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46-755: Pd is very similar in scope and design to Puckette's original Max program, developed while he was at IRCAM , and is to some degree interoperable with Max/MSP, the commercial predecessor to the Max language. They may be collectively discussed as members of the Patcher family of languages. With the addition of the Graphics Environment for Multimedia (GEM) external, and externals designed to work with it (like Pure Data Packet / PiDiP for Linux, Mac OS X ), framestein for Windows, GridFlow (as n-dimensional matrix processing, for Linux, Mac OS X , Windows), it

92-810: A FireWire , USB , or network connection, or generated on the fly, and stored in tables, which can then be read back and used as audio signals or control data. One of the key innovations in Pd over its predecessors has been the introduction of graphical data structures . These can be used in a large variety of ways, from composing musical scores, sequencing events, to creating visuals to accompany Pd patches or even extending Pd's GUI . Living up to Pd's name, data structures enable Pd users to create arbitrarily complex static as well as dynamic or animated graphical representations of musical data. Much like C structs , Pd's structs are composed of any combination of floats, symbols, and array data that can be used as parameters to describe

138-578: A bang is used to initiate events and push data into flow, much like pushing a button. Pd's native objects range from the basic mathematical , logical , and bitwise operators found in every programming language to general and specialized audio-rate DSP functions (designated by a tilde (~) symbol), such as wavetable oscillators, the Fast Fourier transform (fft~), and a range of standard filters . Data can be loaded from file, read in from an audio board, MIDI , via Open Sound Control (OSC) through

184-435: A common confusion. While sampled synthesis involves the use of a static digital sample, wavetable synthesis allows for the (optional) evolution of a waveform; this is to say, while wavetable synths can sound like sampled synthesis, the evolving option (which is enabled by default on most classic wavetable sounds) differentiates it. Often they now have displays showing a real time 3d graphs of the wave table being played back with

230-779: A general-purpose computer like the Macintosh PowerBook G3 . In 1999, the Netochka Nezvanova collective released NATO.0+55+3d , a suite of externals that added extensive real-time video control to Max. Though NATO.0+55+3d became increasingly popular among multimedia artists, its development stopped abruptly in 2001. SoftVNS , another set of extensions for visual processing in Max, was released in 2002 by Canadian media artist David Rokeby . Cycling '74 released their own set of video extensions, Jitter , alongside Max 4 in 2003, adding real-time video, OpenGL graphics, and matrix processing capabilities. Max 4

276-496: A graphical data structure, somewhat like a data structure out of the C programming language, but with a facility for attaching shapes and colors to the data, so that the user can visualize and/or edit it. The data itself can be edited from scratch or can be imported from files, generated algorithmically, or derived from analyses of incoming sounds or other data streams. Though a powerful language, Pd has certain limitations in its implementation of object-oriented concepts. For example, it

322-606: A marketing term to their sound card. However, these sound cards did not employ any form of wavetable synthesis, but rather PCM samples and FM synthesis . S&S (Sample and Synthesis) and Digital Wave Synthesis was the main method of sound synthesis utilised by digital synthesizers starting in the mid 1980s with synthesizers such as Sequential Circuits Prophet VS, Korg DW6000/8000 (DW standing for Digital Wave), Roland D50 and Korg M1 through to current synthesizers. Ableton addressed some confusion in an article: Wait, so isn't this just sampled synthesis? Let's pause here to address

368-511: A number of projects, as a prototyping language and a sound engine. The table interface called the Reactable and the abandoned iPhone app RjDj both embed Pd as a sound engine. Pd has been used for prototyping audio for video games by a number of audio designers. For example, EAPd is the internal version of Pd that is used at Electronic Arts (EA). It has also been embedded into EA Spore . Pd has also been used for networked performance, in

414-583: A piano and controlled a Sogitec 4X for audio processing. In 1989, IRCAM developed Max/FTS ("Faster Than Sound"), a version of Max ported to the IRCAM Signal Processing Workstation (ISPW) for the NeXT . Also known as "Audio Max", it would prove a forerunner to Max's MSP audio extensions, adding the ability to do real-time synthesis using an internal hardware digital signal processor (DSP) board. The same year, IRCAM licensed

460-401: A program as a directed graph of the data flowing between operations. In Pure Data and Max, functions or "objects" are linked or "patched" together in a graphical environment which models the flow of the control and audio. Unlike the original version of Max, however, Pd was always designed to do control-rate and audio processing on the host central processing unit (CPU), rather than offloading

506-557: Is a sound synthesis technique used to create quasi-periodic waveforms often used in the production of musical tones or notes . Wavetable synthesis was invented by Max Mathews in 1958 as part of MUSIC II . MUSIC II “had four-voice polyphony and was capable of generating sixteen wave shapes via the introduction of a wavetable oscillator.” Hal Chamberlin discussed wavetable synthesis in Byte 's September 1977 issue. Wolfgang Palm of Palm Products GmbH (PPG) developed his version in

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552-429: Is a class of sound synthesis methods using the waveform tables by table-lookup , called "table-lookup oscillator" technique. The length of waveforms or samples may be varied by each sound synthesis method, from a single-cycle up to several minutes. The term " waveform table " (or " wave shape table " as equivalent) is often abbreviated to "wavetable", and its derived term " wavetable oscillator " seems to be almost

598-478: Is especially useful for evolving synth pads , where the sound changes slowly over time. It is often necessary to 'audition' each position in a wavetable and to scan through it, forwards and backwards, in order to make good use of it, though selecting random wavetables, start positions, end positions and directions of scan can also produce satisfying musical results. It is worth noting that most wavetable synthesizers also employ other synthesis methods to further shape

644-409: Is fundamentally based on periodic reproduction of multiple arbitrary, single-cycle waveforms . In wavetable synthesis, some method is employed to vary or modulate the selected waveform in the wavetable. The position in the wavetable selects the single cycle waveform. Digital interpolation between adjacent waveforms allows for dynamic and smooth changes of the timbre of the tone produced. Sweeping

690-422: Is modular, with most routines existing as shared libraries . An application programming interface (API) allows third-party development of new routines (named external objects ). Thus, Max has a large user base of programmers unaffiliated with Cycling '74 who enhance the software with commercial and non-commercial extensions to the program. Because of this extensible design, which simultaneously represents both

736-573: Is possible to create and manipulate video, OpenGL graphics, images, etc., in realtime with extensive possibilities for interactivity with audio, external sensors, etc. Pd is natively designed to enable live collaboration across networks or the Internet, allowing musicians connected via LAN or even in disparate parts of the globe to create music together in real time. Pd uses FUDI as a networking protocol. Pure Data and Max are both examples of dataflow programming languages. Dataflow languages model

782-407: Is very difficult to create massively parallel processes because instantiating and manipulating large lists of objects (spawning, etc.) is impossible due to a lack of a constructor function. Further, Pd arrays and other entities are susceptible to namespace collisions because passing the patch instance ID is an extra step and is sometimes difficult to accomplish. Pure Data has been used as the basis of

828-456: The Macintosh . At this point in its development Max couldn't perform its own real-time sound synthesis in software, but instead sent control messages to external hardware synthesizers and samplers using MIDI or a similar protocol . Its earliest widely recognized use in composition was for Pluton , a 1988 piano and computer piece by Philippe Manoury ; the software synchronized a computer to

874-531: The Waldorf WAVE. More commonly, pre-computed wavetables could be added via memory cards or sent to the synthesizer via MIDI. Today, wavetables can be created more easily by software and auditioned directly on a computer. Since all waveforms used in wavetable synthesis are periodic, the time-domain and frequency-domain representation are exact equivalents of each other and both can be used simultaneously to define waveforms and wavetables. During playback,

920-560: The program 's structure and its graphical user interface (GUI), Max has been described as the lingua franca for developing interactive music performance software. Miller Puckette began work on Max in 1985, at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris . Originally called The Patcher , this first version provided composers with a graphical interface for creating interactive computer music scores on

966-470: The sound synthesis and signal processing to a digital signal processor (DSP) board (such as the Ariel ISPW which was used for Max/FTS). Pd code forms the basis of David Zicarelli 's MSP extensions to the Max language to do software audio processing. Like Max, Pd has a modular code base of externals or objects which are used as building blocks for programs written in the software. This makes

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1012-486: The 1990s at the latest, several influential sample-based synthesis products were marketed under the trade names similar to "wavetable synthesis" (including Gravis Ultrasound wavetable card, Creative Wave Blaster wavetable daughterboard , and Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth ), and these confusions have further affected industry standards (including MPEG-4 Structured Audio algorithmic and wavetable synthesis , and AC97 optional hw acceleration wavetable synth ). In

1058-794: The DSP (this corresponds to the distinction between k-rate and a-rate processes in Csound , and control rate vs. audio rate in SuperCollider ). The basic language of Max and its sibling programs is that of a data-flow system: Max programs (named patches ) are made by arranging and connecting building-blocks of objects within a patcher , or visual canvas. These objects act as self-contained programs (in reality, they are dynamically linked libraries), each of which may receive input (through one or more visual inlets ), generate output (through visual outlets ), or both. Objects pass messages from their outlets to

1104-564: The IRCAM versions, continued in the same tradition. Cycling '74's first Max release, in 1997, was derived partly from Puckette's work on Pure Data. Called Max/MSP ("Max Signal Processing", or the initials Miller Smith Puckette), it remains the most notable of Max's many extensions and incarnations: it made Max capable of manipulating real-time digital audio signals without dedicated DSP hardware. This meant that composers could now create their own complex synthesizers and effects processors using only

1150-734: The Jitter package adds a scalable, multi-dimensional data structure for handling large sets of numbers for storing video and other datasets ( matrix data). Max is typically learned through acquiring a vocabulary of objects and how they function within a patcher; for example, the metro object functions as a simple metronome, and the random object generates random integers. Most objects are non-graphical, consisting only of an object's name and several arguments-attributes (in essence class properties) typed into an object box . Other objects are graphical, including sliders, number boxes, dials, table editors, pull-down menus, buttons, and other objects for running

1196-471: The Max for Live extension. With the increased integration of laptop computers into live music performance (in electronic music and elsewhere), Max/MSP and Max/Jitter have received attention as a development environment available to those serious about laptop music/video performance. Programs sharing Max's visual programming concepts are now commonly used for real-time audio and video synthesis and processing. Wavetable synthesis Wavetable synthesis

1242-556: The Networked Resources for Collaborative Improvisation (NRCI) Library. Max (software) Max , also known as Max/MSP/Jitter , is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco -based software company Cycling '74 . Over its more than thirty-year history, it has been used by composers, performers, software designers, researchers, and artists to create recordings, performances, and installations. The Max program

1288-411: The Pd user community, and no other programming skill is required to use Pd effectively. Like Max, Pd is a dataflow programming language. As with most DSP software , there are two primary rates at which data is passed: sample (audio) rate , usually at 44,100 samples per second, and control rate, at 1 block per 64 samples. Control messages and audio signals generally flow from the top of the screen to

1334-460: The bottom between "objects" connected via inlets and outlets. Pd supports four basic types of text entities: messages, objects, atoms, and comments. Atoms are the most basic unit of data in Pd, and they consist of either a float , a symbol, or a pointer to a data structure (in Pd, all numbers are stored as 32-bit floats). Messages are composed of one or more atoms and provide instructions to objects. A special type of message with null content called

1380-555: The company. On September 25, 2018 Max 8, the most recent major version of the software, was released. Some of the new features include MC, a new way to work with multiple channels, JavaScript support with Node for Max, and Vizzie 2. On October 29, 2024 Max 9 was released. Max is named after composer Max Mathews , and can be considered a descendant of his MUSIC language, though its graphical nature disguises that fact. Like most MUSIC-N languages, Max distinguishes between two levels of time: that of an event scheduler, and that of

1426-481: The current waveform highlighted which is the signature feature common in modern wavetable synths. The creation of new wavetables was previously a difficult process unless supported by specialized editing facilities and (near) real-time playback of edited wavetables on the synthesizer. Such editors often required the use of extra hardware devices like the PPG Waveterm or were only present in expensive models like

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1472-553: The graph of objects is defined by the visual organization of the objects in the patcher itself. As a result of this organizing principle, Max is unusual in that the program logic and the interface as presented to the user are typically related, though newer versions of Max provide several technologies for more standard GUI design. Max documents (named patchers) can be bundled into stand-alone applications and distributed free or sold commercially. In addition, Max can be used to author audio and MIDI plugin software for Ableton Live through

1518-519: The inlets of connected objects. Max supports six basic atomic data types that can be transmitted as messages from object to object: int, float, list, symbol, bang, and signal (for MSP audio connections). Several more complex data structures exist within the program for handling numeric arrays ( table data), hash tables ( coll data), XML information ( pattr data), and JSON-based dictionaries ( dict data). An MSP data structure ( buffer~ ) can hold digital audio information within program memory. In addition,

1564-525: The late 1970s and published it in 1979. The technique has since been used as the primary synthesis method in synthesizers built by PPG and Waldorf Music and as an auxiliary synthesis method by Ensoniq and Access . It is currently used in hardware synthesizers from Waldorf Music and in software synthesizers for PCs and tablets, including apps offered by PPG and Waldorf, among others. It was also independently developed by Michael McNabb, who used it in his 1978 composition Dreamsong . Wavetable synthesis

1610-401: The mid-2000s, confusion in terminology cropped up yet-again. A subclass of generic wavetable synthesis, i.e. McNabb and Palm's multiple wavetable synthesis, tends to be erroneously referred as if it was a generic class of whole wavetable synthesis family, exclusively. As a result, the difficulty of maintaining consistency between concepts and terminology during rapid technological development

1656-414: The output waveform, such as subtractive synthesis (filters), phase modulation , frequency modulation and AM (ring) modulation . On Csound , it is called f-table (function table), and used for various purposes including: wavetable-lookup synthesis, waveshaping , MIDI note mapping, and storing ordered pitch-class sets . Table-lookup synthesis (or Wavetable-lookup synthesis ) ( Roads 1996 )

1702-497: The program arbitrarily extensible through a public API , and encourages developers to add their own control and audio routines in the C programming language, or with the help of other externals, in Python , Scheme , Lua , Tcl , and many others. However, Pd is also a programming language. Modular, reusable units of code written natively in Pd, called "patches" or "abstractions", are used as standalone programs and freely shared among

1748-416: The program interactively. Max/MSP/Jitter comes with about 600 of these objects as the standard package; extensions to the program can be written by third-party developers as Max patchers (e.g. by encapsulating some of the functionality of a patcher into a sub-program that is itself a Max patch), or as objects written in C , C++ , Java , or JavaScript . The order of execution for messages traversing through

1794-552: The pulse wave will appear to change over time. As the early Ensoniq wavetable synthesizers had non resonant filters (the PPG Wave synthesizers used analogue Curtis resonant filters), some wavetables contained highly resonant waveforms to overcome this limitation of the filters. In 1992, with the introduction of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 the term "wavetable" started to be (incorrectly) applied as

1840-661: The same as " table-lookup oscillator " mentioned above, although the word "wave" (or "waveform", "wave shape") may possibly imply a nuance of single-cycle waveform. However, the derived term " wavetable synthesis " seems slightly confused by the later developments of derived algorithm. On the above four terminologies for the classes of sound synthesis methods — i.e. , (1) Wavetable synthesis , (2) Wavetable-modification algorithm , (3) Multiple wavetable synthesis , and (4) Sample-based synthesis — if these had been appropriately used to distinguish each other, any confusions could be avoided, but it seems failed historically. In

1886-466: The software to Opcode Systems . Opcode launched a commercial version named Max in 1990, developed and extended by David Zicarelli . However, by 1997, Opcode was considering cancelling it. Instead, Zicarelli acquired the publishing rights and founded a new company, Cycling '74, to continue commercial development. The timing was fortunate, as Opcode was acquired by Gibson Guitar in 1998 and ended operations in 1999. IRCAM's in-house Max development

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1932-458: The sound produced can be harmonically changed by moving to another point in the wavetable, usually under the control of an envelope generator or low frequency oscillator but frequently by any number of modulators (matrix modulation). Doing this modifies the harmonic content of the output wave in real time, producing sounds that can imitate acoustic instruments or be totally abstract, which is where this method of sound creation excels. The technique

1978-427: The visual appearance of the data structure or, conversely, to control messages and audio signals in a Pd patch. In Puckette's words: Pd is designed to offer an extremely unstructured environment for describing data structures and their graphical appearance. The underlying idea is to allow the user to display any kind of data he or she wants to, associating it in any way with the display. To accomplish this Pd introduces

2024-456: The wavetable in either direction can be controlled in a number of ways, for example, by use of an LFO, envelope, pressure or velocity. Many wavetables used in PPG and Ensoniq synthesizers can simulate the methods used by analog synthesizers , such as pulse-width modulation by utilising a number of square waves of different duty cycles . In this way, when the wavetable is swept, the duty cycle of

2070-602: Was also the first version to run on Windows . Max 5, released in 2008, redesigned the patching GUI for the first time in Max's commercial history. In 2011, Max 6 added a new audio engine compatible with 64-bit operating systems, integration with Ableton Live sequencer software, and an extension called Gen, which can compile optimized Max patches for higher performance. Max 7 was released in 2014 and focused on 3D rendering improvements. On June 6, 2017, Ableton announced its purchase of Cycling '74, with Max continuing to be published by Cycling '74 and David Zicarelli remaining with

2116-495: Was also winding down; the last version produced there was jMax , a direct descendant of Max/FTS developed in 1998 for Silicon Graphics (SGI) and later for Linux systems. It used Java for its graphical interface and C for its real-time backend, and was eventually released as open-source software . Meanwhile, Puckette had independently released a fully redesigned open-source composition tool named Pure Data (Pd) in 1996, which, despite some underlying engineering differences from

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