Interlude A - Programming w ith Max/MSP IA

ACTIVITY- REPLACING PARTS OF ALGORITHMS

Open the fi le IA_06_random _walk .maxpat (as seen in f igure IA. 74).

gmeuo250
..,BEJ
clear

Ml I note number inte nsdy in dB

minimum maximum step minimum maximum

--=- •~
p d n.Jnk~betw een
cp
MIDI note
number
riJ
--;::-~~ ~ ~- - - - _ __,
_ _____ _ ___J

~mooosynth.J

~::
~
Fig. IA.74 The file IA_06_random_walk .maxpat

Subst itu te a s fpl ay- object, w ithout argument (and t herefo re monaural) for
the monosynth subpatch.
To make t his change eff ect ive, th e number boxes used to captu re values fo r t he
minimum, maximum, and step inlets of the drunk - betwee n subpatc h must
be changed to generate multiplicat ion factors rather than MIDI note numbers.
These multiplication factors can then be used to alter the rate at w hich sound
samples are read by s f pla y- , and can be sent to it using a prepend object
w it h th e word "speed" as its argum ent. Modify the input values in a way t hat
th e minimum speed w ill be 1 and t hat the other two numbers wil l be posit ive
numbers t hat w ill fu nctio n according to your ow n invention.
To put everyth ing in order so that the patch will operate correctly, th ere are
some things to keep in mind:
1) The subpatch monosynt h was configu red in a way to allow th ree separate
parameters to be entered: pitch, intensity, and envelope. The s fplay - object,
on the ot her hand, w ill need a new multiplier connected to its out let, w hich will
be used modify the out put, applying intensity and envelope processing.
2) The "monosynth " subpatch has an internal line - object that receivesvalues
from functio n. In the new situation , how w ill we send data from function
to the multiplier that we have placed between sf play- and gain- ?
3) We wa nt to use t he audio fi le vs_harp_riff .wav, and so how w ill we load it
into sfp l ay- ? How w ill we put the object into a loop? How wil l we activate
and deactivate it ? Remember, once we are in performance mode, we w ill need
to fi rst open the audio f ile, then activate the loop, and t hen send a message to
start t he object.
4) Make sure to synchronize th e duration of the metronome interval w ith t he
durati on of th e envelope by using the "setdomain" message.
17 5