Serverless and peer-to-peer distributed interfaces for musical control

This paper presents the concept and implementation of a decentralized, server-less and peer-to-peer network for the interchange of musical control interfaces and data using the OSC protocol. Graphical control elements that form the control interface can be freely edited and exchanged to and from any device in the network, doing away with the need for a separate server or editing application. All graphical elements representing the same parameter will have their value synchronized through the network mechanisms. Some practical considerations surrounding the implementation of this idea like automatic layout of control, editing interfaces on mobile touch-screen devices and auto-discovery of network nodes are discussed. Finally, GoOSC, a mobile application implementing these ideas is presented.