Atelier Audio Ircam

AAI

Latest version

version 4.03 : Mac 64-bit ARM, Windows 32/64-bit

What is AAI?

AtelierAudioIrcam (AAI) is a software developed by Grégoire Lorieux at the Ircam Pedagogy Department, designed to transform sound using a range of audio effects. Its interface aims to be simple and intuitive, and is meant for any musician.

It has been developed in Max from 2008 to the present, with the goal of providing access — in just a few clicks and with no prior knowledge required — to transformation modules used in workshops on voice transformation and sound creation from pre-recorded material.

AtelierAudioIrcam has been used in conservatories, as well as in many workshops organised by Ircam with the French Ministry of Education: in particular the "Ateliers de la Création", a national programme aimed at vocational high school students.

More recently, it has become the cornerstone of an educational project for conservatory teachers: a series of courses that introduces them to mixed music and to the pedagogical use of real-time audio transformations.

Installation

Installation and first launch

AAI is distributed as a Max patch.

What is Max?

Max is a programming environment originally created at Ircam. It allows users to build "patches" for various purposes: concerts, installations and more.
You will therefore need to download Max, which is freely available for both Mac OS and Windows.
AAI requires Max 9.
On first download, Max 9 is fully unrestricted for 30 days, after which some editing features become paid. You will not need those features to use AAI.

To install AAI, follow these steps:

Install Max

• first, download the latest version of Max from the Cycling 74 website.
• then install Max by following the instructions.

Install AAI

• download the latest version of AAI.
• unzip the downloaded file.

First launch

• open Max 9.
• from Max, open the document named "_AtelierAudioIrcam.maxpat"

Other versions

version 3.42 "Legacy" : Mac 32-bit, Windows 32/64-bit.

Allows a recent version to run on older Mac computers.

Latest version 3 (3.64) : Mac 64-bit, Windows 32/64-bit.

Last version compatible with Max 8.

Multimicros version : Mac 64-bit, Windows 32/64-bit.

This version replaces the sound files with additional microphone inputs.

Audio effects available in version 4

-- pitch effects --
One transposition
Four transpositions
Vibrato

-- rhythm / time effects --
Looper
Freeze
Simple delay lines
Multiple delay lines
Speed

-- modulation effects --
Chorus
Flanger
Phasor
Tremolo

-- timbre / texture effects --
Overdrive
Saturation
Fuzz
Bitcrusher (downsampling)
Distortion
Ring modulation
Slicing
Filter

-- spatial effects --
Reverb Gigaverb
Reverb Darkhall
Reverb Prism
AutoPan

Documentation

Documentation v4: in progress.

Older documentation (versions 2-3):

Documentation (v. 2013)

Update (v. 2014)

Previous versions

• version 2.0 Mac Patch

• version 1.5 Mac Application

• earlier versions available here.