Quaxtrip

Quaxtrip is a set of Max patches that makes low-latency uncompressed audio and messaging interconnections over the internet, intended for musicians wishing to play together remotely.

Installation

1. If you don’t already have Max 8, download and install it. Note that you do not need to purchase Max to use Quaxtrip, it will run in the unregistered version.
2. Download and install Pure Data (version 0.51-2 or later — listed on the download page under Current Stable Release).
3. If Max is running, quit Max.
4. Download PdMax (version 0.54 or greater — listed on the download page under Experimental: pd~ ported to Max/MSP 6,7, and 8 by Puckette & Apel), unzip, and place in the ~/Documents/Max 8/library directory. PdMax contains the Max object that allows you to run Pd patches in Max.
5. Download the latest release of Quaxtrip, unzip, and place in the ~/Documents/Max 8/library directory.

Quick Start

There are two versions of Quaxtrip: Quaxtrip Duet.maxpat and Quaxtrip Quintet.maxpat. The only difference between these two, as the names imply, is that Duet allows only one remote partner while Quintet allows up to four. If you are playing with only one partner, Duet frees up some screen space and uses somewhat less CPU.

Note: It is highly recommended that you are connected to the internet via Ethernet rather than WiFi. In a pinch, WiFi might work, but you are much more likely to get dropouts.

How to play with a remote partner:

1. Both you and your partner launch Quaxtrip Duet.maxpat.
2. If this is the first time you’ve launched Quaxtrip, you will be presented with a dialog box instructing you to locate and select the Pd app (binary) on your computer. You will only need to do this the first time you run the patch.
   1. macOS: The Pd app is typically in the /Applications directory.
   2. Windows: The Pd app is typically in the /Program Files/Pd/bin directory.
3. In the Local Input channel (top left corner of the patch):
   1. Set the Input Channels to reflect the channel(s) you are receiving incoming audio from your audio interface. If you are only using 1 channel, check the Mono checkbox.
   2. Set volume as appropriate.
4. Adjust the Output channel volume to make it audible. You should now hear yourself. If using live mics, watch out for feedback.
5. In the Remote 1 channel:
   1. Quaxtrip uses the Server foo.ucsd.edu by default. This public “conniption” server helps make the connection but once connected the audio runs directly between the two computers.
   2. Set the Call Name to something likely to be unique (e.g. jack-and-jill), no spaces allowed. The Call Name is the same for you and your partner.
6. Set the On/Off toggle to on.

Once you and your partner have completed these steps, the connected checkbox should be checked and you should now be able to hear each other!

If you want to play with more than one partner, use Quaxtrip Quintet.maxpat instead and repeat steps 5 & 6 for each partner, making sure to select a unique Call Name for each set of partners.

More Documentation included in Manual.pdf in the Quaxtrip distribution.

Background

Quaxtrip runs Miller Puckette’s Quacktrip Pure Data patch within Cycling ‘74’s Max. Quacktrip, in turn, is an implementation, in Pure Data, of Chris Chafe’s JackTrip network protocol, based on jacktrip.pd by Roman Haefeli and Johannes Schuett. It establishes a low-latency, point-to-point connection between two sites, with no audio compression.

version 2021-0413