Litter Power is

• Random number generators

• noise generators

• interval mutation

• and much more...

Litter began life as a set of Max Patchers implementing a large collection of random number distributions (see Litter Classic below). In the new Litter Power Package all of these generators have been implemented as external objects, resulting in execution speeds in the area of ten to twenty times faster than in previous incarnations.

The generators offer many well-known distributions: binomial, linear, exponential, Poisson, Gauss, to name a few, plus fractal noise generators. The core random number generator in Litter Power produces 32-bit numbers with all bits random (not the case with the classic Linear Congruence algorithm) and cycles of 2⁸⁸ and higher. All random number generators auto-seed themselves, guaranteeing complete non-determinacy.

Random distributions new to the Litter Power package include:

• I Ching
• Log-normal
• Finite urn model
• Dice
• Fractal distributions (1/f, 1/f², 1/f³)
• Tausworthe 88 and TT800 generators
• Parametric linear congruence (emulate older random number generators!)

Litter now also includes MSP generators for:

• White noise
• Pink noise
• Brown noise
• Black noise
• Gray noise
• Low-frequency noise
• Popcorn (dust) noise
• Parametric linear congruence noise

Also included with Litter Power are implementations of Interval Mutation algorithms. Utilities in the Litter Power Package include Cartesian-to-polar coordinate conversion compatible with both MSP1 and MSP2.

Want to see a complete list of functions? Go here.
As Adobe PDF, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader

1. The Litter Power Starter Package is free!
   Download now
   Some limitations on use apply. Please see the license.
2. The Litter Power Professional Bundle
   will be available soon. This includes all Litter objects and allows you to use them for software and artwork you wish to sell.

Litter Classic (formerly known as "The Litter Package") is the original Litter collection for generating random values. It has been supersceded by the Litter Power Package (above). Litter Classic remains available as a freeware collection of Max Patchers implementing all the random number generators described in Denis Lorrain's seminal article "A Panoply of Stochastic Cannons" as well as a number of other random number distributions I have come across in the literature. The Litter Package implements basic random distributions (white noise, Brownian noise, and 1/f noise), and canons for generating continuous and discrete values according to many well-known distributions (Binomial, Poisson, Gauss, Laplace, Linear, and Exponential, to name a few).

• On this site
• The IRCAM FTP site has a version Gary Lee Nelson modified on my behalf using his RanF object. Alas, RanF was never ported to PPC, so the old copy won't run with Max 3.6.x and later. I am pleased to report that IRCAM is now also providing the original version in their FAT/Chance directory.

QKSend and the other external objects in this package are used for sending Apple Events to QuicKeys. This allows you to incorporate QuicKeys' ability to control other applications into any Max Patcher. The obvious examples are, admittedly, trivial: Play middle C to empty the trash or use your breath controller to set your Mac's loudspeaker volume. But we have found the QKSend package to be a godsend with controlling Bliss Paint from Max (switch screen color depth, open Bliss, configure MIDI, choose Scribblers and Distributors, and go; all from one loadbang). You may find a use for it, too.

Nota bene: CE Software changed their Apple Events API with QK4, at which point communication with the QKSend ceased. At present my recommendation is to use QuicKeys 3.5.x. if you need QKSend's functionality.

• On this site

Polygon is a simple object adding arbitrary polygons (triangles, hexagons, etc.), to the family of sprites that can be drawn in a Max Graphics window. It functions much like the rect/frame/oval/ring objects.

Not as sexy as Nato or Jitter, but Nato and Jitter didn't exist when I wrote polygon.

• On this site

On various occasions, such as when I have needed other 3rd party objects in a version that original author has not been able to provide or for a contracted project, I have taken over the port to a new platform myself.

These ports include:

• Trond Lossius' Butterworth Filters
  (ported to Carbon Max/MSP for OS X)
• Tristan Jehan's shifter~
  (ported to Max/MSP for Windows and to Universal Binary)
• Eric Singer's SeqPlayer
  (ported to Universal Binary Max/MSP for Intel-based Macs)
• Nick Rothwell's registry
  (ported to Universal Binary Max/MSP for Intel-based Macs)
• J. Jester's frame~
  (ported to Universal Binary Max/MSP for Intel-based Macs)

Please contact the original authors for all questions regarding these objects. Any queries directed to me will be disregarded--if you're lucky. Thank you.

To avoid misunderstanding, requests to port any additional objects will be considered as commercial projects only.

Author of some the original Finale Plug-Ins, I can develop custom Plug-Ins to your specifications. Contact me for more information.

Midi Typer is primarily of historical interest, written in the days when men were real men, women were real women, and most MIME services had never heard of MIDI.
The original discription ran:

The Contemporary Music Analysis Package is a set of software tools assisting in the application of set theoretic methods to the analysis and composition of serial and atonal music. These were developed as part of a research project that culminated in the book Set Theory Objects.

Frequently Asked Question & Answer:
Q: Whatever Happened?
A: The CMAP project has been frozen at development stage. This has been the case for quite some time and, unfortunately, the resources necessary for pursuing a project of this size have simply not been available.
For a long time the only good news was the spin-off in Newton Book format.
My interest in developing software tools to assist with Set Theoretical work (both analytical and compositional) is still intact, and I hope to be able to pick up the work (or at least find a spin-off format with a wider base than the sadly defunct Newton MessagePad) at some stage in the future. This will not happen in the next twenty-four hours, but tune in from time to time and you may get a pleasant surprise...

Set Class Tables is a simple Newton Book that displays a fairly standard representation of the Set Classes. It is based on work by Alan Forte, John Rahn, Robert Morris, and a host of other scholars.

The standard tabular format of Set Class Tables has been modified to accomodate the limitations of the Newton MessagePad screen. This should need no further explanation--it will all be clear when you open the book.

This application has a few advantages over printed versions ripped out of the back of somebody's book:

• Tap on a prime form to hear it
• Z-Set and M-Set References are Hypertext Links
• Bookmaker Table of Contents is also pretty neat.

Set Class Tables is a spin-off of the CMAP project