndex] [Azimuth] [Elevation] [Distance]
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed 1 45 10 0.8

Set Source (Index) Position (XYZ Format)

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz [ChannelIndex] [X] [Y] [Z]
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz 2 0.2 0.2 0.0

Note: Channel indices are sent as integers.

Sending Positions for External Usage

1. Open the ‘OSC Out’ tab.

Note: The ICST AmbiPlugins standard format sends source names as symbols. Max users should define a Custom OSC Message:

/icst/ambi/sourceindex/xyz {i} {x} {y} {z}
/icst/ambi/sourceindex/aed {i} {a} {e} {d}

Figure: Custom ‘OSC Out’ Editor

Internal OSC Communication

To send all AmbiEncoder movements to the ICST AmbiDecoder:

1. Deactivate Speaker Edit Mode in the AmbiDecoder.
2. Activate the OSC port.

Now, the AmbiDecoder receives all OSC messages from all connected AmbiEncoders.

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