Posted by Ernest Meyer on December 1, 2008 at 8:30pm
Music has the unique ability to create an infinitely changing experience via pure abstractions of temporal and spatial relationships, most simply perceived as rhythm and timbre. True, we may live in a material world, but within our shared experience, the abstractions of time and space are not imprisoned by the clocks and Cartesian coordinates of modern science. For us, a day can pass like an hour, and an hour can seem like days. The tiniest of space we share with another person, even in the most fleeting touch, can mean more to us than all the stars in the sky. Though musical abstractions, we can share such experiences, but only when the instruments place no constraints on our expression.In the 1960s, musicians started experimenting with electronic sounds. Early artists such as Pink Floyd experimented with many different sounds before finding the rhythm and timbre that led to their great success. In the 1970s, bands such as King Crimson simulated orchestras with tape loops. Modern-day musical instruments have sadly declined into a stock set of widely accepted sound loops and analog synthesizer simulations. To make new and challenging acoustic experiences, artists need to reach outside conventional instrumentation.In the 1990s, a German company released an unusual software program called Generator, which enabled electronic musicians to put together musical instruments of their own design. The program provides a lego-like interface whereby blocks are hooked up between audio inputs and outputs. Because many of the blocks are like hardware components, the blocks are deliberately designed to look like integrated circuits. The unusual characteristic of Generator was that it could also produce sound in real time, while the electronic musician was still putting together the blocks. This was possible because it embedded several kinds of simulator, similar to those used in electronic engineering, but adapted to the needs of the electronic musician. The software was years ahead of its time. It was later purchased by Native Instruments and combined with other programs to make a very sophisticated design environment called Reaktor.A little after Generator emerged, a little-known group of software developers in California created some similar design environments called Max and MSP. These environments are modeled on later DSP simulation programs, rather than the early hardware simulation programs of Reaktor. The interface is more abstracted and extensible. It was never really limited to creating electronic music alone, but always provided a more open and extensible environment such that, for example, it could provide synchronized light shows and a software workbench for the integration of unique control surfaces.Dance-Tech.net has been kind enough to sponsor me as a columnist, and I will be describing some of my experiences with Max/Msp here in the next nine months.Mac, PC, and Version ChoicesMax/Msp was originally developed on the Macintosh platform. There was a day when that made a great amount of difference, More recently, platform convergence has made the choice between such platforms more based on taste rather than application requirements. Max/Msp has run on both PC and Macs since version 4. Those familiar with software migration know that the first generation of software which converges across hardware and OS platforms is frequently buggy and requires a number of revisions. The challenge often extends beyond the software architecture for the application, and a total source-code rewrite is required. For financial reasons, the transfer to the new code base is usually deferred (for example, until the software protection for the original version is cracked). The delay often results in some cross-company migration of members in the talented alpha team, who worked on the original software, and as a consequence, portions of the original functionality do not port to the new code base for some time.In the case of Max/Msp, the new code base of Max5 is much superior to Max4. It is more stable, plays better, and looks better. However some interfaces have taken some time to release. For example, the Software Development Kit (SDK) which permits integration of external devices was only released this month, after delays approaching a year. Also, the ability to make standalone VST instruments (which can embed inside music sequencer programs such as Sonar and Cubase) is not available in Max5 (Max can operate in a VST environment, but others must own Max5 to play the instruments).This last discovery was a little of a disappointment for me. The ability to compile, link, and make standalone applications was a big part of the reason I decided to migrate from Reaktor to Max. I have developed experimental instruments in Reaktor since 1998, but Native Instruments also sells many VST standalone instruments, and providing the ability of native compilation would mean its customers could compete with its own products. Therefore a movement to Max seemed inevitable, if I was to share my musical creations with others besides those who own the expensive application.A number of alternatives exist for VST integration. One developer suggested making the Graphical User Interface (GUI) in a compiled code, such as C, then connect to a standalone Max interface via the now-industry standard Rewire interface. However I prefer Cubase VST/32 5.0 over SX versions (because I think its mixer less muddy), and Cubase 5.0 can only support a limited number of Rewire audio connections (due to an older interface architecture).The less preferred alternative was to develop in the older Max4 application. After some time the idea occurred of creating the UI in Max4, the main app in Max5, and the two parts could communicate over the more recent OSC interface. One other developer said this was possible.I do not intend to develop VST instruments alone--I hope to work with others, and a number of different applications are underfoot--but I did not want to be limited, as I had been in Reaktor, of not being able to share standalone VST instruments. So, I started the installation of both Max4 and Max5.MAX/MSP InstallationInstalling Max/MSP (and Jitter) 5.0 was a snap. The software is fully functional for 30 days, after which registration is required for continued functionality, so one can install while waiting for authorization codes.It is possible to run Max4 and MAx5 at the same time. However, installing the older 4.0 version introduced some unforeseen problems. To provide better latency and higher bandwidth to the audio hardware, electronic musicians often implement an audio I/O protocol called ASIO. I had been trying a freeware ASIO driver which acted as an intermediary between native WDM drivers and the integrated motherboard sound hardware. The Max 4.0 installation had some problems with the freeware so I uninstalled it.Then almost every single software application stopped working. I checked for viruses. No viruses.It took a while to work out, but now I'm pretty sure the uninstallation caused a kickback in my XP3 license, because ASIO drivers are perceived as hardware by the XP OS. After a certain number of hardware changes, the Windows operating system validates the OS is genuine across the Internet, and this time, XP3 also reset the "system ID." This hadn't happened to me before. Many software applications use some sort of Hamming code or CRC check with the system ID as part of their authentication, including Creamware, Cubase, and Native Instruments software. And so as a consequence, I had to reinstall Scope 4.0, Reaktor 2, Reaktor 3, Reaktor 4, Reaktor 5, Cubase VSt/32 5.0, Cubase SX, Kontakt 2.0, Battery Studio Drumkit, and all my audio drivers.The reinstallation has to be in a certain order, and the older software took may slow reboots. So this all took a while, after which my initial enthusiasm was somewhat subdued. I had been warned about problems with Max 4 but I was overconfident, and frankly I had just forgotten how long it used to take to integrate audio applications. System integration used to be enormously time consuming. Again, I reiterate, Max 5 was a snap. Software is just much better than it used to be.Website mountingI hope to create some server-side audio applications, so I also created a Website:http://www.heavensonearth.com
Creating the website cheered me up after the problems with installing Max 4, and also allows me to share some of the prototypes I would like to transfer to standalone applications via Max/MSP. I am just uploading various audio samples and freeware instruments.But it is not just VST instruments on which I am working, as I will describe in the next column.
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Launched in 2005 in Brussels and Mons (Belgium) by Transcultures (interdisciplinary centre for electronic and sound culture), Les Transnumériques is a nomadic festival dedicated to (trans)digital art emergences and the diversity of electronic cultures. This third edition of Les Transnumériques links Belgian cities (Brussels and Mons) with French cities (Paris and Lille) and focuses on the dynamic digital Quebec scene with guests artists and cultural organizations from Montreal and Quebec as well as featuring Belgian, French and European artists and structures.Les Transnumériques#3 (curator: Philippe Franck) starts in Paris at Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles (29 September – 4 October) with dance and multimedia performances (by Mutin, Thomas Israël & Jacques Urbanska, transitscape, Popcore) and video screenings (selection of Festival Elektra-Montreal and 68 Septante-Brussels), lectures and digital art-industry-research meetings (presentations of French and Belgian artists, researchers and companies).read more atwww.transnumeriques.beorg: www.transcultures.net
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