Soundmondo for MODX

Soundmondo is a social sound sharing website that allows users to discover new sounds, share their own sounds and organize sounds. Soundmondo supports reface, MONTAGE and now MODX! This article shows how to connect your MODX to Soundmondo on the desktop and with the Soundmondo iOS app.

Sign Up and Connect

There are a few things you will need to have happening to use Soundmondo for MODX:

• Up-to-date MODX OS Version: Your MODX should be updated to OS Version 1.10 or later. Go here to get the latest MODX OS Version (located under “Firmware/Software” as “MODX Updater”).
• Google Chrome: To use Soundmondo you must use an up-to-date version of Google Chrome. Chrome uses a special connectivity protocol called WebMIDI that allows a hardware device like MODX or reface to connect directly to the site via the browser. Get Chrome here if you don’t have it.
• Sign Up, Sign In and Connect: To use Soundmondo you must create an account. The registration process is simple and once you have created your user name and password you are good to go. After you have created your account connect your MODX via the USB TO HOST port to an open USB port on your computer (Make sure you MODX is set to use USB as MIDI IN/OUT. Go to UTILITY/MIDI I/O and select USB). There is nothing else to do: Once logged in and connected you are good to go.

Let’s check out some of the cool things you can do with Soundmondo.

Soundmondo on the Desktop with Google Chrome

GET PERFORMANCES

The number of free Performances available for MODX grows every day. To Browse Performances, click on “Browse” at the top of the page. Click on the MONTAGE/MODX graphic to show only MODX Performances. You can also browse by tag on the right:

In the screen below, I have searched using the tags. Below are some Performances returned for the tags “Funk”, “Jazz” and “Electric”. To clear the result, click on “clear” in the screen:

If you know the name of a Performance or the author you can use the Search box in the upper right hand. You can filter only MODX Performances by clicking MODX under “Browse by Instrument” on the left. Try it out: Touch the MONTAGE/MODX Icon then type in the name “Bad Mister” in the Search area and you will see all the Performances uploaded by the great Bad Mister:

Once you find a Performance you’d like to try click on the SYNC button in the top right-hand side, wait a few seconds and the Performance is transferred to your MODX. To save it to your MODX press the [STORE] button on MODX and select “Store As New Performance” in the screen. Some other Performances to check out:

• DX7 Voice ROM: All of the original Voices from the DX7 ROM Cartridges are available on Soundmondo. Load them in MODX and edit them to your design!
• HaPe’s Collection: This collection of sounds from the expert sound designer Hans-Peter Henkel is great and showcases the sonic power of MODX.
• Richard Devine: Sixteen handcrafted Performances by electronic artist and sound designer
• Bad Mister: Performances created by Senior Product Specialist Phil “Bad Mister” Clendeninn
• Blake Angelos: Performances created by Yamaha US Product Specialist Blake Angelos

THE LEADERBOARD

Go to the Soundmondo Home Page and scroll down to the leaderboard. This will show you the most prolific users on the left and the top downloaded Performances on the right:

SHARE PERFORMANCES

Got some Performances you’d like to share with the MODX community? With your MODX connected select a Performance you’d like to share and click on CREATE. In the example below I have created a Performance called “Blake Jazz Guitar”. I tagged it with three descriptive tags (HINT: Try to limit yourself to a few tags that are most representative of your Performance):

Scrolling down the page you will find a few other important items. It is great to include a short audio example or video to accompany your Performance. In the example below, I have added a SoundCloud URL of this Performance. In addition to SoundCloud you can also provide a YouTube or Vine URL. Lastly, you can set your Performance to Public to share with the community or Private if you want to keep it to yourself:

Want to check out my Performance? Go here!

ORGANIZE PERFORMANCES

Soundmondo has some basic ways to organize your Performance collection. To do this go to your profile by clicking on the gear icon located right next to the “Search” box at the top right of the browser. Below is my profile:

At the bottom of the page there are 4 menu items:

• Sounds: This shows a list of all the sounds you have uploaded to Soundmondo.
• Favorites: This shows a list of all the sounds you have selected as a favorite. This is done when you are browsing other people’s sounds
• Trash: Take any unwanted sound and drag it to the trash! It’ll still be there until you click on “Empty Trash”.
• Set Lists: Organize your sounds in to set lists. Create a Set List then drag the sounds you want into the folder.

Got an iOS device? Get the Soundmondo app! It features all the functionality you see here on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. All you need is a USB cable and the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adaptor.

SOUNDMONDO FOR MODX ON IOS

If you have an up-to-date iOS device you should check out Soundmondo for iOS. You will need the following:

• iOS Device like iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 9 or later
• The Soundmondo iOS app located here
• An Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adaptor (LUCA) like this or this
• A USB to Host cable (like a USB printer cable:

Connect to iOS device to MODX

Connect the USB to Host cable to the MODX and your iOS device using the Apple LUCA and launch the Soundmondo app on your device. The app will automatically detect a properly connected MODX and you will see the Performance screen (Perf at the bottom) that contains all your Performances. There are a few that come with the Soundmondo app that you can either keep or delete. Below is an overview of the Performance screen:

CAPTURE A PERFORMANCE

Select a Performance you want to upload to your device and touch “Capture” at the bottom of the screen. You will first see a keyboard with an arrow screen. Touch that icon and your Performance will transfer to your device. In the example below, I captured a Performance I created called Blake Drive EP:

Touch “Perf” at the bottom to see all your captured Performances.

VIEW YOUR CAPTURED PERFORMANCE

Once you’ve captured your Performance you can view it at the bottom of the list. Touch on it and you can rename it, rate it and add descriptive tags:

At the bottom of the screen are three icons. The book icon is the set list. You can create set lists to quickly organize Performances for things like live gigs:

BROWSE SOUNDMONDO

Capturing, rating and organizing Performances is certainly useful, but browsing, uploading and downloading new content is arguably the coolest aspect of Soundmondo. The icon on the bottom right opens the Soundmondo site. Here you can browse through sounds and upload your own:

There are a few ways to refine your search in the Soundmondo app. You can search by attribute by typing in the search field or search by tagged description:

Once you start browsing you may find users that you particularly like. That’s where the community icon becomes helpful. For example, typing in “Bad Mister” will find all of his Performances:

The Soundmondo iOS app a great way to get free content for your MODX Music Synthesizer. Check it out and join the worldwide Soundmondo and Yamahasynth community!