v 0.96 -- January 2011
based on abcl v 0.23.0


Brad Garton
Mac OSX 10.5/6; Max5
java v 1.6 or higher also required



download and install maxlispj


The [mxj maxlispj] object brings the power and elegance of the LISP (specifically Common Lisp) programming language into the Max/MSP real-time music environment. [mxj maxlispj] uses abcl, a java-based implementation of Common Lisp authored originally by Peter Graves and now maintained by Erik Huelsmann. The LISP interpreter is completely encapsulated using the Max/MSP [mxj] java object, thus extending the capabilities of Max/MSP in the following ways:



Download and Install

  Max5/Macintosh Directions (use the
earlier version for Windows and older Max/MSP installs)

Earlier versions of the [mxj maxlispj] object for older Max, OSX and Windows machines are available here.


Source Code



Potential "Pitfalls"  (we wouldn't want to call them "bugs", would we?)



Final Words on This Web Page

The [mxj maxlispj] object was written by Brad Garton (hey! that's me!) and supercedes the older [maxlisp] object. [mxj maxlispj] is much less 'brittle', and the earlier version runs on Windows, too (updated Windows 7 coming soon!). The integration of java into Max/MSP via the [mxj] object made this project possible. As always, the good people on various development mailing lists (especially) armedbear-devel@common-lisp.net and the Cycling '74 java-dev forum were invaluable. Thanks!


I hope this may be useful for others; I'm having a blast with it. Let me know what you think!

Brad Garton
garton - at - columbia dot edu
January, 2011