Ableton and Cycling '74 Partner

Cycling '74 and Ableton to Codevelop New Products

The world of creative media software tools is about to get a lot more interesting. A new strategic partnership between Ableton and Cycling '74 promises exciting developments on the horizon for digital media creators, producers, and performers. Ableton CEO and cofounder Gerhard Behles and Cycling '74 CEO David Zicarelli are pleased to announce this unique alliance between the two dynamic and innovative audio/video software companies.

"We've been excited by the idea of bringing the worlds of Ableton and Cycling '74 together for a long time," says Behles, who has been a fan of Zicarelli's company for many years. "In our own musical work," Behles says, "we have been avid users of Cycling '74's products since long before Ableton existed."

Behles and the rest of the Ableton team have long been inspired by Cycling '74's commitment to empowering creative people. "Cycling '74 represents the idea that artists should be free to create the tools to match their unique creative vision—that the making of the tools can become part of the creative process," says Behles. "That's an inspiring thought, and we admire the Cycling '74 team for delivering on this fascinating promise."

Zicarelli was first introduced to Ableton through musician, composer and conceptualist Robert Henke. "Robert was a big Max user," says Zicarelli, referring to Cycling '74's graphical development tool for music and multimedia. "He introduced us to the people at Ableton, and he suggested almost immediately after Live was released that he would love a way for the companies' products to work together." Zicarelli found Henke's suggestions hard to resist. "Robert can be very persuasive when he talks about what he would love to see."

Zicarelli expresses admiration for the care and sheer effort that has gone into the creation of Ableton's flagship product, Live. "One of the things we've come to appreciate about Live," says Zicarelli, "is that its ease of use comes out of incredible attention to detail. Ableton works very hard to make it seem as if the software just works. That has been very inspiring to try to apply to our own product development."

Behles describes the creative vision and hopeful spirit behind the collaboration: "We feel the Cycling '74 approach to designing software for the creative community perfectly complements Ableton's. By integrating the technologies in a meaningful way, both companies can stay focused on their key strengths, avoid diluting their product philosophies, and bring the best of both worlds to the creative user."

littleBits + Korg and Cycling '74 Project 1 - Video Theremin

Published on Mar 31, 2015

littleBits on eBay

"More information: https://cycling74.com/littlebits"

littleBits + Korg and Cycling '74 Project 2 - Modular Interface

Published on Mar 31, 2015 Cycling '74

Cycling '74 Introduces Max 8

Cycling '74: Welcome to Max 8 Published on Sep 25, 2018 Cycling '74

"Max 8 was released on September 25, 2018."

What's New in Max 8?

1 Tap into sonic complexity with MC

2 Noticeably improved performance

3 Simplified MIDI and keyboard control with Mappings

4 Vizzie 2, completely rebuilt with OpenGL

5 Open your patches to the world with Node for Max

6 Experience a streamlined patching workflow

7 Uncover the secrets to Max mastery with search

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37 more features including VST3 and Gen for events:

CLICK FOR MORE »

PlantsSystem-SingleRoom

video upload by plantssystem

"At SingleRoom, we performed an interactive set utilizing the Prophet-5 and 'M.' By blending the warm, analog tones of the Prophet-5 with the refined digital textures of 'M,' we created real-time sonic transformations.

This performance incorporated an improvisational approach, ensuring that each rendition unfolded with unique musical developments. By adapting the sound to the atmosphere and audience reactions, we provided a one-of-a-kind experience.

Harnessing the Prophet-5’s rich filters and the dynamic sound shaping of 'M,' we crafted deep, immersive synth sounds. Characterized by its simplicity yet profound depth, this performance stood as an exploration of the fusion of music and technology, offering listeners fresh inspiration."


Update: Some additional info via plantssytem on M:

"There is a deep relationship between Cycling'74's (MAX) M and ATARI M. Originally, ATARI M was developed by David Zicarelli, the current founder of Cycling'74, and Eric Amres, the founder of the 'Intelligent Sequencer Realtime' that I posted about last time. The prototype of MAX M is ATARI M. In addition, M was also released on the Commodore platform. I use ATARI M, which gives a more cutting-edge, direct and straightforward impression. The current ATARI emulation runs on Linux WattOS using Wine. I will send you the title splash of ATARI M and Realtime."

Max for Live overview (ableton & Cycling'74)

YouTube via akihikotube
"Max For Live (ableton & Cycling'74)"

Max for Live Now Available

via Cycling 74, it is available or purchase on the Ableton website. Pricing:

EUR 249/USD 299 - Download Only

Max for Live Crossgrade for owners of Max/MSP 5
EUR 79/USD 99 - Download Only

Max for Live introductory offer (valid until January 15th):

Ableton Suite 8 + Max for Live Crossgrade for owners of Max/MSP 5
EUR 529/USD 699 - Download Only
EUR 679/USD 799 - Box

Live 8 + Max for Live Crossgrade for owners of Max/MSP 5
EUR 349/USD 449 - Download Only
EUR 449/USD 549 - Box

Note there are additional offers at Cycling 74, for example student discounts and discounts for owners of Pluggo 3, Mode 1, or Hipno 1, so check before you buy.

What comes with Max for Live

YouTube via AbletonInc
"Max for Live puts the power and potential of Max/MSP inside Live. Create all the instruments, effects and extensions you've ever wanted."

Darwin Grosse Interviews AudioCubes Inventor

via the Percussa newsletter

"Hi everyone, this is Celine from Percussa. I'm the other half of the Percussa AudioCubes Team :-)

I'm very happy to annouce that Darwin Grosse interviewed Bert Schiettecatte last week about the upcoming MIDIBridge 3 release for AudioCubes!

As you know Bert is the inventor and designer of AudioCubes and the main person working on the AudioCubes software and hardware and has been working very hard on this release, which introduces the exciting Topology mode.

In this interview, Bert talks about how he got involved in music technology, his background, what it takes to build music technology products and how he started Percussa and developed AudioCubes.

Listen to the interview (podcast) here.

He also goes over how the AudioCubes technology works and what is inside each of the AudioCubes and some of the challenges he had to tackle in developing AudioCubes.

Bert has been at it almost a decade, listening carefully to what AudioCubes users need and want. Here is what Darwin says about the interview:

"Bert's story is a somewhat common one - a guy with a vision of a product that works hard to make it happen. But when you start talking about all the different things that he had to learn - and master - for this implementation to succeed, it seems like an impossible task. So how does one person make the impossible happen? That's what we talk about. I hope you enjoy this one - it is very revealing, but also points to one of the most innovative products out there."

About Darwin Grosse

Darwin Grosse is the Chief Learning Officer at Cycling '74, which makes the audiovisual programming language Max/MSP. Darwin is also an adjunct faculty member at University of Denver, Colorado, and is a well known magazine writer, recording and mastering engineer and modular synth enthousiast. Previously, Darwin was also the Director of Engineering at Cycling '74 for almost a decade and has taught numerous Max/MSP workshops. Learn more about Darwin's work at http://darwingrosse.blogspot.be and http://darwingrosse.com and listen to more of his podcasts at http://artmusictech.libsyn.com"

Darwin Grosse of Cycling 74, 20 Objects and the Art + Music + Technology Podcast Has Passed Away

Some sad news sent my way via Joshua Shroyer, also feauted on Synthopia, where you'll find additional info on the impact Darwin Grosse has had in the synth community.

You should be familiar with his 20Objects Art + Music + Technology podcasts posted here on MATRIXSYNTH, as well as numerous other posts. His website is hosted at 20objects.com. He also worked with Cycling 74 and participated in LEAF (Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival). The image to the left is from the LEAF website which has the following bio on him:

"Darwin Grosse works in a modular world, combining modular synthesizers, video tools and compositing software to combine minimalist visuals with generative soundscapes. Based out of Northfield, Minnesota, Darwin uses natural movement as source material for geometric visual pieces, and writes custom audio-reactive software for his multimedia work."


His final podcast from May 15, 2022:
video upload by 20Objects

"Unfortunately, today is the last day of podcasting for the Art + Music + Technology podcast. Health issues have gotten in the way, and it would be impossible to continue.

You can read the transcription of this article, as well as finding some interesting writing on my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/posts/66445163

Thank you for being such a great group of friends and supporters during this long series of music"

And the full run of Art + Music + Technology Podcast


And a playlist of tutorial videos hosted on his YouTube channel:

gen one (Cycling '74 M driving Korg OASYS PCI on OS9 G4 Mac)

video upload by Analog Industries

"Tuning my OS 9 music machine; playing with Cycling '74's excellent (and first, I think?) generative music application, M, driving the Korg OASYS PCI card. The card is running two virtual analog synths and a 2 OP FM synth, along with a hall reverb and Dan Phillips' excellent SD3000 emulation. The audio is recorded directly from the analog output of the card."

Modular Synth Improvisation by Akihiko Matsumoto

Published on Dec 6, 2017 Akihiko Matsumoto

"Cycling '74 Max/MSP BEAP --- Korg SQ1, Expert Sleepers ES-3 --- Eurorack --- RME Fireface UC --- Ableton Live --- SONY a7RII (Carl Zeiss Batis 25mm/f2)--- Blackmagic Video Assist.

Reverb: Eventide Blackhole, Eventide Mangled Verb
Limitter: iZotope Ozone8

-
Mutable Instruments Braids, Mutable Instruments Clouds, M.A.S.F. Mo.s Model OSC03, Music Thing Modular Radio Music, Studio Electronics Quadnic, dave jones design otoolplus, Mutable Instruments Warps, MakeNoise MATHS, MakeNoise Wogglebug, 2hp VCA , 2hp MIX, 2hp Freeze, EOWAVE Zone B.F. , Rossum Electro-music morpheus, dave smith instruments Curtis Filter, intellijel Dual ADSR, Expertsleepers ES-3, Ableton Live, Cycling '74 Max7 BEAP, RME Fireface UC, Evolution UC-33e, Roland Boutique D-05, KORG SQ-1."

Max For Live (ableton & Cycling'74)

YouTube via akihikotube. You can find more Max/MSP vids by akihikotube here
"Building my original plugin with Max For Live (ableton & Cycling'74)"

Modular Synth Improvisation Live 011 & 010

Published on Dec 28, 2017 Akihiko Matsumoto

Music by Akihiko Matsumoto
http://akihikomatsumoto.com


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Modular System
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdNtnheHVcp/

Cycling '74 Max/MSP BEAP --- Korg SQ1, Expert Sleepers ES-3 --- Eurorack --- RME Fireface UC --- Ableton Live --- SONY a7RII (Carl Zeiss Batis 55mm/f1.8)--- Blackmagic Video Assist.

Reverb: Eventide Blackhole, Eventide Mangled Verb
Limitter: iZotope Ozone8

-
Mutable Instruments Braids, Soulsby OSCITRON, M.A.S.F. Mo.s Model OSC03, Tiptop One, Studio Electronics Quadnic, dave jones design otoolplus, Mutable Instruments Warps, MakeNoise MATHS, MakeNoise Wogglebug, 2hp VCA , EOWAVE Zone B.F. , Rossum Electro-music morpheus, dave smith instruments Curtis Filter, intellijel Dual ADSR, Expertsleepers ES-3, Expertsleepers Disting, Noise Engineering Manis Iteritas, Synthorotek ADSR, WMD Geiger Counter, Rebel Technology OWL Modular, Ableton Live, Cycling '74 Max7 BEAP, RME Fireface UC, Evolution UC-33e, KORG SQ-1.

--

Modular On The Spot 2yr Anniversary Videos - Modular Performances on a River Bank

Mike Dobler - Modular On The Spot 2yr Anniversary

Cycling '74
Published on Aug 8, 2017

So awesome! :) Looks like an orange and black ARP 2600 & various eurorack gear.

Rodent516 - Modular On The Spot 2yr Anniversary



Stephen McCaul & Sean Jimmerson - Modular On The Spot 2yr Anniversary

Cycling '74
Published on Aug 8, 2017

Meet And maX Virtual Meetup - Modular Synthesizer Graphical Programming Discussion Livestream

Published on Apr 21, 2020 Perfect Circuit

"Join our first ever virtual Meet And maX—a community gathering dedicated to Cycling 74 Max, a powerful graphic programming environment that works with a variety of media, from sound to video, to 3D graphics, to physical computing, and more.

Max lets you connect anything to anything, and we put together Meet and maX to connect all of you. In our inaugural livestream we will host a pretty diverse group of Max folks, including Darwin Grosse and Dan Derks from Cycling 74, independent developer and artist Dillon Bastan, MIDI whiz and current meetup host Aaron Levitz, as well as Perfect Circuit maxers Ryan Gaston, and Eldar Tagi.

We will be talking about building plugins in max for live, using Max for interactive livestreams, hardware integration, and a bunch of other things. Tune in to the stream and bring questions."

Cycling '74 RNBO 1.3 Web-Editor & Sysex Raw MIDI (patch share)

video upload by Cycling '74

"Here, Tom @tomhallsonics explores the new real-time Web Editor for Raspberry Pi, which was released in the recent RNBO 1.3 release.

This patch uses several RNBO-made modules to create a system in the browser for real-time sysex messaging and control of the Elektron Machinedrum. Similar methods could be used to create control patches for any type of hardware that can receive sysex.

Download Patch: https://assets.cycling74.com/web/patc..."

Modular Synth Improvisation Live 009

Published on Dec 17, 2017 Akihiko Matsumoto

"Music by Akihiko Matsumoto
http://akihikomatsumoto.com

-

Cycling '74 Max/MSP BEAP --- Korg SQ1, Expert Sleepers ES-3 --- Eurorack --- RME Fireface UC --- Ableton Live --- SONY a7RII (Carl Zeiss Batis 85mm/f1.8)--- Blackmagic Video Assist.

Reverb: Eventide Blackhole, Eventide Mangled Verb
Limitter: iZotope Ozone8

-
Mutable Instruments Braids, Mutable Instruments Clouds, M.A.S.F. Mo.s Model OSC03, Music Thing Modular Radio Music, Studio Electronics Quadnic, dave jones design otoolplus, Mutable Instruments Warps, MakeNoise MATHS, MakeNoise Wogglebug, 2hp VCA , 2hp MIX, 2hp Freeze, EOWAVE Zone B.F. , Rossum Electro-music morpheus, dave smith instruments Curtis Filter, intellijel Dual ADSR, Expertsleepers ES-3, Ableton Live, Cycling '74 Max7 BEAP, RME Fireface UC, Evolution UC-33e, Roland Boutique D-05, KORG SQ-1.

--"

10 - MINUTE AMBIENT PIECE USING CYCLING 74' MAX MSP/ BEAP/ JITTER

video upload by Piotr Garbaczonek

"Thanks for watching!
Made this short 10-minute ambient piece using Cycling '74 Max, and more specifically the modular engine called Beap, as well as Jitter. Everything was recorded into an element called 'Recorder'. Did some slight EQ and compression adjustments in Ableton after that, but very minimal to stay true to what was recorded in Max.

Here are some links of mine:
https://linktr.ee/pgarbaczonek
Go follow my Patreon here:
https://www.patreon.com/pgarbaczonek?...

Perks of being a member include Patch from scratch videos, behind-the-scenes, HD pictures of gear and such, unreleased music, sample packs, and many more :)"

LE CYBERSONGOSSE

I recently saw this on sequencer.de. I wasn't sure if I put up a post on this before, however I was pretty sure I saw it on Music Thing and/or CDM. Sure enough I did. I sent an email to Tom and Peter and Peter was kind enough to reply with links to the posts. Here are the links to the posts on Music Thing and CDM.

Peter Kirn also sent the following:

"Check out these links for some amazing photos:
modeles
pedagogie.html

What I can't find -- and you'd probably need someone who has connections to IMEB for this -- is what happened to the public software release that was supposed to happen. There's nothing on the site, and the documentation of the project appears to be abandonware. (Hopefully that's just the site itself.) That'd be nice, as they redeveloped the software in Max/MSP."

If you know anything, please comment.

Update via Peter Grenader in the comments:

"If I'm not mistaken, this is a big midi controller designed to control patch parameters within software synthesis progrmas such as Csound and MaxP. This is what was explained to be a year or so.

Also, I believe Max was developed by Cycling 74, not the IMEB. Barry Vercoe I know developed Csound with IRCAM."

Update via the comments: "Actually, Max was developed by Opcode, who later added MSP. Then Cycling '74 bought it in 1999, and have been developing it ever since. What the post was actually saying is that the IMEB developed their own program using Max/MSP, not Max/MSP itself."

Update via Peter Kirn in the comments:

"Some historical corrections:

Csound was developed by Barry Vercoe while he was at MIT, not IRCAM. Csound is in turn indebted to Max Mathews' Music4 (and variants), as developed at Bell Labs from the late 50s through the 60s. Csound has grown a lot since its original version, however, through contributions by Dr. Vercoe and many others.

Max was not originally developed by Opcode; Max and the audio environment Max/FTS were the creation of Miller Puckette while he was at IRCAM (and I think IRCAM still holds some of the copyrights to that version of Max and its descendents). Max/MSP as we now know it did result from the Opcode variant of Max, that's true, though it has had an ongoing, bi-directional relationship with Max/FTS and later Pure Data, as developed by Miller Puckette, and has evolved through contributions of many people. Max Mathews is the namesake for the software Max, but supposedly specifically for an archaic reason having to do with scheduling (as well as, I'm sure, his admiration for Max Mathews' contributions to digital synthesis).

Back to the original question, I think people are right in that this is a hardware controller for a Max/MSP-based software patch. The modularity, having previously been in hardware, is now apparently in the software. The patch is promised to have been publicly released in the PDF docs for the instrument. So it's out there somewhere -- I just don't know where!"

Update: also see The Gmebaphone Concept and the Cybernéphone Instrument

Patch Notes #21 - Sequencing w/ DU-SEQ, 0-Coast and more

Published on Oct 1, 2016 Voltage Control Lab

"This episode is exploring both our latest rubber band control on the Vintage Synth Labs VCF-74 Pulse Tips and the direction & address functionality of the DU-SEQ Eurorack sequencer.

Four voices here, clocked from the Make Noise Tempi including the DU MDLR DU-SEQ, which is sending pitch and gate to the Make Noise 0-Coast. The 0-Coast stepped random out is routed to the overtone section, while the cycling slope section is routed into the FM input. The 0-Coast is then routed out to the Vintage Synth Labs VCF-74, which has it's cutoff knobs rubber banded together, and through the Mutable Instruments Warps Parasite alt firmware ping pong delay. The DU-SEQ address is being modulated by a cycling channel 1 on Maths, from the variable output. The clock output is routed to the Malekko Varigate 4, which is sending one randomized gate pattern to the External Gate input 1 on the DU-SEQ.

The Varigate is also sending a randomized pattern to Mutable Instruments Braids, triggering the internal envelope in the Bees in the Trees alt firmware. As well, Braids is in Meta mode, modulated by the smooth random output on the Make Noise Wogglebug. The cycling channel 4 on Maths is modulating the timbre control, with a looping channel on the Intellijel Dual ADSR modulating the color control.

The pitch is modulated via the S&H circuit on the Sputnik Modular West Coast Random Source. The white noise source is routed to the S&H input, which is being triggered by a 4x clock from the Synthetic Sound Labs Modulation Orgy (which is being clocked by Tempi).

One of the fluctuating random outputs from the West Coast Random Source is routed to the attack input on the Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas. The stepped random function from the Modulation Orgy is routed to the pitch. The 4 channels of LFOs on the Ornament & Crime are routed to the decay, fold, harm and spread inputs. The Wogglebug bouncing output is routed to the morph control. The BI is clocked by two source joined through the Doepfer A-151-2 Sequential Switch. One signal from the Tempi, another from the stepped random output on the Wogglebug. One channel on the Make Noise Pressure Points is toggling between the sequences every 4 steps, while another is resetting the switch on the following step.

The bass is coming from the Tiptop Audio Z-3000, with the sawtooth wave routed out through the Make Noise Optomix. A sine wave from the Make Noise DPO is routed to the other channel on the Optomix, and then out to the Z-3000 FM input. Both channels on the Optomix are being opened by the Malekko ADLFO, which is triggered via the Make Noise René (also routed from the QCV to the 1v/oct input on the Z-3000).

Everything through the Malekko Mix 4 and out, with a slight bit of dynamics processing to even out the peaks in the recording.

https://www.voltagecontrollab.com/"

CRISS - Chat-Reactive Interdimensional Space Synthesizer

video by Perfect Circuit

"CRISS - Chat-Reactive Interdimensional Space Synthesizer is an interactive sound and visual environment that reacts to chat messages in the live stream.

The controls are generated with Cycling 74's Max and all of the sounds and visuals are generated in real time by eurorack modular synthesizers.

Check out our selection of music gear here: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/?utm_s..."