Chapter 1P - Sound synthesis w ith Max/MSP 1p

A: Have you cl icke d on t he ezdac- ob j ect (wh ich is t he lou dspeaker

icon )' Have yo u raised the vol ume fader abov e zero? Are you su re tha t
sound o n your compute r is no t muted, or that yo u are ab le to prod uce
so und by usi ng a p rogram oth er than Max/ MSP? Have you checked the
DSP Status w indow (wh ich you can fi nd in the Options menu), t o see that
the correct sou nd driver is selected? If you sti ll have no success, re-read
the "How to Instal l and Conf igure Max/MSP" document, wh ich can be
fou nd at www.v irt ual-sound.com/cmsupport.

A COMPACT "SURVIVAL MANUAL" FOR MAX / MSP

In th is section, we wi ll give some essential info rmat ion for easily navigating the
Max/MSP environment.

BASIC KEYBOARD COMMANDS

Mac <Comma nd-n> or Windows <Co ntro l-n> w ill create a new Patcher
W indow, wh ich is t he workspa ce for impleme nting patc hes.

Mac <Command -e> o r Wi ndows <Contr ol-e> wil l togg le between edit mode
and performa nce mode in t he Patcher Window. In edit mode, we assemble
patc hes by creating objects using the palette (w hich is a set of icons in a floa t-
ing w indow); in performance mode we can activate patches and interact w ith
thei r graphical user interface objects (such as fl oat numbe r boxes or the gain~
object) .

Mac <Comma nd-m> or Windows <Contro l-m > w ill call up the Max Wi ndow if
it is not already visible. The Max Wi ndow is a w indow used by th e Max environ-
ment to commu nicate, using brief text messages, with its user. We w ill learn
more about this w indow short ly.

Instead of using the palette, it is possible to create some common objects by

typing simple one-character commands, w ithout having to use <Command> o r
<Contro l> keys. The character ' n', for example, w ill create (when your Patcher
is in edit mode) an empty object box at t he position of the mouse po inter in
exactly th e same way as t he palette wou ld. There are oth er keys that also enable
o bject creation: in edit mode, try position ing the mouse pointer and pressing 'f',
'i', 't', and 'b', and observe the various objects (which probably mean noth ing
to you at the moment!) that are created . We wi ll use these objects frequently
in the course of the fol low ing chapters.

SELECTION, DELETION,AND COPYING

To delete a patch cord or an object, you need to insure t hat you are in edit
mode, 15 select the patch cord or object w ith the mouse, and t hen press the
<Delete> key (whic h may also be referred to as the <Backspace> key). We
can select mult iple objects at a ti me by clicking on a blank spot in the Patcher

l 5 Check to make sure the padlock at the bottom left of the w indow containing the patch is open .
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