M4L2AUDIOFX
M4L2AUDIOFX is a very small experimental program that lets you import the Max For Live device of your choice in Ableton's Audio Effects section.
I’m an avid Max device downloader and I recently came to the realisation that I’ve got too many cool Max stuff that I never use because I forget I even downloaded them, they’re lost among the hundreds of .amxd in the Max For Live category, or sometimes I might even forget their name.
This little executable made with Python allows you to select whatever Max effect you want on your computer and makes it appear in the Audio Effects category, alongside the stock Ableton effects.
The principle of this device seemed quite logical to me since Max wrappers are becoming increasingly popular, allowing better integration of third-party plugins with Ableton (thinking about the ELPHNT Soundtoys Wrapper per example, I tend to think it’s pretty cool to have something like Decapitator as a « stock » effect between Corpus and Delay).
How to use it :
1 – Select the .amxd file you desire to import into the Audio Effects category.
The location of the file does not matter since it will copy the file during the process.
2 – Select your Ableton Packs folder location.
If you didn’t change it’s original location, it should be in « \Users\[user]\Documents\Ableton\Factory Packs » for Windows or « Macintosh HD/Users/[YourUsername]/Music/Ableton/Factory Packs » for Mac.
3 – Give your Pack a name.
Whatever you want, just don’t try some bullshit with weird characters, if you want to import the GMAudio Ducker, just name it « Robert K – GMAudio Ducker » or something.
4 – Hit « Create Pack » and you’re all done !
If your Ableton is open, close it and open it again. A new Pack with the desired name should appear in the Packs category which will be scanned, and a few moments later your Audio Effects category will update with your .amxd appearing in it. This process may take some time, I’ve got results varying from like 10 seconds to a solid 10 minutes. Just let Ableton scan the thing, wait for the little moving circle next to « Places » to diseappear.
Important : It is most likely that your computer will identify the program as a threat since it’s a .exe with no signature labadi labada you know the deal. I’m pretty sure I can’t do much about it except maybe emailing every anti-virus company to tell them it’s a false positive but honestly i’d rather do some homework, just authorize the thing, open it with Sandboxie if you’re scared, or just don’t download it if you don’t trust it.
Disclaimer 1 : Because I don’t know shit about Python, the majority of the coding was made with the help of AI and the GUI looks real ugly. I know it’s just an utility thing and we don’t really care but it still pisses me off that this thing looks the way it does so if anyone seeing this knows a thing or two about Python, I went and put the .py in the « Code » folder. If you ever feel like it and come up with something better than my interface (which I think won’t be really hard to achieve), email me at frecciax182@gmail.com and I will be more than happy to update the program with your cool new interface.
Disclaimer 2 : The program currently only works with Ableton 12. I am planning to update it ASAP with the possibility to use it with earlier versions of Live. I am also planning to make it work with the MIDI Effects category since there’s a lot of cool Max For Live sequencers.
Disclaimer 3 : The program works by « tricking » Ableton into thinking the .amxd device you selected is a stock Ableton Audio Effect. When creating a Pack, it picks a random number between 1000 to 5000 and assigns it to the created Pack in a Metadata file. If you own a Pack that already uses the randomly picked number, the device might not appear in the Packs category and therefore not in the Audio Effects category either. In that case, just give it another try.
Disclaimer 4 : I know many people use Collections for organising their M4L devices but I don’t know, just seems more logical, handy and satisfying to me to put Ableton themed devices into native Ableton categories rather than user-made things, especially the devices that are designed to look like stock effects like the ones from GMAudio, dnksaus, ELPHNT, or SABROI. Call me maniac.
Disclaimer 5 : I got the idea for this program from ARFAL who includes pre-made folders (with edited metadata etc…) that you just have to drag and drop into the Packs folder in order to make his devices appear in « Audio Effects » so props to him, check his stuff out he’s sick.
If something if not working, if you got any advice, or if you just want to talk about the weather, hmu
instagram : @instalelah
discord : lelah