The objective for this week was to refamiliarize myself with the Max MSP environment with the help of a template that was provided to me as well as a series of tutorials on YouTube. The larger objective that this step will help me towards is to create a prototype of my plug-in by first using integrations of VST plug-ins that I am currently using for my workflow which I can then gradually substitute with effects units that I created myself to suit my needs.
The Toolbox
- Advanced Max: Standalones series by Cycling ’74 (Part 1-5)
- Hosting VST Plugins in Max by John Jannone
- Template provided by my supervisor
- Max MSP
Toolbox Analysis
The Max Standalone series was helpful in some regards, but overall, it felt like the videos included a lot of trial-and-error moments, which made them lengthy and tricky to follow along with. I often found myself trying to rebuild a patch component only to then find out it had lots of issues in it which had to be undone a couple minutes later. I could imagine this might be useful for someone who is not as familiar with how to troubleshoot in Max MSP, but for me it was not the best way to progress. There was valuable information on how to build a standalone project, and the fifth episode of the series demonstrated how to distribute an application to stores. While not applicable to my project at this early stage, this is information I will revisit. The most useful information that I will be taking away from this series is how to build an application (Part 1, from 10:30 onwards), work with dependencies (Part 2), and create presets (beginning of Part 3).
The video by John Jannone managed to integrate a lot of useful information into 20 minutes, and it was relatively easy to follow along with it. Although it is specifically targeted towards synthesizers, it contained useful general information on how to set up umenus to work with parameters from a VST plug-in, manipulate them and save snapshots.
Results and Reflection
With the help of the videos and the template I was able to compile a beginning version of a patch, where a sample is fed through an effects chain. In the patch, I built separate components which might be useful for further prototyping, like a menu module which allows me to switch between external VST plug-ins. I faced some struggles with getting a sample output from PaulXStretch,which I plan on investigating further next week, but all the other plug-ins process the input sample smoothly. Another segment that needs troubleshooting is the umenu I attached to a reverb unit with the intention of being able to manipulate parameters from within Max (marked in red).
Top 5 Objects of the Week
Objectives for Next Week
- Troubleshoot parameter manipulation tool
- Properly integrate PaulXStretch/Research why it might not work
- Start building a spatial effects unit
Research resources for Next Week
A list of resources I stumbled upon throughout my process this week and want to research further because they have the potential to help my project. The scope for these resources is varied and can go from scientific literature to tools that can help me learn more or become clearer on my ideal parameter mapping and UI.
Plug-Ins
Prototype Development
Getting Started With Reverb Design Part 1 & Part 2
Literature/Websites
A Tutorial on Spectral Sound Processing Using Max/MSP and Jitter
