Re: MaxMSP looping

[Andreas Wetterberg <awetterberg@post.cybercity.dk>]

Jeff Kaiser wrote:
> hey Andreas,
> 
> Andrew and I had another interesting discussion tonight about this. 
> We've both been on and off this list over a period of time and note a 
>...
> I think one possible answer to this cycle lies in the flexibility of 
> Max/MSP.
> 
> Maybe, rather than building a specifically featured looper (which would 
> have the same problems as the hardware...it would never have EVERY 
> feature everyone wanted), a specific toolkit/tutorial could be created 
> that would allow users to more easily focus on this aspect of Max: live 
> looping. 
Yes, of course. I wouldn't be interested in some standalone-y app. 
anyway - I want to tinker. People have had good results doing objects 
that allow the user to use maxMSP as a higher-level modular; free object 
libraries such as www.jamoma.org are the way to go, I would say - to 
make one that's totally centered around looping/recording/retriggering 
would be a swell thing to do as a community.

I know there are experienced Max people on this list that will
> say it is all in the tutorials/reference (which it is) but it is spread 
> out all over the place...unless there is something I have not seen, 
> which is totally possible.
I'm installing jamoma tonight, to see what the fuss is about, but yes, 
going to www.maxobjects.com and searching for "looping" isn't really 
what's cool.

> Sample patches in the tutorials would get rid of the need to 
> do a lot of the "programming." for example, my looper was first made by 
> andrew, but then I got in it, saw how it worked, and modified the 
> interface to fit my needs...

Exactly. Tuts. And lots of them, with examples.

> 
> As Lao Tzu said, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach 
> him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Yes indeed, and I'm a firm believer in that, but to be honest, a lot of 
the max-ochists take it too far - Heaven only knows how many 
loop-recorders have been designed from scratch over the years, 
reinventing the wheel is such a bore. If I had a solid platform to start 
with I wouldn't have to spend countless hours building basic 
functionality in there. sigh.

A.