Max/MSP/Jitter 1: Safe and Friendly introduction to Max: Concepts, Mechanics, Interface, Interactivity, and a small-scale project

SUMMER 2022

About the Class

Max is a powerful platform that accommodates and connects a wide variety of tools for sound, graphics, music and interactivity using a flexible patching and programming environment. Max allows most computer users to write a simple, meaningful program within a few minutes, even with limited programming knowledge. But to do something more substantial it's necessary to approach Max as an actual programming language, by taking advantage of its various mechanisms for abstracting program elements into scalable, reusable components that can be combined in increasingly powerful ways.

Matt Wright's online Kadenze course gives a thorough overview of Max's capabilities emphasizing how to reason about designing Max software, over the course of about 24 hours of online lectures divided into 10 sessions each with a project.  Anyone on the Internet can sign up for a free (or Premium) membership to watch these lectures and download the class' software, assignment prompts, and other materials.  

The in-person 2022 CCRMA Summer Workshop will be a "flipped classroom": everyone will agree to watch (at least) certain lecture videos prior to each meeting, and we will then spend workshop time together in hands-on lab sessions addressing questions, exploring further discussion, and mentoring student project(s).  You need to have your own Mac or Windows computer(s) to run Max.

Course Outcomes:  You will design and build a project of your own choosing, e.g., a game, live performance instrument, installation, generative audiovisual artwork, web crawler,  robot brain, or alarm clock.  You will also achieve the learning outcomes of the online class:  proficiency as a Max programmer, an understanding of some best practices, and the confidence to continue learning and troubleshooting on your own.

This class offers two Diversity in Computer Music Scholarships.

Info about the 2022 Workshop

We offer the 2022 workshop in person at $450, with a $100 discount for enrolling in both weeks (i.e., $900 for both). All instruction will be conducted in-person at CCRMA, sometimes outdoors as conditions permit, following Stanford masking policy (required during indoor classes except when presenting) with three approximately-90-minute sessions each weekday (MTWTF): lecture, “crit”, and “office hours” (detailed below).There will also be 3 short “sidelobe” meetings conducted remotely over Zoom in the weeks before and after the workshop. Note that this is part 1 of a 2-part series.  

June 20 (4 weeks before) we will meet for 30 minutes (between 8am-6pm, to be scheduled via online poll). This is required attendance for those who have registered by then and can make the meeting time. Meeting agenda will be distributed as part of the syllabus you will receive upon registration, and will include introductions and course expectations (including one assignment due 2 weeks before the workshop and another 3 days before).

July 6-8 (~2 weeks before) - required (as above) 60 minute meeting (to be scheduled as above) including assistance with assignments

July 18-22: the workshop itself. Daily schedule TBD but during the day in California time zone (PDT = UTC -7):
 Lecture (days 4&5 - voted topics)
 “Crits” of homework submissions
 “Study hall”

“Crit” is short for “critique”. One student work at a time is investigated by the entire class led by the instructors. We assess correctness and style, and offer constructive feedback on potential improvements and related ideas in a friendly, supportive, and time-efficient workshop environment. Crits offer focused feedback within the context of the class, both about the assignment in terms of its own goals, and about building a good practice of Max programming. For more info see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critique (general) and https://www.nua.ac.uk/about-nua/blog/the-crit (Art & Design School).

“Study Halls” will provide a space for group work time along with sequential one-on-one engagement between an instructor and a student, while also open to the entire class. Everyone in the class is welcome to keep working together as desired.

August 8-12ish (~2 weeks after) - meet online for 90 minutes (optional, TBD)

About the Instructors

Dr. Matthew Wright is a media systems designer, improvising composer/musician, computer music researcher, and the Technical Director of Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). He was the Musical Systems Designer at U.C. Berkeley's Center for New Music and Audio Technology (CNMAT) from 1993-2008, where he became known for his promotion of the Sound Description Interchange Format (SDIF) and Open Sound Control (OSC) standards, as well as his work with real-time mapping of musical gestures to sound synthesis. His dissertation at CCRMA concerned computer modeling of the perception of musical rhythm: "The Shape of an Instant: Measuring and Modeling Perceptual Attack Time with Probability Density Functions." He was the Research Director of UCSB's Center for Research in Electronic Arts and Technology (CREATE) for eight years, where he taught classes, advised students, founded and directed the CREATE Ensemble dedicated to research and musical creation with technology in a live performance context (which he still directs remotely), as well as being Principal Development Engineer for the AlloSphere, a 3-story full-surround immersive audiovisual instrument for scientific and artistic research. As a musician, he plays a variety of traditional plucked lutes, Afro-Brazilian percussion, and computer-based instruments of his own design, in both traditional music contexts and experimental new works.

 

Dr. Christopher Jette is a curator of lovely sounds, creating work as a composer and new media artist. His creative work explores the artistic possibilities at the intersection of human performers/creators and technological tools. His compositional work work often involves custom Max software in both the compositional and performance stages. Christopher’s research details his technical and aesthetic investigations and explores technology as a physical manifestation of formalized human constructs. A highly collaborative artist, Jette has created works that involve dance, theater, websites, electronics, food, toys, typewriters, cell phones, instrument design and good ol’ fashioned wood and steel instruments. In addition to creating concert music, Christopher explores Creative Placemaking through site-specific and interactive work as a core-four member of the Anchorage based Light Brigade. In 2015-16 he was the Interdisciplinary Grant Wood Fellow and currently is an Artist in Residence and Technical Staff at CCRMA. Learn more at cj.lovelyweather.com
 

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