Controlling Max/MSP with a Wireless Xbox One Controller

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The primary use for Max that appeals to me is interactive, real-time control. Its audio and visual tools are plentiful, but the real magic is found in combination with logic and data processing. You can create an interactive experience — where you are playing with a dynamic musical instrument, or a visual/spatial playground where your movements become manipulated geometry — but where Max shines is its capacity to combine these types of experiences.

I have found that game controllers are very effective devices for interfacing with these programs. They’re already ergonomically designed for familiar input without needing to glance at the controls. Wireless connectivity allows for greater immersion and flexibility, such as within VR applications. The drivers are also readily available for almost any host system and input device.

For example, with the Wireless Xbox One controller, the binary input methods include:

• four generic buttons (A, B, X, Y)
• two shoulder buttons (L1, R1)
• directional pad (N, S, E, W directions)
• select and start buttons

And the dynamic input methods include:

• two analog triggers (L2, R2)
• two analog sticks

In total, this controller gives you fourteen binary switches, two X/Y coordinate pairs (limited within a radius), and two linear pressure-sensitive values. This is plenty of input for controlling some complex patches, especially so if creative interface design is taken into consideration.

It is also very convenient that Microsoft decided to use Bluetooth as the connectivity protocol for the Xbox One S controllers, rather than a more proprietary solution as was true with the Xbox 360. I have been able to use wireless Xbox 360 controllers with Max in the past, but not requiring an adapter is a definite advantage.

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The patcher is based on a post by vincentrieuf in the Cycling 74 forums. I wasn’t able to use it immediately, as my button presses wouldn’t register correctly, but it is simple enough to modify it into something useful for my purposes.

My revised patch is designed in such a way that it can be adapted to another arbitrary controller, by changing the ‘route’ codes to the values appropriate to a given controller. When the ‘hi’ object is given a valid device as input, a bubble will appear within the patch, and the same output will be logged in the Max console.

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Something that I found to be productive when creating this patch is the ability to create ‘proxy’ patch cords in Max. That is, instead of linking two objects as you normally would by connecting patch cords, you create ‘send‘ and ‘receive‘ objects. This means that while the total object count of the patch might be higher than necessary, the amount of headache is substantially reduced once your projects become more complex.

The patcher additionally contains descriptions next to the appropriate object groups for the given input method.

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A benefit of this patcher is its ability to quickly call a given input, by creating an ‘r’ object with the corresponding input code.

These codes are given below. The code column is how the input is identified; to use it, create an ‘r’ object with the code as the first and only argument.

Input		Code	Type

dpad N		dp_n	bang
dpad E		dp_e	bang
dpad S		dp_s	bang
dpad W		dp_w	bang
dpad NE		dp_ne	bang
dpad SE		dp_se	bang
dpad SW		dp_sw	bang
dpad NW		dp_nw	bang


left analog X	ls_x	float, 0-65535
left analog Y	ls_y	float, 0-65535


right analog X	rs_x	float, 0-65535
right analog Y	rs_y	float, 0-65535


left bumper	l_bm	bang
right bumper	r_bm	bang
bumper reset	bm_r	bang, reset


left trigger	l_t	float, 0-1023
right trigger	r_t	float, 0-1023


button A	b_a	bang
button B	b_b	bang
button X	b_x	bang
button Y	b_y	bang
button reset	b_r	bang, reset


button select	select	bang
button start	start	bang
button ss reset	ss_r	bang, reset

This organizational structure allows the input-handling components of a given project to be mostly hidden. Max allows the creation of subpatchers, or encapsulations. This is helpful, as it allows the controller input logic to be hidden.

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I hope this is a useful tool for some creative Max projects, and it certainly will be for mine going forward.