Cycling 74

Cycling 74 teams up with Ableton to take Live back to the day when it was just a lil' patch... except now it's one of the most popular music softwares on the market, and this return to its roots makes it even more powerful.  

If you've heard of Cycling '74 Max/MSP, you probably know it as this crazy program that lets you basically build whatever effects you want so long as you have the fortitude to figure it out. At the Winter NAMM Show, Cycling '74 pairs up with Ableton for Max for Live.  

Using different synth patches named after famous superheroes, the PGS-1 synthesizer through Cycling 74 Pluggo stays true to its name. In fact, "pretty good" may only be a modest assessment if it can make Bill Holland sound like the guy who did the theme music from Castlevania.  

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but Bill Holland proves that, at least in the digital realm, there is such a thing as a free synth. QSynth is part of Cycling 74's massive, Max/MSP-authored "Pluggo" collection, meaning it's powerful, fun, and completely free.  

I think Gregory Taylor from Cycling 74 must be hungry -- craving cheese -- and on Subway's $5 Footlong deal, you get your choice of Provolone, Pepper Jack, Monterrey Cheddar or good ol' American on a variety of sandwiches. Plus that theme song is catchy.  

Cycling 74 gives us an in depth look at some of the improvements that came along in Max 5. This video focuses on time measurement options. The millisecond monopoly has been veritably dissolved!  

Strap on your lycra coding shorts and protective programming headgear -- we're about to take a look at the new Max 5 from Cycling 74 in action on the 125th AES Convention's exhibitors' floor. New user tools and GUI enhancements make it easier than ever to send inspirational messages from patch to patch.  

Research Specialist Ed Bennett from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago talks about the relationship between the SAIC ArtBus interface and the Cycling 74 Max/MSP software behind it. Not for those of you who are low on brain cells at the moment.  

When Robb Drinkwater talked about working on a transmogrifier for the ArtBus open source installation interface, I had to break out the Wikipedia. Apparently, the transmogrifier is an invention by Calvin and Hobbes that changes anything into anything you can write around a dial.  

Art Institute of Chicago student Kyle Evans takes instrument controller design to new heights with his cigar box controller. Using a Playstation 2 controller's guts in conjunction with photo cells, Kyle is able to manipulate sampled air traffic control broadcasts.  

At Chicago's Looptopia, the Art Institute of Chicago's Instrument Construction class showed off some strange musical creations. Chris Burkes Interactopus is an eight-limbed, interactive, light-responsive instrument made from leather pants and other components found in the trash and Cycling 74 Max.  

If you've heard about Cycling '74 Max but haven't had the chance to dive into it, this video is a great starting point. Howard Sandroff, University of Chicago's Computer Music Director, demonstrates a few of the things you can do with Max. Of course it barely scratches the surface -- if you want more Max, Howard teaches classes on it.  

Director of Computer Music at the University of Chicago, Howard Sandroff, uses Cycling '74 Max for signal processing. In this video, Howard shows his knows with a history of Cycling '74 way back from its days in Middle Earth the mid 1980s.  

Howard Sandroff has been using computers to work with music since the 70's, so its no surprise that he's a wizard with Cycling '74 Max. Howard shows us Max and explains why it stands tall over programs like Pro Tools, much like how Gandalf stood tall over the Hobbits he lived with in the Shire.  

Violinist Mari Kimura used Cycling '74 Max/MSP to create a program which allowed her to play violin and have LEMUR's Guitar Bot analyze her parts in real time and play a duet with her. Little did Mari know that Guitar...  

Here we get to see the process of programming from different perspectives with Cycling '74 Max 5. On one hand, we've got the actual design view and on the other side - we see the actual user interface that results.

Ch...  

Here's a sneak peek at some of the new features available in Cycling '74 Max 5. Code completion takes away the necessity to devote too much brain space to memorization, and a new user interface includes a palate that is...  

Max Opcode was once the hot software on the street, but Cycling '74 new it was high time for an overhaul. In this first video on the new Max 5, the updates and changes to Max are made obvious.

Similar to Reaktor,...  

Due to the overwhelming success of Gearwire's AES Video Blog 1 (as well as the fact that we already had the footage), we're back with Video Blog 2. Gearwire meets new friends and walks around New York, on location at Madison...  

It's that time again. The Gearwire team packed themselves tightly into a small airliner bound for New York on Thursday, and have been up to their necks in new products ever since.

This first video blog from AES...  

After 20 years of use, Cycling '74 Max is getting a virtual makeover - or more like a cocoon emergence - into Max 5. If this is already life changing news for you, I'd recommend clicking here for more in depth detail straight...  

Are you still trying to use your Amiga or Commodore software to make music? Can you just not get enough of old school MIDI programming? For users of the "classic" M, the solution has been found that doesn't require...  

[CodeOperator] announced IIR-Reverb, a plug-in that is part of its new URSonic series. IIR-Reverb includes a five-band parametric EQ that lets you modify reverb by frequency. IIR-Reverb is built for Windows and Mac OS X in...  

Cycling '74 have announced an upgrade to Max/MSP. The company's mainline modular audio application and development product is now enhanced by a long list of bug fixes.

Those fixes include eliminating "sort index...  

Better late than never, eh? Due to excessive technical difficulties with our internet connection to the home office, our Thursday wrap-up from Musikmesse is only now available, but check out the goodness anyway--there is...  

A major strategic partnership between Ableton and Cycling '74 has been announced. A meaningful integration between flagship products Live and Max/MSP is suggested, while the companies will codevelop new products in the...  

Cycling '74 director of engineering Darwin Grosse presents the JazzMutant Lemur touch-screen controller. This space-age device is unique because of the visual feedback; the touch surface is a full-color screen, providing...  

Winter NAMM 2006: San Francisco-based Cycling '74 shows off UpMix, a software suite designed to help engineers transform stereo recordings into surround-sound. The software is available for both Windows and Mac in the form...