Live Improvisation, Any suggestions? Options

[jarret the gobli...]

Hi,
Im an electronic musician and i am currently working with a small jazz group. i am looking for some software that i can use in a live set,i need something that will allow me to improvise freely with the band. An obvious choice is something like reaktor,but im a bit skint at the moment and was looking for something a bit cheaper.

Does anyone know of any software or decent share/freeware out there that will allow me to improvise in a live set?

I'd appreciate any suggestions,
Thanks.

Also, off subject. Does anyone know of any reviews of Logic 7 on the web. I've read all the stuff on the apple website but im looking for something slightly less biased.

This post has been edited by jarret the goblin king: Wed 13 Oct 2004, 17:22

[lepetitmartien]

What do you mean in the impro universe? Treatment? Sequences? Sampling?…

The mains sequencers are not tailored for live jobs, but you could check :
- Ableton Live
- Cycling'74 Max/MSP
- Plogue Bidule

Links in the Soft section.

[arvidtp]

for REALLY cheap (free) you could also try Pure Data - a Max/MSP type thing that is not quite as friendly, but does do stuff.

Also free are MacCsound or Supercollider - but you would have to learn their respective languages - they are much more "grow your own".

and Sonosphere is a really easy to use sampling app which lets you manipulate audio objects in 3D...

there are also a number of free/cheap MIDI manipulators around.

But Max/MSP is the King of all for realtime stuff. I never regret purchasing it - it will let you do ANYTHING if you just play with it for long enough and get familiar with how it works.

I got a list of free mac music software with links on my site, look under "More Experimental" near the bottom of the page. Also under MIDI if desired:

My Free Mac Music Software Guide

have fun with that! sounds awesome.