Meta founder Phelan Kane has made a series of tutorials on using the Ableton Live API and LOM for our friends at CDM:
'Here are some master-level skills for Max for Live with minimal effort. And you get an immediate reward – take control of how Live 11 launches Clips.
With instructor Phelan Kane, we get to learn what’s new in Max for Live’s tools for hacking Ableton Live, whether you’re a curious beginner or an experienced patcher ready to try Live 11’s new features.
Like a lot of tech, Max for Live offers so much power that you do indeed have that “I spent all the time patching and didn’t make any music” effect. But fear not – Phelan has boiled down some features into something you can do in an evening, and get playing right away. '
Wanna learn more?
Check out the article on CDM here.
'Max for Live really offers two roles inside Ableton Live at once. First, it lets you run Max creations inside Live – so instruments, audio effects, sequencers, and even visual tools patched in Max run as if they were native Live Devices.
But second, Max for Live also offers the ability to control Live itself, via an API Ableton calls the Live Object Model (LOM). The LOM turns the patching environment into a scripting / hacking / Live customization tool – and it’s the only fully supported way of doing that with Live, complete with the power to create a user interface for whatever you build.
New to Live 11, the LOM includes access to more features, including the note API (and multiphonic expression), Simpler slices, Clip and sample Warp Markers, MIDI channel routing, and Clip Launch parameters. That’s a big deal, because it gives you more power to manipulate Live as a performance instrument. It takes those “I wish I could…” scenarios with Live and lets you make them happen.
It’s almost too much power at once, though. So Clip Launch control is a great place to begin.'
A ready-to-use Clip Launch Hack Device
Phelan has made us a demo Device you can use right away to see what’s possible even before we start patching.
Step by step, building the device with Max for Live and LOM
Phelan walks us through the process of building this patch – and interacting with the LOM – from scratch:
Want the device?
Simply grab it here.
System Requirements
You’ll need Ableton Live Suite 11 or Live 11 with a working Max for Live license to follow along. Live 11 is required because this tutorial centers around features introduced in that version.
Happy triggering!