Hi there!
I was showing Zynthian to people and had a preset failure. So I had to power on my old laptop and then go to VNC to see the plugin.
…
But it’s not “a workflow”, it’s a pain! My computer is slow and mainly off.
I was wondering what can be easier. A RPI glued in the back of an old screen and a wireless mouse and keyboard?
What do you use ?
VNC is optional and recommended to be disabled. There are some plugins that we don’t have full control of yet so that is the main reason to need it.
I tend to use my Chromebook for everything laptopy, including VNC (which, despite what I just said, is enabled on my zynthians… because I am lazy and do a lot of development from my sofa!) Chromebook is always on so pretty much instant access and I purposely choose ARM based models to give long battery life. (Longer lounge time!) Pretty much anything running a web browser will work as the VNC client but if you want to use mod-ui, then you need some oomph in the web browser machine (which is another reason not to use it).
I’ve just noticed : the bigger screen possible or the resolution is too low anyway ?
VNC is useful each time something is not working as usual, this is why nothing is ready in my house to handle that… so I’m looking for a better solution. Maybe a RPI in the back of the tv 
An ongoing issue. The mounting of the screen is a major part of the zynthian environment, and whilst I’ve run a zynth with nothing other than a audio card and an amp ( the cajon see posts passim) or a Roland A88 keyboard with a perpetually attached hifiberry Amp and speakers, I reckon a screen of some sort is essential as feedback. Course the cajon runs perfectly happily with the Bugera footswitch configured for zs3 and the only feedback there is the RGB LED’s. It works repeatedly and I have mute on button six and a Volume pedal available as well.
The cajon does have the option of plugging in a small hdmi screen which is also powered by the cajon via the Ethernet connection wired somewhat similarly to a Power over Ethernet connection. Rather involved, and frankly the wires look horrible and are a constant trip hazard, what with the small screen being light enough to be twisted by the cables it’s all rather unsatisfactory.
Till I’ve got to the present solution.
An android tablet.
There is so much you get in such a rig and by the simple addition of a keyboard or mouse to the tablet via OTG connections you have a very effective zynth control environment.
Putting a desktop link on the tablet with the zynthian vnc address pre reconfigured
( zynthian.local:6080/?autostart=true&password=opensynth )
with the password allows a one press start, which in a field is considerably preferable to typing in a password whilst your cajon feeds back under the disapproving glare of the local coven head. . .
This is probably as industrial as you can get but is here merely to acknowledge the need for a screen and a basic way to interact. An android tablet and a mouse is about as simple as you can make it. Always have a mouse (preferably wireless) in your kit bag. A micro keyboard also kits in quite nicely . . . .Passwords are dull things but have a mechansised process that simply wont let you pass if you don’t get it right.
So that’s my minimum rig, with the minimum tool set to get you there. Touchscreen is ok but even on a seven inch official it’s quite a dance to have the precision you require to make the subtle changes that zynthian is capable of.
I’d love to have a small 4 encoder box that could OTG into tablet and drive the VNC screen, but if I think too much about it, I start adding LED buttons and it all spirals away into grids of buttons . . . .
Relying on HDMI is too ungainly even though it should be a prefered route. A very useful zynth has been rendered less favoured as it’s HDMI socket has been bent by “rustic environments” to intermittent. And that is worse than not working at all…
A rambling ride round rustic recreational rhythms and looking at the gui from a field. . .
I love it ! 
I will give it a try as soon as I find back my ubsotg and try to change Drumgizmo preset as a test.
I think it’s a elegant solution 
Most musicians would probably prefer to build their audio projects with a full screen and a mouse. This is the quickest way to work and get things done. I’m talking about the background “studio” or “rig” work or rehearsal work that a musician does before giving performances.
With the exception of pre-configurred equipment (which may be a computer - or racks, or peddle boards, or patch banks and so on), most musicians would rather not take computer screens and mouses onto stage.
Hence the value of equipment where screens and mouses, when configurring a performance can be used, then detatched for performance itself. Screens and mouses therefore, are a quicker more comfortable way to get around to having these things unplugged, so that a control surface of some kind can be used to rehearse and perform a set.
Also, the less these control surfaces have screens, it tends to be the case, that audiences give more value to the performer’s abilities. I can name a number of instruments which have been criticised by professional musicians (keyboardists especially) for their glarring screens which interfere with stage presence and mood.
So, generally, there are two modes.
I know this seems obvious, but the bigger picture in all of this, is the need for an OS that can be used on all kinds of music machines. Machines that will never be miniaturised in form factor. Incidentally, unlike the international business machines which can and are ever miniturised, the “international music machines” never can and never will be.
If this were the case, Metallica or other big bands would be jamming out on their phones and associated audio apps, instead of the several trucks of performance related equipment used in a production. I note there may be some exceptions, but bands playing on stage with their phones will never be a rule.
Musicians need to interface with machines, sometimes called instruments, which unless you’re Steve Buscemi playing the world’s smallest violin with his fingertips, these will always have a physical interface that is condusive to and enhances the performance for musicians and their audiences.
The use of a touchscreen probably won’t be of interest to many in the music business. What is of more interest, I would say, is a quick way to get a performance pre-configurred, in the comfort of a nice office chair, or sofa, with a nice big screen and a mouse, before disconnecting those configurring peripherals in exchange for performance perhipherals.
That’s my two bobs.
