Max For Live Devices

The programming environment Max was first integrated into Ableton Live in 2009, and opened up a world of possibilities. In essence, it let users create tools to broaden the capabilities of the DAW. Last year, Ableton bought Max creators Cycling ’74, and as a result, Live 10 now brings tighter integration than ever. While Max itself can be daunting for the uninitiated, you don’t need to understand the platform to use its tools. Many of the best instruments and effects included in Live Suite are now Max-based devices – especially since Ableton released their excellent Creative Extensions pack, which adds a host of great sequencers, instruments and effects.

To get to grips with what Live’s bundled Max Devices offer, to accompany this mag, Ableton’s Jesse Abayomi has created a full track Project for us, built almost entirely out of Max For Live Devices. You can download that full project from FileSilo, along with a video in which Jesse walks us through its creation, and we’ve also created our own Instrument Racks to accompany the walkthroughs on the following pages.