Neumann USM69i
Neumann U89i
Neumann U87AiFuture Music Review: Max for Live
Future Music UK have released the first review of the Ableton/Clcyling 74's Max for Live and it does not dissapoint.
Future Music Review Preview:
"Ableton and Cycling '74 announce Max for Live. Ableton is the Berlin-based company behind Live, probably the most popular performance software known to man (which also conveniently rocks for recording, production, DJing and remixing), and San Francisco's Cycling '74 produces the Max/MSP/Jitter tools which enable users to create their own instruments and audio/MIDI effects.
Max for Live is intended to give Live and Max users a bridge between their worlds, bringing timeline-based workflow to Max users, and giving Live users custom-built devices, expanded interface access, and new levels of hardware control.
Getting started
The installation reflects the fact that you're dealing with two separate companies - you have to purchase Live 8.1 (a free upgrade if you're already using 8) and MfL from Ableton, download Live 8.1 from Ableton, then download Max from Cycling '74, then authorise it back in Live (the new content isn't visible in the Browser until you do that). There are various crossgrades available, so if you're already using Live, or Max, or some combination of both, you'll find a price that suits your current situation.
MfL doesn't work standalone - it can only be used to build devices for Live, unless you have a license for an existing version of Max. At the moment, there's no cheap/free 'runtime' playback-only version that'll let you use MfL devices without buying the full version.
If you judge MfL by appearances, you'll be rather underwhelmed - on a day-to-day level it's invisible, apart from the 'Max...' folders in the Device Browser. The content in those folders is sweet, though. There are three core devices: Loop Shifter; Step Sequence; and Buffer Shuffler, and 40 instruments and effects based on Cycling '74s famous Pluggo suite. There are also folders for Tools and, inside these, Building Blocks, which function as basic devices in their own right, or can be cannibalised for use in more ambitious projects.
We had to root around to locate all of the Max for Live content as it's spread throughout the Live Library, like when you install a Live Pack. It's the same story with the help/tutorial material; there's the Lessons and Sets folders in the Library, the Lessons in the Help View, the Live manual, the lengthy text annotations in the Max for Live editor (the Patcher), and the Max 5 documentation.
Spreading the material across so many windows in two different products (not to mention the websites) doesn't help if you want a quick answer to a particular question it's usually faster to hunt for answers on Google than it is to search the documentation, all of which underlines MfL's 'scientist' credentials."
To read the rest of this review follow this link.
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