Does max have anything like pd 0.47's [clone]?
The new [clone] object has dramatically changed (improved) my workflow in Pure Data. Is there any way to do something similar with Max?
If you're unfamiliar - essentially you instantiate [clone x subpatchname] where x is the # of invisible instances that get created and all connected to the same inlets and outlets, but addressable by index #. It makes patching up polyphonic instruments super fast and easy.. as well as basically anything where you would otherwise make a bunch of copies of an abstraction.
[poly~] is the way for any kind of application. It has some advanced features for building polyphonic synthesizer (voice allocation, resampling, separate DSP chains), but it doesn't limit you to signal based patching.