Re: MaxMSP looping -

[Brian Cass <b@the0verclock.com>]

I think most of us would agree that hardware clocks are more stable  
than soft ones. It is possible to generate clock from Max, but  
depending on your use, it maybe better to sync Max to a hard clock.  
The VST object is stable in my experience, but it does take some  
interesting messages to make it work properly (midievent 144 sound  
familiar?). I have found that while there will always be hardware  
latency you can optimize max/msp pretty well for sync purposes and if  
you avoid gratuitous use of GUI objects and superfluous messages it  
can be quite fast and responsive. One of the big CPU hogs, that I try  
to avoid is the Sig~ object. While being very useful, it is not cost  
effective in my own CPU / Latency budget. It's not sig's fault, it's  
his job that is difficult (sort of like control to audio signal  
conversion).

And still I find that I prefer the tone that comes out of Reaktor,  
even when comparing something that SHOULD be identical between the 2  
platforms. But that's just me and my ears. I do wish that reaktor had  
the option to make nice angled cables like Max though, because i hate  
the way reaktor cables get all sloppy.

- b



On May 5, 2006, at 4:40 PM, Bill Edmondson wrote:

> I've been admiring max from a distance. I'm glad you pointed out the
> usefulness of max in a purely graphical sense (building apps in the
> graphical environment).
>
> I have a question. Is max practical for developing a looper app  
> that has
> midi sync capability? That is, locking or generating to midi clock and
> establishing loop times that stay in sync with external percussion  
> devices.
>
> On a similar note, what do you see for performance and latency of  
> the apps
> you write. Any success with low latency and performance when using  
> the max
> vst wrappers?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jeff Kaiser [mailto:loopersdelight@pfmentum.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 05, 2006 2:20 PM
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Subject: Re: MaxMSP looping -
>
> Oh yeah, absolutely understood. Just reinforcing.
>
> The idea of it as a programming language kept me from jumping to max
> for years, since it came out. I was intimidated by that, and it turns
> out mistakenly so. Then I got very tired of carrying around 140+  
> pounds
> of gear and cables. the train in london last august was the final
> straw. So I guess I have the currently avowedly non-laptop performer
> Steve Lawson to thank for moving me to laptop. (He does stuff with
> laptop at his house, though, I think.)....down to 43 pounds for the
> festival in Boise, and 20 of that is the case.  My goal is to get it
> down to a laptop case and trumpet case....
>
> Jeff
>
> (sitting down right now with a pot of tea and max....)
>
>
>
> Jeff Kaiser
> http://www.jeffkaisermusic.com
> pfMENTUM.com . AngryVegan.com
>
>
> On May 5, 2006, at 11:00 AM, cpr@musetrap.com wrote:
>
>> I didn't mean to focus on that aspect, I only wanted to point out  
>> that
>> the more
>> complex ideas require more of an understanding at that level...  
>> that's
>> why I
>> pointed out the simplistic route as well... because of that, the  
>> exact
>> dynamic
>> you describe happens.. :) at a basic level, it's just like plugging
>> cables
>> between fx boxes, and tweaking the parameters...
>>
>> peace
>