IA 1 Practice Paragraph IA.

1 - Max and the numbers: the binary operato rs

in the example). The result ing sum is sent to th e mtof object on t he right side
of the patch.

l I I

+ 7--,

I. C3 l~ MID l note
T
mtof mtof

[}~1~3J [} 9~00] freq uency

rect- saw-

,~~ -••

·dac-

Fig. IA.6 The f ile IA_Ol _transposit ion.maxpat

By using an addition object in this way, it is possible to t ranspose MIDI notes

by arb it rary intervals of o ur own choosing . In th is examp le, after the M IDI
values of the two notes are converted into freque ncies, t hey are sent t o two
oscillators, rec t - and saw-, w hich sound at t he interval of a fift h. Try mod i-
f ying the patch to use other intervals (a third, or 4 semitones; a fourth, or 5
semitones; an octave, or 12 semitone s, etc.). After t his, t ry adding anot her
addit ion object, connected to anot her ded icated mtof object and oscilla-
tor, so that every k s l i der keypress prod uces a three note major cho rd . For
example, if the C2 key we re pressed (t he key t hat corresponds to t he note
one octave below midd le C), a chord of C E G in the second octave (C2 E2
G2) wou ld be produced.

NUMBERS WITH A DECIMAL POINT, AND OTHER OPERATIONS

Up unt il now we've used on ly integers. When the + object is given an integer
as its argum ent (or has no argument at all), Max w ill assume t hat yo u w ould
like to perfo rm integer mat h. To make t he object wor k with floating po int
numbers, as shown in f igure IA.7, we need to con nect floa t number boxes to
its inlets, and, as you can see, to provide an argume nt of "O." . (The decimal
point is importa nt, but it is not necessary to put any numbers after the decimal
point.) The decimal point in the arg ument declares to t he + o bject that we
inten d to use non-intege r numbe rs on its inlets, o r in oth er wo rds, that w e
inte nd to use fl oating po int math. Duplicat e t he patch yourself and do some
sums using fl oati ng point numbers (rememb ering that t he "ho t " inlet is on
th e left).
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