Choose one of several sounds

The matrix~ object is a multichannel audio mixer. It’s useful as a mixer of sounds, and also as an audio switcher/router, because you can route any input to any output, with built-in interpolation for smooth, click-free amplitude changes.

In this example, we use matrix~ as a 4-in/1-out mixer to choose one of four possible input sounds, with an adjustable crossfade time (the matrix~ object’s ‘ramp’ attribute) between the old sound and the newly chosen one.

The messages to change amplitudes in matrix~ might seem a little cumbersome, but the message format is necessary to allow the sort of versatility that matrix~ provides, letting you set the gain level for the connection of any input to any output. The message format is: <inlet#> <outlet#> <gain> [ramptime]. If no ramptime value is included in the message, the timing of the ‘ramp’ attribute is used (as in this example). To manage the gain-setting messages for all the possible connections, we store full lists of settings in a coll, and then break that list up into individual message with zl. In this example we use keystrokes from four keys—a, s, d, and f—to choose which input sound we want to hear by looking up the necessary settings in the coll. The settings in the coll turn on the connection we want, and turn off all the other connections.

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