Level: Intermediate

What you will learn in this course

Cycling 74’s Max / MSP offers a vast playground of programming opportunities to create your own synthesis devices. In this workshop you will begin to build your own synthesis devices. This workshop aims to provide you with suitable skills to begin exploring synthesis devices in the Max MSP environment.

Session Learning Outcomes

By the end of this session you will will be able to:

• Define the basic building blocks of synthesis

• Build oscillators via MSP oscillator objects

• Explore various filter responses via MSP filter objects

• Begin to build modulation sources for synthesis devices

Session Study Topics

• MSP synthesis objects

• MSP oscillator objects

• MSP filter objects

• LFO & envelope properties

Requirements

• A computer and internet connection
• A good working knowledge of computer systems
• An basic awareness of audio processing
• Good familiarity with MSP
• Access to a copy of Max 8 (i.e. trial or full license)

About the workshop leader

Phelan Kane is a Berlin & London based music producer, engineer, artist, developer and educator. For over twenty years he has been active in both the music industry and the contemporary music education sector, with a focus on electronic music and alternative bands. His specialism is sound design and production techniques such as synthesis and sampling, alongside audio processing and plug-in development.

His credits include collaborations with Placebo, Radiohead, Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode, Moby, Snow Patrol, Mute, Sony BMG, Universal, EMI and Warner Bros.

He holds an MA in Audio Technology from the London College of Music, University of West London, an MSc in Sound & Music Computing at the Center for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London and in 2008 became one of the world’s first wave of Ableton Certified Trainers. He is a member of the UK’s Music Producers Guild, holds a PG Cert in Learning & Teaching, is an Affiliate of the Institute for Learning, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and until recently was Chairman of the London Committee for the British Section of the Audio Engineering Society.

He is currently running the electronic music record label Meta Junction Recordings and the audio software development company Meta Function, which specialize in Max for Live devices releasing the M4L synth Wave Junction in partnership with Sonicstate.