MAX/MSP

[nyarlothothep]

I have no experience about this program but I read recently that Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead used it to get the crazy guitar effects live that are used on Go To Sleep. Is it really possible to do this and how do you do it?

[fifthcircle]

Max is pretty cool... Been around for ever. I remember doing a show where I got to screw with my clarinet's sound using MAX on one of those old shoe-box shaped macs.

I did a show (as an engineer) just a few weeks back where they were processing a couple of mics through a Macbook running MAX. The effects ran the spectrum- delays, distortion, flange, pitch changing, etc... as part of a contemporary music performance. They had it running through a MOTU traveller interface (or was it an 828? I can't remember) with the mics plugged in directly and a small midi fader controller set to control various settings. They had one button set for calling up preset programs and then the 8 faders for manipulating the various settings in real time. Output of the MOTU went into the PA system with a split to me for the recording.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if it was being used on stage for a guitar rig. You could probably avoid a bunch of pedals and a rack of effects to get the same sounds. The only fun would be controlling it while performing (if both hands are on your guitar- the computer is going to be a bit tough to control).

--Ben

[robd]

MAX/MSP can pretty much do anything, but you've got to figure out how to make the patches yourself, which can be a little difficult. There is a great program called plogue bidule now which, while it's probably not quite as versatile as MAX yet, costs about 1/5 as much and is, IMHO, a lot easier to use.

[Sui_City]

I think Fennesz also uses MAX.

Another option is PureData.

[Kyle S]

wouldnt you need to use a reamp for live guitar stuff?

guitar > pedalboard > rme FF800 > reamp > amplifier

or you could do a split. but i dont think that would be worth while.

i know you could just use PA speakers but that kinda sucks the life out of it to me.


any of those who are actually doing this - what are you using for I/O? FF800 seems to me the best bet as far as latency goes for PC.

[gward]

Make sure you check out Audiomulch as well. It is a little less flashy but optimized for live use and very stable with realtime streaming and changes.
Also, the price is very reasonable.

[Kyle S]

so i take it not a whole lot of people here are doing this live?

[Huntley Miller]

As other have said, Max is an amazing program where you can build just about anything you can think of, but you have to do all the work from the ground up.
I've been using it for 5 years and it took at least a year to get really comfortable with it.

[Kyle S]

Originally Posted by cepia

As other have said, Max is an amazing program where you can build just about anything you can think of, but you have to do all the work from the ground up.
I've been using it for 5 years and it took at least a year to get really comfortable with it.

do you use it with external devices like guitars and synths? whats your IO(if so)?

i want to use my thrustmaster joystick to control my guitar sounds live. But i want minimal evidence that max is there. i need the sound to come out of the amps. and i need to use other guitar pedals. im probably going to get a FF800 soon. I guess i need to get a re-amp or radial thingy if im gonna do this. and either get a pre or run into the rme. kinda sucks to skip the silvertone for all of the pre stage. it would be nice if the silvertone had an FX loop. guess ill have to bring my big devile out of retirement i think it had a loop.

i checked your myspace out, i really like your stuff. thumbsup

itd be cool to use max to control my smoker/grill with temp sensors and hvac servos controlling the dampers. so i can cook other things while keeping an eye on the food outside.

ive played in a few languages over the years. anything complex is worth getting into (to a degree).

what other than max are you using to sequence?