Max 7 is the newest version of Cycling ’74 visual development to… um… erm…
Well, actually, it’s really hard to explain what tools like Max, Pd, Reaktor, Plogue Bidule, and the like can do. Sure, they’re nerdy environments for making stuff. But because they’re open ended – because what they do is really up to you – just calling them a “development tool” doesn’t really say a lot.
So, in a cute new video, Cycling ’74 shows off Max 7. It’s really stuff you could do with previous tools, showing visual and sonic capabilities. But if you didn’t fully grasp why that’s cool, maybe a singing mushroom will help. And long-time Max users will see that Max 7 has a very different UI – even if Max 5/6 themselves offered a lot of changes. Tools are in a trendy gray on the borders around the window, always handy, and there’s a new browser. No new objects are immediately obvious that I can spot, but I know there’s a lot more to Max 7 than that. I’ll try to see if Cycling wants to help a CDM out a bit with that information, but I’m pretty sure they’re being coy.
Certainly, I hope Max 7 also coincides with the next Max for Live and that those are in sync, too. I’ll find out for us when they’re ready to reveal that.
PS, David, while you wrote that post in an airport – somewhere – I wrote the post about your post waiting in terminal D at Berlin Tegel. Even funnier would be if we were blogging each other across the room, but – not this time. Next time. Music for Airports. Blogging for Airports?