5 of The Best Max For Live Devices Available Now

Certified Ableton Trainer, Noah Pred, highlights five of his favorite Max for Live devices that can help your productions in Ableton Live shine through.  

Grain Relay by Max For Cats

Grain Relay by Max For Cats

When not working on new Spectral devices for Live 11, Max wizard Christian Kleine saw fit to grace us with a wonderful new delay effect via Sonic Bloom. Incorporating Bucket Brigade style classic dub delays with smooth pitch shifting, unusual granulation, downsampling, randomized panning, and ring modulation. With an intuitive interface and integrated LFO control, Grain Relay combines a plethora of sought-after effects into one handy unit that delivers far more than the sum of its parts.

More info: https://sonicbloom.net/en/products/grain-relay-by-max-for-cats/

Helisert by Suzuki Kentaro

Helisert by Suzuki Kentaro

Between his incredible LFO modulation devices (read our full review HERE), particle reverbs, and more, Suzuki Kentaro has been developing top-notch Max for Live devices like a man on fire all year long. This made it somewhat difficult to choose just one of his devices, but Helisert seemed a natural choice. This audio effect’s simplicity belies its elegance, inspiring unique creative results with a tape-style granular sample playback interface, with intuitive manual control or Hz rate, which can be set to negative values to reverse playback. If you’re looking for instant, powerful sample manipulation, Helisert provides.

More info: https://gumroad.com/l/Jyhsi

And while you’re there, check out Suzuki Kentaro’s completely free and very cool LFO-Draw: https://gumroad.com/szk_1992?sort=page_layout#bAufC

FlexGroove by Martin von Frantzius

FlexGroove by Martin von Frantzius

As the name suggests, FlexGroove transforms any rhythmic pattern with ultimate flexibility. A variety of shapes can be imposed to skew the timing of notes to create accelerations, slow-downs, and curved combinations of both. It’s fully Push compatible and easily exports patterns as MIDI Clips – which can then be exported to the Groove Pool to impose unique timings on other audio or MIDI Clips. It’s rare to see a device so unique to Max for Live that simultaneously showcases the platform’s impressive potential. Whether you’re looking to humanize your loops, deploy rhythmic push-pull tension, or take advantage of expanding and contracting timings for advanced composition, FlexGroove gives you the power you need.

More info: https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/flexgroove/

The Spellbook by Hypnus Records

The Spellbook by Hypnus Records

Two things will never go out of style: parameter modulation and occult symbolism. The Spellbook combines both to, well – spellbinding effect. Seven unique shapes are easily mapped to parameters throughout Live, not unlike Live’s LFO and other modulation devices. Each mapping gets its own multiplier, while additional assignments can also be made internally for unique feedback. Whether summoning your own friendly demons via audio-rate modulation or exorcising analog spirits by invoking sacred geometries, The Spellbook allows you to cast wondrous hexes indeed.

More info: https://isotonikstudios.com/product/hypnus-spellbook/

The Percolator by Chaos Culture & Do the Thing

The Percolator by Chaos Culture & Do the Thing

Best known for their brilliant Modulat platform, Chaos Culture has teamed up with newcomer Do the Thing for a highly flexible multi-effects unit that excels at real-time performance and meticulous sound design alike. Comprised of five serial effect slots, users can choose from a variety of effect types ranging from smooth filters, lush delays, and unique granular reverb to an array of deliciously crunchy experimental distortions along with flexible multi-band routing options. An additional loop sampler and granular player allow you to easily grab new ideas on the fly, making this tool an idea generating powerhouse. And of course all this combines with up to eight intricately programmable LFOs, two envelope followers, and highly intuitive XY snapshot morphing for incredibly dynamic results. Whether you’re looking for sumptuously modulated drones or glitched-out rhythmic indulgences, one thing is clear: it’s time for the Percolator.

More info: https://isotonikstudios.com/product/the-percolator/

 


 

Noah Pred is a Canadian record producer, sound designer, technologist, DJ, and Ableton Certified Trainer living in Berlin, Germany. Releasing dozens of records and touring extensively since the '90s, he currently teaches a wide variety of techniques for stage and studio at the BIMM Institute. For more information, please visit: http://... Read More

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