Max
The world standard for real-time sound interaction
Max (formerly Max/MSP) is a visual programming environment for building real-time musical and interactive applications. It is currently the world’s leading software program for interactive sound installations. Max is a
bundling of Max (IRCAM/Cycling ‘74) for real-time control of interactive musical and multimedia applications through MIDI, of MSP, a large set of objects for real- time analysis, synthesis, and processing of audio signals, and of Jitter, a set of video, matrix, and 3D graphical objects for the environment. Max was developed for musicians, sound designers, and researchers who want to develop interactive real-time programs. Cycling ‘74 (United States) develops Max under an exclusive license from IRCAM.
Composition
Generation of musical structures using mathematical or random models.
Live Performance
Production of mixed works in which the electronic part reacts according to the instrumental performance using incoming instrumental capture, incoming MIDI signals, or direct modification of the instrumental sound as source material. Controlling the diffusion of sounds and audio files in time Max acts as a sampler. The dynamic control of complex programs that pilot musical signals, video, and lighting effects is also possible.
Audio Post-Production
Virtual control of several external devices such as the mixing console, direct-to-disk system, and synthesizers.
Real-Time Video Processing
A library of objects for video processing (Jitter) is included with the software. It provides users low-level control and the ability to program several applications.
Education
Max is widely used in universities, music schools, and conservatories as an educational tool. The documentation included in the software features numerous interactive tutorials that can be used to teach the fundamental aspects of MIDI systems, audio signals, or video.
Research
Max is used in research to create prototypes of synthesisor sound signal processing in real-time. New external objects can easily be written in JavaScript, Java, and C and dynamically linked to the program.
Technical Features
Several hundred objects for synthesis, control, processing, sampling, and analysis. The sound engine offers multiprocessor support, 64-bit signals, and several improvements in sound quality.
Max includes a system of on-the-fly code generation and compilation based on patches, enabling the quick creation of new objects directly in Max.