Drums and rhythm are a foundational element of electronic music especially, and every artist has their preferences in how they should sound. Drum voices can also be a fun sound design challenge for Max patching. For this community project, we invited four artists to each create their unique take on some classic percussion sounds - rimshot, clap, cowbell, and cymbal - along with a custom sequencer that puts this collection into action. You can find the first Collaborative Drum Kit project here.
screenshot of the drum kit sequencer
nouserid
Sequencer - nouserid
"I always enjoy making music more when I'm not totally sure what's going to come out of the sequencers next. This sequencer has the ability to generate sequences with semi - predictable variation using just a few parameters.
An initial trigger starts a cascade of possible patterns from the input of the matrix. The matrix basically tells the sequencer its possible destinations after the current step, except for position 0 which is instantly triggered when the sequence restarts. You can also set a delay time for each step to wait before triggering (0 being no delay, 1 being a 16th note, and 16 being 1 bar, etc.). There is also a control for the probability of the delay of a step being applied or ignored. Step size is the note duration and it works on the same time system as the delay.
We also have the optional function to mute (choke) all other voices with each trigger, which can create some interesting variation and unexpected results on its own.
This is a basic implementation of the concept but there are so many different directions you could take it and features you could add, depending on your tastes.." - nouserid. Find nouserid on InstagramNote: The sequencer patch download includes all of the patches listed below.
no.pinball_plusLabels.maxzip
maxzip 2.24 MB
Download nouserid's sequencer patch
babumamusic
Cymbal - babumamusic
"Mesh is a physical modeling cymbal synthesizer, implementing a 2D waveguide mesh as its resonator with downsampling at the end." - babumamusic. Find babumamusic on Instagram
Cymbal.zip
application/zip 86.61 KB
Download babumamusic's Cymbal patch
Melody Loveless
Cowbell - Melody Loveless
"This patch is inspired by the Roland 808 cowbell. I researched and reviewed how others were doing this, like reviewing old circuit diagrams and watching how others were recreating this sound in Ableton. It was a fun exercise." - melodycodes. Find Melody on Instagram
Loveless_collabdrumkit_cowbell.maxpat
Max Patch
Download Melody's Cowbell patch
Onokio
Rimshot - Onokio
"rim_shot uses shaped noise, an envelope, a minimal feedback delay line with modulated params, and an optional chorus effect to produce a sound resembling a synthesized rim shot and other unusual percussive elements.” - onokio. Find onokio on Instagram
rim_shot.maxpat
Max Patch
Download onokio's Rimshot patch
Mjulev
Clap - Mjulev
"I would like to introduce you to my interpretation of a clap synthesizer. The entire module is inspired by the 808 clap and is divided into two voices. You can independently modify the "Punch" and "Release" with the patch. I like to build the instrument into a clear interface as well, as this usually determines how quickly I can generate and create sounds. Have fun trying it out!" - Mjulev. Find mjulev on Instagram
I have been blown away by the various approaches we've gotten back from each of these. Who knew that drum synthesis was such a rich field of exploration?
Doesn't work your .mxo though found in the search path for externals throws "can't open : error 0" when trying to run the sequencer pretty disappointing
Yes, no there's something in this project that is broken. I installed the package "ease" which I can add to a new patcher no problem, but Max still doesn't open the .mxo file nor will it open the dog jpeg files. This is happening in both windows 10 and mac OS. I have changed all permissions on windows still the same problem.
example: The Project Window shows the full path to dog4.png. Double clicking it, writes this to the console.
dog4.png: read failed
dog4.png: can't open, error 0
Please note this is for both Windows and Mac OS.. I have the FluidComa Richard Devine examples and this loads fine so I don't think this has anything to do with the settings on my computers. Again ease will load but not in the no.pinball project
Yes ok I figured it out. I'm not really familiar with the whole pretty GUI MAX thing, but it doesn't resize, so on my laptop I don't even initially see the dog, nor is there a suggestion that the GUI is larger than what I see on my my screen (no scroll bars). The screen shot you sent shows the whole GUI.
That's one problem, but also, the on/off toggle (on the top left corner) doesn't turn the audio on, and the sequencer won't start without audio. So to get it working I turned on the audio from another project and it started working.
I also realize the errors about opening the .mxo files and .jpg files aren't really errors. MaxMSP simply doesn't support editing these types of files (which makes sense) so won't open them, but I thought they weren't loading. They load in the project, Max just can't open them for editing. So at least I've learnt a little more, as I don't normally use GUI elements or externals.
I'll figure out about the audio not been turned on through the GUI but at least it does run on Max 8. So thanks for the screen shot it helped a lot.
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