1.7.0

Release Date: May 24, 2024

New Commands

Added Return to Zero command to the Transport section.

Added optional Plugin Button section of commands. (This section must be enabled from the MIDI Device Settings menu, on a per-device basis). Plugin Buttons work in parallel to the eight Plugin Knob commands, controlling the same set of plugin parameters that they do. The difference is that they are optimized for use with buttons. So, instead of twisting a knob left and right to activate a toggle switch in a plugin, now you can tap a button. For multi-position switches in plugins, it will step through each position, incrementing by 1 each time, and then after it reaches the highest position it will wrap around to the lowest position.

Enhanced Overall App Usability

That sounds like some vague marketing speak, but what we mean is that we made Mulligan work more like other apps you're used to, by following a set of standardized design guidelines. Specifically:

• Mulligan now has a standard menubar that exposes commands that were previously available only through a set of obscure keyboard shortcuts.

• Mulligan now has Undo / Redo ! Any action that adds or removes a MIDI mapping can be undone / redone.

• The Settings panel (which was a bit of a catch-all before) has been narrowed in focus, and is now just the HUD View Options panel. The other buttons from the Settings panel have been transformed into menubar items.

• The Load License/Clear License button has been removed from the Settings Panel, and put in its own Authorization window. This window features a clearer indication of demo status, and also provides a button to launch a web browser to access the user's account online.

• All windows now restore their positions when re-opened.

New Window: Customized Plugin Names

This window displays any user-entered plugin or parameter names. The left column shows the short or “stub” names (8 characters max) that are sent by the DAW, and the right column shows the long form of the names that will be displayed in the HUD.

These “long names” can be edited within the window, or alternately they can be edited in the HUD when they are displayed there. To remove an entry, simply delete the full long name, to revert it to a blank.

Note that parameter names entered here or in the HUD are placed in a general pool of parameter name substitions. They do not “belong to” any particular plugin.

Miscellaneous

• When plugging in a new MIDI device, if the current MIDI device is Bypassed, Mulligan will now automatically switch focus to the newly connected device. (As a reminder, Mulligan listens to all non-bypassed MIDI inputs, even if they aren't the focused one. So this change affects the visual experience, but doesn't actually change anything in the MIDI performance.)

• The zip archive created by Export User Data now includes a "System Snapshot.txt" file, containing the same info provided by the Diagnostic Info command.

• Revised and updated the PDF manual.

1.6.0

Release Date: Dec 22, 2023

New Joystick Section

Added a new section with special commands for handling joystick and XY pad input. These commands allow you to keep your bank of 8 knobs for plugin control as before, but then also map joysticks or XY pads to those same plugin parameters simultaneously. So for plugins where joystick control makes sense, you can use the joysticks – but for other plugins, where joystick control would not feel intuitive, the knobs would still be there as a fallback.

The joystick section supports both center-sprung joysticks and free, non-sprung joysticks. Any of the plugin parameters, or any of the Current Track commands, can be mapped to joysticks. Includes support for up to two joysticks per MIDI device.

Miscellaneous

• Added a Starter Pack for the Kenton Killamix Mini.

• Fixed a bug where Mulligan could crash if the current MIDI controller was unplugged while a Mapping Assistant window was open.

• Updated and expanded the user manual.

• In the Windows version, bypassing a MIDI device in Mulligan now frees that device to be used by a different application (e.g. Pro Tools).

1.5.1

Release Date: Apr 26, 2023

• Added interactive help system to provide users with prompts to view in-app help guides at useful times.
• Added in-app help guides for DAW Connection and Custom Plugin Mapping.
• Fixed a bug with Parameter Page navigation while in Learn mode.
• Fixed a bug where the Bypass state of the current MIDI device would not be properly saved to Settings.
• Made in-app help guides' default size a bit smaller.
• Added an "x" after the number in Knob Acceleration slider, to better show that the number is a multiplier.
• Parameter names sent via SysEx output (e.g. to TouchOSC) now follow the HUD setting to Display Parameters In All Caps.
• Trimmed the description for the Stop/Play command, to make it fit correctly in the Mapping Assistant's display.

Mulligan 1.5.1 is the first version released for Windows.

1.5.0

Release Date: Mar 21, 2023

New Commands

Added two new commands to the Plugin Parameter Page section, making it quicker and more flexible to access the parameter pages of your plugin's control map.

• Page Bump provides a way to temporarily access the next highest parameter page of a plugin mapping, without taking your hand off the knob. Map this command to the pushbutton function of your first plugin knob. While you hold the knob down, you access parameter page +1, and when you release the knob, it reverts to the original page. When you design custom plugin mappings around this concept, it’s like adding another bank of virtual knobs to your controller. (Further explanation and examples given in the manual.)

• Page Return When switching in or out of plugin Learn mode in Pro Tools (i.e. when doing custom plugin mapping), Page Return automatically returns to the last parameter page you were on before entering Learn mode (Pro Tools automatically jumps to page 1 whenever entering or leaving Learn mode, which is not always desirable). Under normal operation (not involving Learn mode) Page Return will hop between the first and last parameter pages.

Expanded In-App Help

• A one page Visual Guide appears automatically the first time the app is launched. It can be accessed from the Learn menu at any point thereafter.
• Added a link in menubar to view Frequently Asked Questions.

New Device Settings Menu

This mini popup adds options that can be set on a per-MIDI device basis. Access this menu using the small gear icon under the MIDI device menu. The options are:

• Smooth Encoders - applies a filter to clean up incoming data from encoders sending relative knob data. If your MIDI device has smooth (as in non-stepped) encoders for knobs, you can enable this option for more stable, smoother performance.
• Send MIDI Feedback - defaults to "On", and you probably want to keep it on. It allows Mulligan to send MIDI to your device to provide visual feedback (i.e. to update its LEDs). However, if you have a MIDI device that's acting strangely in response to the MIDI feedback, this would allow you to shut it off for troubleshooting.

New Keyboard Shortcuts

• , (comma) to open Settings Panel
• ? to show Visual Guide

New Starter Pack for TouchOSC

The Mulligan download now includes a new compact transport-only TouchOSC layout for iPhones. This layout shows the potential of purpose-built, task-focused control surfaces. With this on your phone, you now have a compact remote control for the Pro Tools transport that fits in your pocket.

New Heads-Up Display (HUD) Controls

• Size scales the HUD down to as small as 20% of screen width
• Placement places the HUD left, center, or right
• Display Parameters In All Caps toggles the option to show the parameter names in the HUD as all uppercase. Note that any long-form parameter name substitutions are still saved in whichever case you typed them in. This option affects only how the names are displayed in the HUD.

Miscellaneous

• The MIDI monitor now color-codes incoming MIDI messages, showing which ones are mapped (in green) and which ones are unmapped (in red).
• Fixed bug when relaunching Mulligan with the Mapping Window in its "Shrunk" state (toggled by pressing the G shortcut).
• Fixed an issue with older macOS versions (10.13 and earlier) where file chooser dialogs wouldn't appear (like when loading a license file or a mapping file to import).
• Renamed the Utility Panel to the Settings Panel.
• Settings Panel now displays as a popover window, to the side of the Mapping Window, rather than covering over part of the Mapping Window.
• HUD now displays a "Disconnected from DAW" message when the DAW is not connected.
• Improved save and restore of which Mapping Window sections are open or closed, per MIDI device.
• Added support for Arturia controllers' non-standard Relative knob mode. Users must select their "Relative 1" mode with Mulligan (which will appear in Mulligan as "Relative 3").
• Greatly expanded the Mulligan manual's All About MIDI Controller Knobs section, now with 72% less handwaving and 3x the amount of concrete examples.

1.4.0.1

Release Date: Nov 22, 2022

Fixes an entitlements issue that prevented the Export User Data button from working.

1.4.0

Release Date: Nov 14, 2022

Multiple simultaneous controllers now supported

• All connected MIDI devices can be used at the same time with Mulligan.
• Each controller can be bypassed individually, if you don't want to use it with Mulligan.
• Automatically scans for new MIDI devices, so the MIDI rescan button has been removed.

New in-app help system

• Mapping Assistant popup window aids in setting controller mappings. It automatically appears next to whichever command you have highlighted in Mulligan, and tells you more about it, while offering instructions for how best to map it.
• Info Pane for displaying help text has been removed.
• Learn menu added for easy access to the PDF manual and tutorial video.

TouchOSC app support

• Custom SysEx output added to allow live updates of parameter and plugin names in TouchOSC layouts.
• New Starter Pack for TouchOSC includes plugin controller layout for iPad.

New keyboard shortcuts

• Option-Delete to clear all mappings for the current MIDI device
• G to toggle Grow/Shrink Mapping Window (same as double-clicking on top banner)

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug when removing a plugin or switching to a track with no plugins, where the HUD wouldn't clear its display.

1.3.0

Release Date: May 9, 2022

Now includes "Starter Packs" for the MIDI Fighter Twister and Behringer X-Touch Mini, which provide new users with a pre-built command layouts optimized for these controllers.

New Commands Section: Current Track

• Track Level
• Aux Send A-E Levels
• Pan L, Pan R, and Pan Combo (L + R pans on one knob)
• Solo and Mute commands moved here

New Commands Section: Miscellaneous

• Master Fader
• Show/Hide Hud

Plugin Navigation section was split into separate sections for Plugin Parameter Page and Plugin Navigation:

New Commands Section: Plugin Parameter Page

• Increment Page (Knob)
• Previous Page and Next Page commands moved here

Updated Commands Section: Plugin Navigation

• Added new "Combo" command. It combines the other two plugin navigation commands (Next Plugin and Show/Hide Plugin) into a single button: a short tap triggers Next Plugin, while a long hold triggers Show/Hide Plugin.

New Commands Section: Track Navigation

• Increment Track (Knob)
• Previous Track and Next Track commands moved here

Expanded MIDI Input Monitor

The goal was to give you a more comprehensive view of the incoming MIDI, to aid in setup and troubleshooting knob modes. To that end:

• Changed to show recent history, increasing from a one-line to a three-line display
• Now displays the incoming MIDI values (in addition to the channel and CC/Note numbers)

New Keyboard Shortcuts

• M - Imports a Mulligan controller mapping from a Mappings.xml file
• U - Reveals the user data folder in the file system

Improved user interface when doing custom plugin mapping (using the "Learn" button in PT)

• HUD now clearly shows which knobs are mapped to parameters, and which are unmapped.
• MIDI feedback to device now clearly shows which knobs are mapped to parameters, and which are unmapped.

Expanded and revised Mulligan Manual.

1.2.0

Release Date: Feb 7, 2022

New Commands Section: Track commands

• Solo and Mute current track
• Navigate previous track / next track

Additions to Settings Panel

• Opacity control for HUD
• Adjustable HUD hold time, 1-15 seconds (was previously hardwired for 3 seconds)

Improvements to enhanced visual feedback for specific MIDI controllers

• Fixed issue with X-Touch Mini, when using with knobs in absolute mode
• Added Kenton Killamix Mini

Graphics Improvements

• Fixed Mapping Window resizing issues
• Tweaked some drawing code for lower CPU usage at idle

First Universal Binary release - Mulligan is now native for both Intel and Apple Silicon.

Added new keyboard shortcut: use H key to manually show/hide HUD.

Map display now saves/restores which command sections are expanded/collapsed, on a per-MIDI device basis.

Added more plugin and parameter names to built-in substitutions table.

Added a hidden setting, to make the HUD display the plugin parameter names in ALL CAPS. This setting is accessed by editing the Settings file:

~/Music/reFuse Software/Mulligan/Settings.xml

If the entry displayParameterNamesInAllCaps is changed from 0 to 1, then the HUD will display the plugin parameter names in ALL CAPS. Caveat: only edit this file while Mulligan is not running, and relaunch Mulligan to see the change in display

1.1.0

Release Date: Dec 22, 2021

New feature: added enhanced visual feedback for certain models of MIDI controller. The goal being to visually distinguish between when a knob is unassigned in the current mapping, versus the parameter being turned down to its minimum value.

How this might be visually represented depends on the particular model of controller, and requires of course that the hardware have at least some kind of LEDs around its knobs.

Currently Mulligan detects the following MIDI controllers by name, and automatically sends extra messages to them for enhanced visual feedback :

• Midi Fighter Twister When a knob is unassigned in the current mapping, the multi-color (RGB) LED under the knob will be turned off. When a knob is assigned, the RGB LED under the knob will be lit. In order for this to work, the Switch MIDI Number and the Encoder MIDI Number for each knob must be set to the same value.

• X-touch Mini When a knob is unassigned in the current mapping, the LED ring around each knob will have no segments lit. When a knob is assigned, but turned down to its minimum value, the lowest segment of the LED ring will be lit.

1.0.2

Release Date: Dec 2, 2021

Optimized some graphics code for snappier response from dials in HUD.

1.0.1

Release Date: Nov 30, 2021

Fixes an issue where, when switching between plugin parameter pages, old values wouldn't be cleared from the MIDI controller's LED rings, for knobs that were unassigned on the new page.