Max for Live video masterclass with Jesse Abayomi and Phelan Kane

Max for Live, included with the Suite version of Ableton’s DAW and available separately for Standard edition owners, puts one of the most powerful visual audio and MIDI programming environments money can buy, Cycling ’74’s Max, right at the heart of your production system. 

Using Max For Live, you can build your own synths, samplers, effects, sequencers, arpeggiators and anything else your fevered imagination can come up with. But there’s a catch… 

As an inevitable consequence of its remarkable depth, Max For Live isn’t exactly easy to use, which is where this Max for Live masterclass comes in.

First up we have Ableton Certified Trainer Phelan Kane who will walk you through the process of creating your first Max for Live device: a simple digital distortion effect called Computer Music Degrader.

Download Computer Music Degrader

Now that you have become familiar with the MFL ecosystem, it’s time to incorporate your new-found skills with your own productions. In this second video, Ableton’s very own Jesse Abayomi has created a full track made entirely of Max for Live devices and will show you how the whole thing was created.

Download full-track demo project

If you’d like to find out more, check out issue 264 of Computer Music magazine and issue 335 of Future Music magazine, which are both on sale now.

Simon Arblaster
Video Producer & Reviews Editor

I take care of the reviews on MusicRadar and Future Music magazine, though can sometimes be spotted in front of a camera talking little sense in the presence of real musicians. For the past 30 years, I have been unable to decide on which instrument to master, so haven't bothered. Currently, a lover of all things high-gain in the guitar stakes and never one to resist churning out sub-standard funky breaks, the likes of which you'll never hear.