How many of you are using Max 4 Live? And how are you making use of the Max 4 Live devices in your music productions?

I use it, but it's actually the integration between Max and the Jit physics engine that they upgraded in the 6.0 release. It's like making a live music application with a live performance. I know some people use Quartz for this as well, but I don't know much about it and I don't know if you can program it to respond to audio generated signals to give specific movements and feedback. Outside of live performances or performances using Wii controllers, Kinect, or other externals, not really. Creating your own filters and instruments is great for learning or for experimenting, but I know my instruments and patches are crappy compared to almost anything a professional studio makes. If I really understood how to make beautiful timbres, instruments, effects, and a better understanding of how to make that in Max, perhaps I'd integrate it better into the Live workflow.

Great, thanks for the response. I tried out CSound For Live with Max 4 Live. Its quite nice as it allows you to incorporate some CSound features into Live. I wrote a review on the product here: [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/hub/review-2/review-csound-for-ableton-live[/url] CSound is a great application, but it does have quite a steep learning curve and it is mainly code-based. But check it out. I know a lot of the CSound users use it in a live context using performances utilities such as the Wii remotes and other OSC generating controllers.

It's interesting because Max for Live and now this CSound for live is really the thing that sets it apart from any other DAW out there, particularly with Live 8 getting so long in the tooth. However, the amount of time it takes to get up on programs like Max/MSP/Jitter/Gen and CSound are barriers to appreciating its power. Maybe you guys can do like you did for the Bob Moog foundation and get people who are part of the Max community to do a whole set of tutorials and help everyone out?

Thats a great idea Webart, Those applications do require much time to get to know their inner workings. But the time spent is well worth it as you get results in those applications that sometimes aren't possible in other software.

Just to follow up on this, Live 9 Suite will include Max4Live in it without having to buy it as an additional install. Plus they have added more pre-built assets to help show how Max4Live works. Hopefully this will spark more interest for the intricacies of creating custom synthesis instruments, devices, and filters. And who can forget that we finally get 64 bit support?

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Live 9. I wish it could come sooner.

Remember that if you have many plugins most will probably need to 64Bit compatible also. This could happen quickly or take forever..