A custom-GUI Max for Live device for the GLASS Audio Effect Rack, an original Ableton rack I built and sound-designed.
GLASS (the rack) chains Ableton's stock effects (Resonator, Phaser, Hybrid Reverb, Grain Delay, Glue Compressor, Echo, Delay) into one instrument, with 8 hand-mapped macros driving the whole thing.
Ableton gives every rack the same plain generic macro panel. This device replaces that face with a bespoke shattered-glass interface. It's a thin control surface: the stock effects still do all the audio, while its 8 knobs drive the rack's 8 macros by index via the Live Object Model (LOM).
- 8 knobs, one per rack macro: Reflect · Delay · Echo % · Echo Time · Wavy · Wobble · Comp · Verb. Drag to set; the value is written straight to the macro, so knob → macro → sound is live.
- 3 preset snapshots — MIDNIGHT / ANGELS / GHOSTS — recall the real saved macro values and re-theme the shard header per preset.
- SHATTER — randomises all 8 macros and regenerates a fresh header palette + crack geometry on each press.
- Value-reactive drawing — knob glow and hue-heat charge with value; the header shards/cracks light up with overall rack energy; a slow shimmer tracks the hovered knob.
The device sits inside the GLASS rack in a live set — a wide letterbox panel in the device chain, driving the rack's macros in real time:
- Ableton Live Suite, or Live + the Max for Live add-on (plus Max).
- The GLASS Audio Effect Rack with its 8 macros mapped (ship as a bundle
with
GLASS.adg, or map your own rack's macros to match the table below).
The playable device + rack preset ship as a bundle on the
Releases page
(GLASS.zip → Glass.amxd, GLASS.adg, and a readme).
The bundle is two files: the device (Glass.amxd) and the rack (GLASS.adg).
The rack already contains the device as its first chain device — it just
looks for Glass.amxd in your User Library. So install the device first, then
load the rack (no manual placement needed):
- Install the device. Copy
Glass.amxdinto your Ableton User Library atPresets/Audio Effects/Max Audio Effect/Imported/(create the folders if they don't exist). Find the User Library via Live → Preferences → Library, or right-click User Library in Live's browser → Show in Finder/Explorer. - Load the rack. Double-click
GLASS.adg(or drag it onto a track). The full rack loads with the 8 macros mapped and the GLASS device already inside it — bound automatically. (First load takes a few seconds while Max boots.)
If the device shows as missing in the rack, Glass.amxd isn't in your User
Library yet — redo step 1 and reload GLASS.adg.
The device drives its parent rack's 8 macros by index, so it works in any
Audio Effect Rack. Drop Glass.amxd in as the first device inside your rack
(this is "Option A" — it walks up to its parent rack to grab the macros) and map
the 8 macros to match the macro map below.
The device targets macros by index (macro i = rack parameter i+1; range 0–127). Knobs are laid out in display order, which is not index order:
| Knob position (L→R) | Macro index | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Reflect |
| 2 | 7 | Verb |
| 3 | 1 | Delay |
| 4 | 2 | Echo % |
| 5 | 3 | Echo Time |
| 6 | 4 | Wavy |
| 7 | 5 | Wobble |
| 8 | 6 | Comp |
All knobs display as % (the underlying macro range is 0–127).
Glass/
├── glass.jsui.js — the device: drawing + mouse + LOM (single jsui script)
├── icon/ — app icon (64–1024px) + GitHub social banner
├── screenshots/ — device + in-Ableton captures
├── mockups/build-banner.py — regenerates the social banner from the icon
├── package.sh — assembles the download bundle (scrubs the preset's
│ absolute paths, then zips the device + rack + readme)
├── README.md · LICENSE · .gitignore
All logic lives in glass.jsui.js. The .amxd is a binary container that
references the script; once frozen, the script bundles into the device so it
no longer depends on Max's search path.
The playable device (Glass.amxd) and the rack preset (GLASS.adg) aren't in
the repo — they ship together as a downloadable bundle. The repo holds the
source script and assets.
MIT © 2026 Andrew Foster