These are some of the things I have created while learning the program Max/MSP (by Cycling '74). They are freely available for download, and unfortunately, most of them don't come with very much documentation, but I have made an effort to briefly describe what each patch does below. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions, requests, ideas for new patches, or anything else you'd like to tell the author of these patches, emails are welcomed and can be sent to swieser1@comcast.net. I also create custom max patches for a nominal fee, just email me if you have a request. The custom patches I make are much more advanced than most of the patches below. Samples are available by request.
Note on Update: (1/6/04) I've added text versions of many of the patches so that Windows users that can't read .sit files can also download the patches. Max should be able to open the text files as patches.
3D Strange Attractors Text Version
*Added 2/29/04* This patch generates an infinite number of 3-dimensional strange attractors using the equations given here. You supply (or randomly generate) the coefficients to the equations, and then see what it looks like. Gravity Balls 3D
*Added 9/4/03* This is the 3-dimensional version of the patch below. NOTE: Both this patch and the one below require Peter Elsea's LObjects to be installed (they are free). Gravity Balls
*Added 8/26/03* This is a Jitter patch that explores physics a little bit. There are 5 colored balls that bounce around the screen, and exert a gravitational force on each other depending on the distance between them and their mass (which you can change). I'd like to try this one in 3 dimensions soon. Mandelbrot Set Generator
*Updated 6/11/03*
One of my first real patches using Jitter. It generates a 600x600 Mandelbrot fractal. You can zoom in on it to any depth, and you can choose the coloring scheme. Number of iterations can also be specified, but 50 seems to be sufficient as long as you aren't zoomed in too far. You can also export the picture to a file if you like it. Enjoy.
Note on latest update (6/11/03): This update eliminated some minor bugs, and added features such as color animation, renormalized matrix generation, and some helpful instructions. It also seems to be a little slower for some reason.. I'll be looking into that.
computer muzak
*Updated 8/23/02*
This series of twelve patches are little "toys" I made that are fun to play with. They create different sounds (almost always incorporating randomness) and have a bunch of parameters which can be fooled around with in order to change the sound in certain ways. Some are more customizable than others. I personally think these work best when several of them are playing at the same time. Some of these might be harder to figure out than others.
Note on latest update: This series of patches has been the bulk of what I've been doing in Max lately. I've condensed them into one "master" patch from which they can all be easily accessed. I've also added some more toys to play with. I have a couple more unfinished ones that will be added soon, and I get new ideas all the time. I also added some basic effects (reverb doesn't work so well just yet).
Further notes (9/23/02): This patch has gotten a lot more complicated lately, and now has support for networking computers together to share information about tempo and pitch collection. You can also use samples (instead of beeps and clicks) in some of the patches, and there are more patches to use. I have not uploaded this version, and it probably wouldn't work on your computer if I did, but feel free to email me if you have a lot of interest in it.
majorvoice Text version
*Updated 9/23/02*
Plug a microphone into your computer's sound in, and then turn this patch on (watch out for feedback). When you talk into the microphone, instead of your voice being reproduced, the patch reproduces the overtones of your voice in real time using a giant major chord (the fundamental frequency of which can be chosen via a MIDI device or right in the patch). So, basically, it sounds like a big major chord is talking instead of you. Sometimes it's easier to hear what this sounds like if you record it and play it back to yourself, so that recording functionality is built into this patch.
Note on latest update: I've been informed that this patch was missing a part when I uploaded it the first time. It now has everything it needs and works correctly.
auto talker backer Text version
*Added 12/19/03*
This is a fairly simple patch which listens to a microphone input and detects when you begin to talk (or otherwise make noise). It records what is being said until it detects that you are done talking, at which point it plays back what it recorded. wondrousness Text version
*Added 12/19/03*
This is another simple patch which tests numbers for the property of "wondrousness" which was (presumably) invented by Douglas Hofstadter in his legendary book Gödel, Escher, Bach. To test for wondrousness, first pick a number to test. If it is odd, triple it and add 1. If it is even, halve it. Take the number you obtain and do the same process to it. If the number eventually gets to 1 this way, it is wondrous. The path that different numbers take to 1 is fairly chaotic, and it is displayed graphically in the patch. custom wave maker
*Added 9/23/02*
This is basically a wavetable synthesizer where you can draw in what the wave looks like with your mouse. There are also some options to "fix" the wave you drew, including smoothing and normalization (normalization is a little buggy on other people's computers, not sure why). Look for future updates to this one, it's not done just yet.
stereo compressor Text version
*Added 8/9/02*
This one is more humorous than it is useful. Basically I wanted to see if making a compressor (actually, this is more strictly just a limiter) was possible in MSP. Well, I got my answer, and the answer was: maybe.
12tone Text version
This patch is meant to be used as a subpatch in other patches. Its function is to cycle through a 12 tone serial row. Another version of this patch is strict12tone, (text version here) which is basically the same as 12tone, but with additional restrictions on the content of the row, as well as where changes in inversion and retrograde can take place. 4rows Text version
This is an example of the use of the strict12tone patch. There are 4 rows being played simultaneously. A MIDI device is nescessary to hear any of the sounds. beatphucker Text version
Beatphucker is sort of an algorithmic drummer. I've given it different probabilities that certain instruments of a drumset will be played on certain beats in a measure, and beatphucker uses those probabilities to create ever-changing beats. You need a MIDI device which is set on a drumset patch in order to get the full effect of beatphucker. Update on 12/20/03: Updated patch to make it slightly easier to use, and added some comments to make it easier to figure out how the patch works. Also, the other patches that used to be included are no longer included (because they suck). beepingsweeper Text version
A sine wave's frequency is constantly varied up and down, while a beep periodically plays the sine wave's current frequency. Relatively self-explanatory controls. bucephalusish
This one was inspired by an Aphex Twin track called "Bucephalus Bouncing Ball". A periodic clicking sound can be made to gradually change frequency over a specified amount of time. NOTE: be sure to set the "from", "to", and "in" number boxes before clicking the top button the first time, or you will get massive errors. cdplayeralpha
I made this CD player which reads audio cds from your computer's cd-rom drive because my stereo at home sucks and doesn't read a lot of cds anymore. clickphasers Text version
These patches are a bit messy. What they basically do is make periodic clicking noises of slightly different frequencies in order to achieve a phasing effect (as in Steve Reich's music). One of the patches' clicking tone can be manipulated as well. frequency analyzer
This patch analyzes the frequency of an input signal and outputs a graph of frequency vs. level. harmonic oscillator and synthesizers
This is a large collection of different synths I've made, all of which have many varied sounds. Some of these were made with the intention of the user controlling the sound, while some were made simply to be played with minimal control over the sound. A MIDI device is nescessary to play the synths. nn
This is the strangest of all of the patches here. It started off as a wierd experiment in neural net programming, and turned into a wierd experiment in screwing with individual bits of a digital audio signal. You can get some REALLY wierd distortion effects with this patch if you play with it for a long enough time. Try inputting sounds that have a very long decay. psuedo-wind-chime-chaos
This patch is kind of like the computer muzak patches mentioned above, except that it uses a MIDI device to make its sound. All it does is basically randomly fires out a note in a manner which sounds similar to wind chimes blowing in the breeze (especially if you have the right sound selected on your midi device). random arpeggiator Text version
If you play a chord on your MIDI device, this patch will randomly play one note at a time from the chord at a specified tempo. toilet
One night, I went out with a minidisc and a friend and found myself recording the shattering of part of a ceramic toilet bowl. Taking this sample, I made a patch which loops different parts of the sound at different rates, creating a wierd beat. wierd clip sampler thing
This patch takes a sound file and chops it up into a specified number of equally long clips, and assigns each clip to a key on your MIDI keyboard. You can then play whatever part of the clip you like (and if you play a chromatic scale at the right tempo, you will play the entire clip). Potential for making wierd sounds with this patch is very high.
