Setups #1: Examples Using an iMac, MacBook or MacBook Pro
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This is a fairly typical setup, a single Mac in the studio (or on stage) that may or may not also use its Airport to connect to a local WiFi network to use the Internet.
Connecting only a Paca(rana)
If you only wish to connect your Paca(rana) then the simplest way is to plug it into the Mac’s Ethernet port. OSX will recognize the connection and automatically assign the Ethernet port an IP address from the 169.254.XX.XX range (the “random IP range”). The Paca(rana) will also realize its address in a random IP situation and also use 169.254.XX.XX.
Since the Paca(rana) uses Bonjour, software programs like PacaMidi that run on the same Mac will locate the Paca(rana) and use it. However any device that connects to the wireless network, such as an iPod Touch or iPad, will not be able to locate the Paca(rana). If you need that facility, or plan on using it in the near future, it’s probably best not to use this setup.
Since the Paca(rana) uses Bonjour, software programs like PacaMidi that run on the same Mac will locate the Paca(rana) and use it. However any device that connects to the wireless network, such as an iPod Touch or iPad, will not be able to locate the Paca(rana). If you need that facility, or plan on using it in the near future, it’s probably best not to use this setup.
Connecting only a Lemur
If you only wish to connect your Lemur then the simplest way is to plug it into the Mac’s Ethernet port. OSX will recognize the connection and automatically assign the Ethernet port an IP address from the 169.254.XX.XX range (the “random IP range”). If the Lemur is set to use DHCP it will also assign an IP address in the same range.
The Lemur seems to be pretty consistent about the IP address it assigns itself. That means that software like vM2 can be configured to use that address and will probably avoid future problems due to the address changing.
The Mac part of the equation though makes this approach very inconvenient. OSX assigns a different IP address to the port each time it reboots. This means that you would have to remember to setup the Lemur’s OSC ports each and every time.
A better solution is to use static IP addresses for both the Mac and the Lemur. Just be sure to avoid using the same network and subnet address that the Mac’s Airport is using. Often this will be something in the the 192.168.1.XX range. Pick something different like 192.168.2.XX and assign two IP addresses from that range.
The Lemur seems to be pretty consistent about the IP address it assigns itself. That means that software like vM2 can be configured to use that address and will probably avoid future problems due to the address changing.
The Mac part of the equation though makes this approach very inconvenient. OSX assigns a different IP address to the port each time it reboots. This means that you would have to remember to setup the Lemur’s OSC ports each and every time.
A better solution is to use static IP addresses for both the Mac and the Lemur. Just be sure to avoid using the same network and subnet address that the Mac’s Airport is using. Often this will be something in the the 192.168.1.XX range. Pick something different like 192.168.2.XX and assign two IP addresses from that range.
Connecting two or more devices
If you wish to connect a Lemur and a Paca(rana) then you will need to also add an Ethernet switch. The set up is complicated by the lack of a way to manually assign the Paca(rana) an IP address. To use this configuration the Mac, Lemur, and Paca(rana) will all be using random IP addresses assigned in the 169.254.XX.XX range. Thus this setup suffers the same issues as was discussed in Connecting only a Lemur. It works but you will need to manually redo the Lemur’s setting every time the Mac reboots.This setup also restricts wireless devices (iPhone, etc) from interacting with the Paca(rana). We will discuss a better alternative in a later section.