question about live.observer

broc's icon

The M4L documentation for live.observer contains the following statement.

"Also, it is not possible to modify the live set from a notification, i.e. while you are receiving a value message spontaneously sent by a live.observer 's outlet."

Does it mean you can't use the value from an observer to control other live parameters?
But that seems to work for me without any problems.

So can somebody please explain what this statement really means?

xanadu's icon

Hi broc.

You're a carefull reader! I've read this sentence a few times for myself. C'74 is warning us, but for what? For an endless update loop perhaps?

I hope Andrew Pask will shed some light!

Andrew Pask's icon

The short answer is that we have feedback prevention in place. If you do not directly modulate as the result of an observed value, you can do it.

Here's an example of direct modulation which does not work.

Max Patch
Copy patch and select New From Clipboard in Max.

Set this up in a set with 2 audio tracks and play with the volume on track 1, and have a look in the max window.

broc's icon

Thanks Andrew.

Max Patch
Copy patch and select New From Clipboard in Max.

Interestingly, using live.remote~ seems to work without problems.