MCX 2.0.0 is out — and the MCX family has grown into a full toolkit for generative audio, visual patterns, and pattern-driven sound inside TouchDesigner.
The 2.0 installer ships 16 custom CHOPs as one family: oscillators, filters, drive, envelopes, LFOs, samplers, sequencers, a MIDI/MPE input, keyboard control, mixing, scaling, and a macro control hub. On top of that, two specialized lab instruments — Acid 303 and Kick — are already published as separate plugins in the same MCX line. That makes 18 operators in total for anyone building sound and visual patterns directly in the TD network — the same multichannel signals can drive audio, POP instancing, particles, or anything else wired downstream in CHOPs.
Since my May community post (first Patreon drop, 9 operators in the kit), the focus moved from proving the idea to making it learnable: a documentation hub, six step-by-step patch recipes, updated starter example projects, and five free YouTube screencasts (English on-screen text, no voice-over — pause whenever you need).
What is new in the 2.0 kit
Seven operators joined the core bundle since the first release:
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From — connect MIDI 2.0, 14 bit controllers and MPE keyboards straight into your patch
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KeyMidi — play from the computer keyboard (notes, gates, MIDI CC)
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Sampler — sample playback, including scratch-style performance
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SVF and Wavefolder — flexible filtering and wavefolding for richer timbres
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SEQ Pendulum — physics-based pendulums that trigger rhythms and drive visuals
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SEQ StepMono — a classic mono step sequencer
You can modulate one voice or many at once, shape short triggers vs held notes, and route many parallel voices without leaving the CHOP graph — closer to a modular synth or Max/MSP patch, but native to TouchDesigner.
The two lab instruments sit beside the kit for focused jobs: Acid 303 for acid bass and generative acid lines, and Kick for dedicated kick drum design.
They are separate installs, not inside the 2.0 ZIP — but they now share the same multichannel philosophy.
Docs & Free Tutorials
All written docs and tutorial videos are public:
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Overview: https://www.edwinlucchesi.com/mcx
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Documentation hub (install, guides, operator manuals, recipes): https://www.edwinlucchesi.com/mcx-docs
YouTube tutorials (linked from the docs hub):
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How to Install MCX — macOS and Windows
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MCX Data Types — how voices and channels are organized
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Control Sources & Channel Names — routing modulation in a patch
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Multichannel Distribution — spreading values across many voices
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How to Use MCX From — MIDI and MPE workflow
If you already work with Max/MSP, Pure Data, SuperCollider, or a modular rack, videos 2–4 explain how MCX maps those ideas into TouchDesigner.
You can watch them before downloading anything.
The Recipes section in the docs walks through rebuildable patches — for example:
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Pixel Dust — turn image pixels into pitch and velocity (sonification)
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Pendulum Piano — pendulum triggers cycling through piano samples with stereo movement
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Subtractive Synth — a generative subtractive voice with a moving filter
These mirror the MCX Start Examples project (Patreon attachment), tuned as practical references you can open and follow.
Where MCX fits in the TouchDesigner ecosystem (audio and visuals)
MCX is not trying to replace VST hosting or scripting environments like ChucK. It is for people who want native CHOP-based sound design — generative sequencers, multichannel layering, live control — in the same network as their visuals.
That is the practical advantage of building inside TouchDesigner: the same modular signals that drive oscillators and filters can also feed visual systems. Pendulum positions become geometry for POP instancing. Sequencer gates and LFO curves become rhythmic drivers for particles, color, scale, or instanced copies. An image can become sound (Pixel Dust), or audio logic can become a visual pattern — without exporting to another tool.
In my May post I shared a few directions people asked about: point-cloud sonification, image-driven voices, oscilloscope-style visuals, and phasing patterns built from sequencer logic. MCX 2.0 makes that workflow easier because the multichannel outputs stay in CHOP — ready for chopto, POP, TOP feedback, or anything else in your TD graph.
So MCX is not “audio only.” It is a modular control and generation layer that sits naturally between sound, data, and image in TouchDesigner — whether your focus is music, installation, performance, or generative art.
Supported development continues on Patreon; the docs and tutorials stay free for the wider community.
If you want the full backstory see the May 2026 post.
Questions and patch sharing welcome in the comments.
Cheers, Edwin
