Recording - June 2015 - 52

Max for Cats OSCiLLOT for Ableton Live

Ableton Live, now at version 9.2, has expanded from its
origins as a revolutionary loop playback/sync program in
version 1 to be one of the most popular DAWs out there,
and the gold standard for the composition/live play/
recording workflow it arguably invented.
There are many features that make Live a comprehensive
and endlessly expandable landscape for music creation,
but perhaps the most powerful and least understood is Max
for Live (included with Live 9 Suite, available as a $199
add-on for Live 9 Standard or Intro). This powerful framework allows Live users to build and use their own instruments and audio/MIDI processing effects inside Live, based
on the powerful Max programming toolkit from Cycling
'74.
Max for Live, like Max itself, is open-ended, and while its interface is straightforward to learn, it's a very deep well to dive into. So there's a real market for
companies with a strong understanding of Max to create easier-to-grasp tools for
less expert users, bringing them the power of Max to Live without too many tears.
One of the newest such offerings, from developer Max for Cats, is OSCiLLOT
($99). It may be the best example of "turning Max for Live into something anyone can use without dumbing it down" to date.
So what's OSCiLLOT? Simply put, it's a modular synthesizer. You've probably
heard of modulars or seen them in videos of EDM, alternative, and indie bands:
cases full of individual modules strung together with cables to build unique sonic
engines. Originating in the 1960s, modulars are seeing a huge resurgence in the
modern pro audio world; a number of companies that build 500 Series processors,
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RECORDING June 2015

for example, are also offering module versions of
their products. Modulars are exciting and inspiring, but even when you build your own modules
from kits, they're not cheap, and the temptation to
keep adding modules has led many to refer to
them (only sometimes with a laugh) as an expensive addiction.
When you buy OSCiLLOT, you get an effectively bottomless bin of modules that can be
cabled together any way you wish (subject to
your computer's processing power, of course).
There are over 100 different modules currently
in the package, with more added on a regular
basis. These are roughly grouped into categories: In/Out, Oscillator, Sampler, Modulator,
Processor, Filter, Mixer, VCA, Shaper, Effect,
Sequencer, Logic, and Utility.
To use OSCiLLOT, you drag and drop one or
more of the three basic OSCiLLOT Max for Live
devices (or the preset of your choice, of course)
to a free Track in Live. There's the conventional
polyphonic OSCiLLOT "instrument" device, a
monophonic OSCiLLOT AFX device to create
an effects processor for other sound sources,
and a special MIDI Receiver device that lets
you pull data out of OSCiLLOT and feed it to
other instruments or plug-ins within Live-the
obvious example is building a little sequencer
and using it to play notes on your favorite virtual instrument.
The device's front panel offers the usual eight
Macro knobs, accessible within OSCiLLOT via a
special routing module, plus controls for
polyphony (from mono to 6-voice polyphonic)
and Eco mode (which preserves CPU by turning
off voices that are not currently being triggered).
Clicking the Open Editor button brings up a

workspace where modules are arranged and
hooked together by dragging and dropping
cables from one to the next. Cables can be
straight, curved, or hidden-the latter being useful when the forest gets thick! You can click on
any module's name and select Info to bring up
a window that explains the module's functions
and uses, often with explanatory graphics.
I'm an old modular hound, so I was up and
running in seconds without consulting the manual or tutorials (there are some great videos
online at the Max for Cats site) and built myself

Recording - June 2015

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