programming with max/msp - Virtual Sound

IA1
136
Practice
Paragraph IA.1 - Max and the numbers: the binary operators
to the divider object have a decimal point as their last character, which declare
that Max should use floating point operations. Also note the routing of the two
patch cords that exit the float number box under the mtof object: one cord is
connected directly to the saw~ object below it, but the second heads off to the
right, heads upwards, and finally winds up connected to the multiplier object
that has the argument 3.
Fig. IA.9 The file IA_02_fifth.maxpat
If you compare Figures IA.6 and IA.9, notice that the frequencies calculated for
the note a fifth above are different. By using two distinct mtof objects in the
first patch, we calculated a tempered fifth (the fifth normally found in western
music), which is defined as the interval formed by combining 7 tempered semitones.
When we used the ratio 3/2 on the output of a single mtof, however,
we calculated a natural fifth, which is slightly wider that a tempered fifth. The
difference is around 2 cents (which is a unit defined to be 1/100 of a tempered
semitone).
OPERATIONS THAT USE THE EXCLAMATION POINT
All of the operators spoken of so far are binary operators, so called because
they need two inputs (also called operands in computer lingo) to produce their
output. In the objects that we have already seen, the first operand is the number
that is input on the left inlet and which triggers the operation, while the second
operand is the argument (or else the number on the right inlet).
For subtraction and division, however, there also exist two objects for which the
operands are reversed. Their second operand is input on the left inlet and triggers
the operation, while the first operand is the object’s argument.
The name for these “reversed” objects is made up of an exclamation point plus
the character for the underlying operation: !- for subtraction (which we have
already encountered in patch 01_17_pan.maxpat), and !/ for division.
from “Electronic Music and Sound Design” Vol. 1 by Alessandro Cipriani and Maurizio Giri
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