How to play live PA on MAX\MSP

vadim_art · 2023-07-12T11:19:01.277Z

Hi all. I have created several patches with different sounds (synths, samplers, glitches, etc.) and I want to play them live at an ambient party.

Can you please give me some advice on how best to organize these patches properly for the performance - do they all play in one patch or is it not necessary? Does it make sense to use some ready-made mixers from maxmsp or is it just enough to have live.gain for the volume? What is the best way to organize everything so that the computer processor does not load? What are the nuances in general and what should you pay attention to? What must be done and what must not be done?

christianlukegates · 2023-07-12T12:23:26.531Z

vadim_art:

best way to organize everything so that the computer processor does not load

Good rule of thumb is to ensure that the max scheduler is set to overdrive and audio interrupt is set to On. Also depends on how efficient your patching is, which would also apply to-

vadim_art:

how best to organize these patches properly for the performance - do they all play in one patch or is it not necessary?

… which would also depend how you intend your different sounds/patches to play- ie are they playing together or separately? If together, how are they interacting? Are they interacting at all or are they all doing their own thing? Are you performing/interacting with them at all or are they just being left to do their own thing (ie some sort of algorithmic/generative thing)?

vadim_art:

ready-made mixers from maxmsp or is it just enough to have live.gain for the volume?

again without knowing the overall nature of the patches/aim of the performance its difficult to answer this one, but if you are mixing multiple sources then id suggest maybe taking a look at, for eg, the mc.live.gain~ help file and see if you can grab something from there

It sounds like you may be new(ish) to Max? Just curious why you wouldn’t perhaps use a DAW for this performance, which may be a little more fail-safe in your situation than juggling Max patches (which may be a bit precarious if you’re not wholly familiar with it)?

Fin25 · 2023-07-12T12:43:19.213Z

I think @christianlukegates has covered most of it to be fair and without knowing more details it’s hard to offer specific help.

I’ve been Maxing since the start of the year and I have used it a couple of times for live performance. However, I’ve used it very sparingly, mostly as an audio mixer and VST host.

One thing I do like to do is use presentation mode to display only the parameters and information/controls that I’m going to use in the performance, which I can then either map to a controller or adjust with the trackpad on my laptop without the visual distraction of loads of objects and patching going on.

For me, learning Max seems to be a lot about trial and error, getting loads of stuff wrong (sometimes publicly) before you figure out how to make it work for you.

Ryan · 2023-07-12T15:59:08.135Z

Fin25:

sometimes publicly

Ha!

But also

Fin25 · 2023-07-12T16:14:58.311Z

Don’t cry.

I love it.

Ryan · 2023-07-12T16:23:07.165Z

off topic

Now I’m imagining you after your set:

“Dude, that was awesome!”

“I hated it. There were not nearly enough technical issues.”

Fin25 · 2023-07-12T16:29:54.942Z

Pretty much

chapelierfou · 2023-07-12T16:54:59.834Z

My advice would be to use send~ and receive~ objects.
One separate patch for the audio output. This way you can freely load new “sound” patchers and play them one after the other.

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T06:45:18.655Z

christianlukegates:

which would also depend how you intend your different sounds/patches to play- ie are they playing together or separately? If together, how are they interacting? Are they interacting at all or are they all doing their own thing? Are you performing/interacting with them at all or are they just being left to do their own thing (ie some sort of algorithmic/generative thing)?

my patches are not tied to the same tempo. I just want to turn them on whenever I want and play some pads, samples, glitches etc when i want, creating a soundscape

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T06:47:34.205Z

christianlukegates:

It sounds like you may be new(ish) to Max? Just curious why you wouldn’t perhaps use a DAW for this performance, which may be a little more fail-safe in your situation than juggling Max patches (which may be a bit precarious if you’re not wholly familiar with it)?

Yes, I’m new to max. But I want to try to play with him, I’m interested in this - I’m not looking for easy ways.

Thank u for helping

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T06:53:12.135Z

Fin25:

without knowing more details it’s hard to offer specific help.

Most of my patches are based on warping samples. And a have a couple of small patches with bells and glithes.

Fin25:

use presentation mode

Yes, my thoughts on this way too

Thank u

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T06:54:56.188Z

nice advice. Thnx a lot)

micabeza · 2023-07-13T07:02:02.777Z

I thought I was the only one. Keeps it interesting up there for me and on my toes.
Besides, I’ve found the audience likes to hear a fuckup now and then. Not shitty beat matching type fuckups, but real technical issues. They at least least know for sure it’s real. They’re also impressed when you can deal with it well. And you get mad bonus points if you actually incorporate the fuck up and start mixing it in….

dtr · 2023-07-13T08:08:11.705Z

In my large Max projects I follow a modular approach. Each audio/video/DMX generator or whatever it is lives in its own patch. Then I create meta-control patch(es) to orchestrate that bunch. For audio I ‘ll aggregate all signals via send~ receive~ pairs in a DIY mixer patch that sends the mix to audio interface outputs.

When the project is feasible in Live’s structure I might use Max4Live there to not have to build the mixer, timeline, etc myself.

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T08:19:42.694Z

dtr:

create meta-control patch(es) to orchestrate that bunch

oh thanks, i’ll think about it. Plus, you’re not the first person to say this

dtr · 2023-07-13T08:26:01.257Z

(In my latest project I used a M4L device published by @chapelierfou to kill the save window when closing Live. Thank you!)

vadim_art · 2023-07-13T08:53:51.990Z

wow, could you share it please? @chapelierfou

KaOsphere · 2023-07-13T09:05:24.855Z

Ask Autechre Anything !

chapelierfou · 2023-07-13T09:33:09.941Z

http://maxforlive.com/library/device/4153/do-not-save

It’s language-dependent so get back to me if it doesn’t work for your language.