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  2. MCX - Multichannel Control eXtended, a new op family with Audio in mind
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    MCX - Multichannel Control eXtended, a new op family with Audio in mind

    A few months ago, for fun and my own amusement in programming some ideas in TouchDesigner, I shared an operator for generating algorithmic music within a single CHOP operator.
    Inspired by the acid house sounds of the TB 303, I released my Acid 303.
    Inside that operator, I had developed a pseudorandom sequencer, a dedicated filter section, an analog-inspired saturator section, and a wavefolder, because it's one of those Buchla/Serge processes that's always fascinated me.
    After this development, I moved on to creating a specific plugin for generating KICKs and slowly realized that at the core of it all, I needed a new system to control individual parameters, in the style of GEO COMP instancing, to have different sound instances and generate interesting layering. Eventually using different controls that TouchDesigner could easily provide through its various operator families.
    Having used Max/MSP Jitter and Pure Data for several years for educational purposes I thought that TouchDesigner could be further enriched in its audio section and multichannel processing and generation management. For these reasons, I ended up developing a new custom operator family, which I named MCX
    MCX Logo
    MCX (Multichannel Control eXtended)
    MCF-LoFi
    MCX Custom Fam Logo

    The project has already defined several operators and is starting to become shareable in its foundations so I wanted to share some sound results with the community that you can find here:

    MCX Video Playlist

    28 May 2026
    On May 23rd I released the first version of these operators to the community here on Patreon available for Mac and Windows. The first release was followed by the publication of 9 out of the 17 operators currently implemented. But many more will join this family over time.
    MCX First Release
    MCX Operators v.1

     

    A couple of weeks earlier, I was fortunate enough to showcase some MCX work and functionalities on the TDFam stream organized by Dan Molnar and Lyell Hintz, along with several other great artists (Spiraldiver, Matterform, Josef Pelz, Lake Heckaman, Prismatic and Mini UV).
    During that stream, several important issues came up about sharing content within the community and how these new self-made operators will be able to coexist.
    TDFam proves to be an excellent bridge for this transition, since it’s a shared project and, being open source, it can be adapted to everyone’s needs. This reminded me a lot of what MIDI did in the ’80s, when different developers had to find a peaceful way to coexist with their musical instruments.

    In my case, since my operators are built in C++, I wanted to understand whether it was possible to achieve the smoothest result possible when transferring, through TDFam, the logic for selecting operators from a custom tab directly into a new tab in the OP Create dialog.

    This kind of customization, which currently happens directly in the TouchDesigner interface, carries the risk of being too invasive and breaking over time with future updates, at least until more official solutions become available. So I managed to develop a script that lets users decide how they want these operators to be displayed, without that kind of invasive intervention.

    Here is an example with a custom installer configuration for those who get the plugins on Mac.

    20 June 2026

    MCX operators keep evolving, thanks in large part to community members testing them in real projects.

    Refining a coherent system and keeping it aligned across operating systems is neither trivial nor quick, but the direction is paying off for anyone who wants more flexible, native modular patching inside TouchDesigner: the kind of workflow you might otherwise build only in Max/MSP, Pure Data, SuperCollider, VCV Rack, Strudel, Faust, ChucK, Bitwig Grid, TidalCycles, or a Eurorack-style signal path, yet wired directly into the same network as your visuals and control.

    Recently, for instance:

    • MPE performance. Moog-style synth patch with MCX driven by an MPE controller: Moog MPE with MCX
    • Minimal drone. A Wagnerian audio drone style with visual built with just two MCX operators: Audio Visual Drone
    • Oscilloscope visuals. Complex audio oscilloscope techniques applied to realtime visuals: Oscilloscope Beats

    What drew me to this from the start was staying close to TouchDesigner’s native operator families:

    There is still a long road ahead; the stimulus and inspiration remain high.

    To give that work a stable public anchor:

    The docs cover installation, the data-type model (Carrier, Mod CV, Array vs Suffix), clock & transport, Distribute & spatialization, and manuals for each operator in the current kit, updated as the family grows.

    A section I am especially glad to have published is Recipes: step-by-step patch walkthroughs you can rebuild in TouchDesigner.

    This post stays the origin story and community context.

    The living reference is on the site.

    Cheers!

    Edwin

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