Gábor Lázár has been working in Max/MSP for around fifteen years, and in recent years it has become his entire studio. His approach to composition centers on “compositional interfaces” — systems he builds where sound emerges from the interactions within them rather than being engineered through traditional synthesis approaches.
The Studio Environment
For Lázár, Max is not just a tool; it’s a complete compositional environment. Rather than arranging tracks in a DAW, he builds the instrument first and composes by playing it.
“In the last couple [of years] Max has been literally the only thing I use. Of course, I’m using VST synthesisers within Max, but what I really like about it is that I can create an environment where I’m not creating tracks but instruments.” — Gábor Lázár, interviewed by Danny Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
He contrasts this directly with conventional software:
“That’s a whole different approach to music making because if you use Logic, Cubase or Ableton, every time you sit down you start from scratch… Max/MSP is more like going to a workshop or laboratory.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
Organizing Sound Rather Than Synthesizing It
Lázár’s compositional approach emphasizes organizing sound rather than engineering it. He focuses on the system that produces the sound rather than the individual sonic artifacts.
“I’m more into organising sound and making Max/MSP patches that represent a score or skeleton of the music.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
This means creating systems where audio and musical content emerges from the interactions between elements, much like how natural systems generate complex behavior from simple rules.
Deconstruction Rather Than Arrangement
The interface was built specifically to work against the grain of commercial software, which lays musical elements out along a timeline.
“I would like to work in the opposite way to this type of software. While music-making software is designed to arrange musical elements linearly, my interface was designed to deconstruct them in a non-linear way.” — Gábor Lázár, interviewed by Matt Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
In live performance this deconstruction is pushed further still:
“When I play live I interact with rhythmic patterns and textures and usually I go further with the deconstruction.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
Algorithmic vs Generative Approaches
Lázár is careful about the word “generative”, and rejects the idea that the system composes on its own:
“I’m not using generative tools, I’m using generative techniques. Humans cannot be excluded from the process of making music.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
He puts a number on it, and prefers a different label altogether:
“If you listen to my music, 90% of it is my personality and 10% is based on generative tricks. […] I prefer to call it algorithmic music.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
Building What Doesn’t Exist Yet
The motivation for building the interface was partly a frustration with what commercial instruments offer.
“Why do most synths, drum machines, software or any music technology still offer technically almost the same techniques that we already had 30-40 years ago?” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
“My intention was to build an interface that would allow me to create structures that would be very complicated or impossible to make by using widely available software.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
Recording Methodology
Lázár’s albums track the instruments he was building at the time — the record is a document of the interface as much as of the music.
“My early albums reflected the recording of the instruments I made in the same way that later albums are representative of my current compositional interface.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
Recording is fast and intuitive rather than laboured, despite being entirely computer-based:
“Even though it’s computer music, things happen intuitively when I interact with my interface, decisions are made quickly when recording.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
Boundary Object (Planet Mu, 2022) collects tracks recorded in real time through one such self-designed interface.
Performance as a Physical Event
The live set is not only a rendering of the composition — volume and physical impact are part of the material.
“For me playing live is not just about the performance and the composition but it’s about loudness and physical aspects.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
“All of the sequences, patterns and loops are saved as presets and when I play tracks I’m playing drum samples and synths in the same way that I do in the studio, which is almost 100% live.” — Turner, MusicRadar, 2024
Why Max/MSP?
For all these approaches to work, Lázár needed a tool that would let him build custom systems rather than rely on standard presets:
- Complete control over every aspect of the signal processing
- Ability to create interactive and responsive compositions
- Flexibility to experiment and evolve his setups
“I didn’t want to buy something that most producers already have and use. In Max/MSP, I can create my own musical language.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
“I think I just like to be independent and create my own universe of things.” — Mullen, MusicRadar, 2022
References
- Danny Turner, “‘There’s constant hype about the instruments, synths, speakers and computers that producers use — but will your music sound better because of that?’: Gábor Lázár on sound design, generative techniques and designing his own instruments in Max”, MusicRadar, 7 November 2024.
- Matt Mullen, “Gábor Lázár: ‘Why does most music technology still offer almost the same techniques that we already had 30 years ago?’”, MusicRadar, 1 March 2022.
- Gábor Lázár, Planet Mu artist page — Boundary Object (2022).
- Gábor Lázár, SHAPE+ platform artist profile.