Route audio to interface output from inside M4L device
Hi,
I made a MaxMSP patch that accepts a mono input and makes the sound jump from speaker to speaker randomly, 26 speakers in total (all independent, so 26 outputs). Now I want to convert this patch into a M4L device, so that I can use it on 26 tracks in live, where each track has its own copy of the device. So in short: my Live+M4L system/set-up should be able to rout any of the 26 inputs to any of the 26 outputs, randomly.
Some testing (and this cycling74 document) make me suspect that it is not possible to route audio directly from the M4L device to my interface (using dac~), without having to pass through live at the output of my device.
Can someone confirm this?
My only other option, I guess, is to route the input audio directly from Live to MaxMSP with ReWire, and do the further calculations (random output selection) in the standalone MaxMSP application. SoundFlower won't work since I am using more than 16 channels.
Thanks in advance for any feedback and/or insights.
Maarten
If you only assume as much I think you should read the M4L limitations page, this is also part of the included documentation.
In short; yes, M4L gets and sends its data (audio or MIDI) from and to Live.
With 12 speakers max, you could use the sends in Live to manage your outputs. But you've got more...
But the sends are stereo are they not so by using panning you could have 24 speakers.
+ 2 for the channel the first device is on = 26 speakers.
It's the magic number. Do I get free pizza?
if it's a mono signal, probably the simplest way would be to use an actual patch cable, and pipe the output to a version of max running separately and do your panning/routing there. if it's mono you could also use your other plugout~ channel to send sample rate trigger data or speaker numbers etc
Or if you want to do it in live, you could have 26 channels (ext. out 1-26), and have them all read from your instrument or return bus, then adjust the volumes of the 26 tracks with live.remote~. ...but I would route it to max personally, seems cleaner.
gavspav : yes the sends are stereo but if you want to do true multichannel work (as opposed to 13 pairs) this would be a real nightmare to deal with as ou would have to deal with the pan simultaneously to really operate separate speakers. Not impossible, but having tried this approach in some theater work, I can tell you I won't do it again ! When I use sends in Live for this kind of stuff, I route them to single speakers and not pairs.