TIL: Max/MSP/Jitter

Console.log (“Hello World!”)
 
It’s been a very long time since I last posted! However, I came across something so fascinating that I couldn’t resist posting about it. “What is it?” You may ask, to which my response will be “read the title of this post.”. 
 
I was perusing through Eventbrite looking for tech meetups and networking events when I came across Signals and Pixels Art & Tech Meetup held at Hairpin Art Studio in the Logan Park neighborhood of Chicago. The most interesting part about this meetup was something called “creative coding.” As a self-proclaimed music enthusiast and crochet hobbyist, I saw both art, music, and programming come together in the most extraordinary way. 
 
Today I learned about a very interesting programming language called Max, also referred to as Max/MSP or Max/MSP/Jitter. Max is a visual block-based audio and multimedia programming language. 
 
When I saw it, my first reaction was, “Scratch, is that you?” Scratch is also a visual block-based programming language; however, it isn’t strictly for music or multimedia.
 
Then I heard an ethereal sound that I titled “Quiescence Harmony,” created by a developer who wanted to listen to calming music while coding. Instead of finding music to listen to on Spotify, YouTube, SoundCloud, or Apple Music, he decided to create the music himself using the Max programming language. With some experimentation, or rather, when the developer added a block of code, to my dismay, the harmony quickly turned into a cacophony of sounds. It’s okay! He quickly rectified it by getting rid of that block of code and adding some additional blocks that produced a serene sound that complemented the original “Quiescence Harmony.” That wasn’t the end of it. There were visuals that accompanied and responded to the music! 
 
If you’re a developer who loves music and art, Max might be the programming language for you.