Vintage Max patches revived: free downloads, Leafcutter John and Suren

Suren Seneviratne (My Panda Shall Fly) has been painstakingly cataloging lost software, oldschool patches, and retro musical practices, reviving old machines and software and breathing new life into them. But now, we get some classic Max patches, remade for the current era of Max patches. Download them for free, and listen in as Suren interviews Leafcutter John and John interviews Suren.

Learn spectral filters and other spectral tricks in Max (or elsewhere)

Spectral tools are all the rage. Ever fancied trying to play with those techniques under the hood? Umut Eldem aka Hearing Glass has a great set of video tutorials. They’re implemented perfectly in Max, but they’re even worth following along from other environments.

Peter Kirn - March 2, 2026

Guide: Creating instruments with Max for Live and Ableton DSP (pt. 3)

For the final episode in this trilogy on learning Max for Live and Ableton DSP Objects, we’re going to keep the focus on working fast. We’ll learn how to use Ableton DSP to prototype instruments quickly, play expressively, and hack them with some tricks and mods beyond what the stock Live Instruments provide.

Peter Kirn - November 12, 2025

Data Knot for Max is machine learning as musicians want it: human-focused

Peter Kirn - October 23, 2025

Tom Hall on Trip Computer, computer music on vinyl, and that “Max Sound”

David Abravanel - October 13, 2025

Max 9: new coding and livecoding, new visuals, and Ableton’s sound tools

Peter Kirn - October 30, 2024

monome and RNBO now play together – with a free drum sampler patch

Peter Kirn - October 11, 2024

Get started with Max for Live and hack Live 11 Clip launching – here’s how (videos)

Peter Kirn - June 3, 2021

Max TV: go inside Max 8’s wonders with these videos

Peter Kirn - April 11, 2019