Max for Live Devices in Max: AntiTheory

I happen to love tools that pull me into a different mental space. I especially like it if the result isn’t necessarily something I would come up with if I were planning - but rather brings a surprise to the game. Therefore, when I’m zipping around on maxforlive.com, I tend to drop into the Experimental section of the site. This month, I tripped over one of the most simple - but maybe most fun - devices I’ve played with in a while. Say hello to AntiTheory.

The author claims it’s buggy and just a beginning. I think it is perfect - bugs and all. The device is pretty straight-forward: you select an Amount (it’s a ‘scrambling amount’), hit the Go button, then pipe MIDI through it. At that point, it does a remap of the incoming MIDI, pushes out some randomly set MIDI output, and there you go.

If you are an experienced Max user, you might say “I coulda done that in about 10 minutes!” But I would respond “So why didn’t you?” In fact, the simplicity of the device, combined with the weird way that it does the value mapping, means that you can pick two or three notes and end up with a really fun - and really improbable - musical phrase.

Simple device, loads of fun, and easy to patch into your system; AntiTheory is the sort of MFL device that brings the excitement into even the most basic Max programming.

Enjoy!