Ableton and Cycling '74 Max for Live (Mac/Win) Review

Feb 1, 2010 12:00 PM, By Jim Aikin

           
 

A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME FOR COMPUTER PERFORMING

FIG. 1: The step sequencer included with Max for Live as it appears in the Max Patcher window in Patching mode. The pop-up palette for adding new objects is at the lower right. The sequencer control panel (upper-left) is a complex object, something that only an expert Max programmer will want to tinker with.

When doing live performance with computers, two of the most important music programs are Ableton Live and Cycling '74 Max/MSP/Jitter. Both are capable of producing great music in a variety of styles, but Live tends to appeal more to the dance-music crowd while Max/MSP/Jitter (which we'll refer to in this review simply as “Max”) is used more for experimental music and video. Both are highly developed, but they couldn't be more different. To vastly oversimplify, Live is about running loops through effects while Max is about building your own real-time algorithmic audio and MIDI processes, as well as video and matrix data processing.

Max for Live is revolutionary: It meshes the two programs seamlessly, and the implications are far-reaching. The new tools built into the Max side provide Live users with an extraordinary level of real-time control over Live's clips and mix parameters. If you want to build a Max patch that will trigger Live clips using some visionary semi-random process that you've dreamed up, just roll up your sleeves, turn off the phone and go for it. Plus, with Max for Live you can build your own synthesizers and audio and MIDI effects from the ground up as Max patches. Your new devices will then be fully usable in Live.

If you're a Live user and you want to send your music into translunar orbit, Max for Live may be just the ticket. But be warned: Although Max is point-and-click, it's a deep, full-featured programming language. Doing even simple things with it will require days of studying and experimenting. Fortunately, Max has a massive set of tutorials. These are augmented by another hefty set of tutorials for Live. Just select Help View from Live's Help menu and dig in.

Live itself is a complex DAW. For details, see the review of Live 8 in the July 2009 issue of EM, available at emusician.com/sequencers/ableton-live-mac-win-review/. Here I'll focus strictly on the features in Max for Live.

Up and Running

After downloading and installing Live 8.1 to my Windows XP machine, I had to download and install Max 5.1 separately. Having done both, I then entered my authorization code in Live's User Account Licenses dialog, and I was ready to go.

FIG. A: Buffer Shuffler slices and dices an audio loop. The orange spots on the grids show which slice will be played on which beat in the left and right channels (separately). The buttons at the bottom can reverse or mute any slice.

If you don't own Max, you'll find that the Max download is available for 30 days as a stand-alone program. After that, it will continue to be fully functional only within Live. Max for Live includes all of the Jitter video-synthesis objects in Max/MSP/Jitter, but some Jitter objects will not display correctly while patches are being edited in the Max for Live Patcher window. Owners of the full Max/MSP/Jitter license don't have this limitation.

Max has a free run-time version that allows you to sell your Max creations to people who don't own Max. However, Max for Live provides no run-time-only widget that will play Max for Live patches in non-Max for Live versions of Live. As a result, if you want to share your own Max for Live devices with other musicians (such as your bandmembers), they will need to own full copies of Max for Live. In addition, Max for Live devices can operate as plug-ins only within Live; they can't be exported. This is rather unfortunate as it will probably reduce the number of third-party developers who create cool devices for Max for Live.

Editing Max Devices

After dragging a Max device into a Live track, you'll see an extra button in its title bar to the left of the Hot Swap and Save buttons. Clicking this opens the Max Patcher window for the device (see Fig. 1). You can then switch the patcher from Presentation mode (which looks identical to what's shown in Live) to Patching mode.

While editing Max patches, you'll notice a small amount of latency, but you will immediately hear the result of your patching. When you save the device and return to Live, the latency goes away.