Interfera was born as a personal instrument before becoming anything else. It came from wanting a tool that could reach into vast online archives of field recordings, capture material in just a few gestures, and create a space where listening comes before intention. Nothing like it existed, so I built it.
For me, it was almost a dream to work with something like Interfera — a tool that allows you, in just a few gestures, to record and capture field recordings from vast online databases, pulling directly from APIs such as Internet Archive, while also introducing a second layer of distance and depersonalisation of sound sampling, without fully knowing what is being sampled.
Interfera is designed for this: removing intention, shortening the gesture, and making room for listening.
It's a simple and immediate tool for creating textures, environments, and soundscapes in a matter of minutes, meant to be freely integrated into other works and production contexts. It doesn't aim to replace anything — it exists alongside other instruments, as a source, a capture space, a starting point.
How it works
Interfera may appear ambiguous at first, especially when it comes to recording and playback — but the workflow is actually very simple once you understand how the buffer works.
Everything is built around a main buffer. When a field recording is captured from the network, it becomes visible inside the Buffer Scope — the waveform display at the top of the interface. Once you can see the waveform, that audio is fully available inside Interfera.
Playback is handled by three Multiplayers. The central one, with the large red PLAY button, is the main and most functional playback engine — the one you will use most of the time. The left and right Multiplayers are additional players designed for blending, layering and overlap, allowing you to create complex textures and interactions.
When Interfera is opened, the left and right seeders automatically fetch audio from the network and start playing immediately. This is streaming-based playback, independent from the main buffer. To work with the recorded material, stop the streaming players and use the central red PLAY button to play back the audio captured in the buffer.
Once audio is loaded into the buffer, it becomes available for all the processing modules: Tape Scrub, Spectral Lock, Pulsar Engine, and Interference Field. The Resonance Field works differently — it has its own independent buffer and can load any material you choose, separately from the main chain.
In the top bar, you'll also find Load Your Audio, which allows you to manually load and replace the content of the main buffer with your own sound files.
Interfera is not a linear recorder or a traditional sampler — it is an exploratory listening environment where recording, buffering and playback coexist as part of the same system.
The video below shows a simple operation: fetching a field recording from the network and recording it inside Interfera. This is the most basic gesture the tool was built for.
Before purchasing — Please read
Before purchasing, you should have basic working knowledge of Max/MSP, including:
- opening and running Max patches
- managing file paths and Max preferences
- installing externals and required dependencies
- using the macOS Terminal to start local services (PHP)
It is entirely based on Max, but requires the installation and use of external dependencies, including:
- included Max externals (shell, vb.mi-objects, etc.)
- a local PHP server, required for the seeder system to function
All required steps and dependencies are described in the Quick Start file included with Interfera. Users are expected to carefully follow these instructions before use.
Workflow note
Interfera is designed as an environment for listening, exploration, and recording. It is not intended for complex real-time DAW routing or non-standard system-level audio configurations. The recommended workflow is to record Interfera's output and process it later in your DAW or external environment.
Refund policy
Refunds are not provided for:
- lack of technical familiarity with Max or macOS
- missing or incorrectly installed dependencies
Overview
Interfera is not a sampler, nor a traditional effects processor. It is a listening and transformation environment built around geolocated field recordings and intentional recording.
Global Controls vs Recording Logic
Each processing module in Interfera includes:
- Global Dial (red) — controls listening and monitoring
- Recording Mix Trim — controls what is written to disk
Global Dial
Affects playback and monitoring only.
It does not decide what is recorded.
Recording Mix Trim
Defines what is committed to the recorder.
Conceptually binary: recorded / not recorded.
Design Choice: No LFOs
Most modules in Interfera do not include internal LFOs. This is intentional.
Interfera is designed around a simple but strict workflow:
- Set a sonic condition
- Listen carefully
- Decide when to record
This encourages restraint, focused listening, and intentional capture rather than constant modulation.
Erosion Recorder
The Erosion Recorder is the core recording device in Interfera. It is not neutral.
It is a filter-driven degradation circuit designed to capture unstable, fragile, and broken sound states.
Each internal component (VCA, Dust, Pulses, Generators, IF) has its own Recording Mix Trim. These trims decide what degradation processes enter the recording independently from monitoring.
Default Settings and Bypass Behavior
When recording with default settings or when the Clamp Limit is set to 0.8 amplitude, the sound from both seeders remains uncontaminated, effectively bypassing the filter coloration.
Convolution Engine — HISS Tools
Interfera includes a convolution engine based on the HISSTools Impulse Response Toolbox (HIRT), a high-quality convolution framework for Max.
Unlike algorithmic reverbs, convolution allows sound material to inherit the spectral, temporal, and spatial imprint of real or abstract spaces. In Interfera, convolution is treated as a structural listening process rather than a decorative effect.
Custom Impulse Responses
Users can load their own impulse responses (IRs), including real acoustic spaces,
hardware captures, resonant objects, or experimental responses.
This allows convolution to function not only as reverberation,
but as a compositional and transformational tool.
The convolution engine is based on the HISSTools project, developed by Alex Harker and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay.
Project website and documentation:
http://www.thehiss.org
HISSTools must be installed separately via the Max Package Manager.
Clamp Limit and Filter Behavior
The Clamp Limit defines a hard ceiling for the internal filter gain.
The filter is intentionally harsh. Small adjustments can result in large spectral and dynamic changes.
- Subtle settings → controlled erosion
- Aggressive settings → saturation and instability
When working with noise-based material, pushing the Clamp Limit to its maximum is entirely valid. Distortion here is not an error, but a feature.
Playback and Send — How Interfera Moves Sound
Interfera can feel disorienting at first because audio moves through several distinct layers: seeders that find and fetch recordings, buffers that hold them, and modules that transform and route them toward the recorder. Understanding this chain makes everything else fall into place.
The Three Seeders
Interfera has three independent seeders, each drawing from a different source. On launch, Seeder 1 and Seeder 3 automatically run random queries — so you will hear audio immediately without having done anything. This is by design: Interfera begins listening the moment it opens.
Searches Radio Aporee's global map by geographic coordinates (latitude / longitude). On launch it picks a random location and streams a matching recording. Use Load or Random to trigger a new search, then Load Audio into the Buffer to send it to Multiplayer 1.
Searches by semantic keyword (e.g. "rain", "microsound", "station"). Unlike the others, it also downloads the file locally to the fetch dir folder on disk, de-authored and ready for offline reuse. Trigger manually with "Run Seeder" or "Fetch Random Sound".
Searches the Internet Archive by keyword or tag, with a Sort option (Random, Relevance, etc.). Like Seeder 1, it runs automatically at launch. Results appear in the right panel list with a mini transport for immediate listening.
On launch: two seeders are already playing.
Seeder 1 (Aporee) and Seeder 3 (Internet Archive) each fetch and begin streaming a random recording automatically. You may immediately hear overlapping audio from both sources. This is normal behaviour.
If you want silence before you start, stop both active streams from their respective panels first.
Live Playback Directly from the Seeders
You can listen to any seeder's output in real time without loading it into a buffer. This is the most direct and spontaneous way to use Interfera — run a query, listen, explore, move on.
However: live seeder output is not routed into the buffer chain. It bypasses Multiplayer 1, Spectral Lock, Tape Scrub, and the Erosion Recorder. If you are recording while only a seeder is streaming, the recorder will capture very little or nothing.
Advanced patch-level configurations can route live seeder output into the recording path, but this requires deliberate setup. The default design intentionally keeps live streaming and the recording chain separate. How streamed recordings are used and redistributed remains the responsibility of the user.
The Buffer Chain — From Seeder to Recorder
Once a seeder loads a file into the shared buffer, you are working with that captured material — not the live stream. This is the standard workflow for processing and recording.
Stop the stream before listening to the buffer. If a seeder is actively streaming while a Multiplayer is also playing, both signals will overlap in your monitoring. To hear the buffer clearly — and to hear what is actually being recorded — stop the active seeder stream first.
The Buffer Scope at the top of the interface is your visual confirmation that audio has been correctly loaded into the buffer. If the waveform is visible and active in the scope, the buffer is ready and the Multiplayer engines can play it. If the scope is flat or empty after triggering a seeder, the material has not yet loaded — or has not loaded correctly.
Double-clicking the seeder slot is sometimes necessary to trigger the buffer load in Max. If after a first click nothing appears in the scope, click again. This occasional delay or missed trigger is normal and depends on network latency — the audio file is being fetched remotely, and response times vary. Wait a moment, then try once more before assuming something is broken.
Don't worry about the routing
If all of this feels complicated, take a breath. The core idea is actually very simple.
You load audio into the buffer. Multiple players share that same buffer. You set your send levels carefully, preparing the recording like a real tape machine — getting everything in the right place before you commit. When you are ready, you gently raise the filter curve, or use the filter creatively as a coloration tool. That shaped output is exactly what will be recorded. Nothing more.
As with Endogen, the invitation here is moderation of gesture. Prepare everything as you would on a real tape player — levels, filter, monitoring. Then, when the moment feels right, press Record. The machine is waiting for you, not the other way around.
Multiplayer 1, 2, and 3
The three Multiplayer engines are the primary playback devices for buffered material. They sit at the centre of the interface and feed into the Erosion Recorder via their individual red Recording Mix Trims.
The default destination when a seeder loads audio into the shared buffer. When Seeder 1 or Seeder 3 fetches a recording and you press Load Audio into the Buffer, the material lands here. Multiplayer 1 has a Fixed Speed control and a VOL knob for monitoring. To send its output to the Erosion Recorder, raise the red Recording Mix Trim above zero — this is a send level, not a volume fader.
A separate buffer playback engine with its own Speed, VOL, and loop mode selectors (loop 1 / loop 0). It operates independently from Multiplayer 1. Load different material here using its replace button to layer sounds or use it in isolation.
Designed for locally stored audio — for example, files previously downloaded by the EnvionSeeder and saved to the fetch dir folder. Load a local file using the replace button. It has its own Speed and VOL controls and integrates into the same recording chain as the other Multiplayers.
The red trim is a send, not a volume fader.
Raising the Recording Mix Trim on any Multiplayer does not change what you hear during monitoring. It only determines how much of that signal reaches the Erosion Recorder. Think of it as an on/off gate with a level control: trim at zero means nothing is committed to the recording, regardless of how loud the monitoring output is.
Spectral Lock and Tape Scrub
A frequency-selective isolation module that locks onto a narrow spectral band of the buffered material, suppressing everything outside it. Use the Center, Width, Phase, and Smooth controls to define what passes through. Its output has its own trim to send independently to the Erosion Recorder. This module works on buffered material — it does not process live seeder streams directly. Load material into a buffer first.
Gives tactile, manual control over the playback position within the loaded buffer. Rather than letting the buffer play linearly, you drag the mouse to scrub through it — forward, backward, slowly, in bursts. The VOL knob controls monitoring level. What reaches the recorder is governed by its own trim, independently from the monitoring volume.
Resonant Field — Its Own Buffer
The Resonant Field module (miRings — modal resonator) works differently from everything else in the interface. It has its own internal buffer and does not share the main buffer used by the Multiplayer engines.
To use the Resonant Field, load audio directly into its buffer using the dedicated BUFFER control in its panel. Once loaded, incoming signals excite the modal resonator and produce pitched, resonant responses. Its output is routed independently with its own aux and output paths.
If you hear nothing from the Resonant Field, the most likely cause is that its internal buffer is empty.
EnvionSeeder — Fetch, De-authoring, and Local Download
Unlike the other two seeders, the EnvionSeeder does more than stream: it downloads the fetched recording to a local folder called fetch dir on your system. This file is saved in a de-authored state — its original metadata and source identification are stripped — and can be reloaded offline into Multiplayer 3 or any other buffer input.
Use "Fetch Random Sound" for autonomous exploration, or type a specific keyword and press "Run Seeder" to target a particular sonic territory (e.g. "wind", "crowd", "machinery"). The Activity Log shows the status of each fetch operation in real time.
The five things most likely to cause confusion — resolved:
1. Two seeders play automatically on launch. Stop them if you want a clean starting point before doing anything else.
2. Live seeder audio is not the same as buffered audio. Load material into the buffer using "Load Audio into the Buffer" before working with Multiplayer, Spectral Lock, or Tape Scrub.
3. The red trim is a send to the recorder, not a volume control. Monitoring level and recording level are completely independent.
4. Stop the seeder stream before listening to the recorder output. Both signals will overlap in your monitoring otherwise, making it impossible to hear what is actually being recorded.
5. Resonant Field needs its own buffer loaded. It does not receive from the main shared buffer automatically — you must load material into it directly.
Core Modules (Functional Overview)
- EnvionSeeder (Interfera) — geolocation and keyword-based fetching
- Buffer Scope — visual feedback of incoming material
- Multiplayer Buffers — parallel buffer playback engines
- Tape Scrub — mouse-driven buffer navigation
- Spectral Lock — frequency-selective isolation
- Pulse Engine — discrete-time emission and articulation
- Erosion Recorder — degradation-based recording engine
- Interference Field — spatial and positional interaction
- Resonant Field (miRings) — modal resonator
Seeder, Streaming, and Memory
Interfera accesses publicly available field recordings through online queries. Audio is streamed and reproduced as originally recorded.
Material is loaded into volatile memory (RAM), making it suitable for live performance and diffusion contexts. Interfera does not automatically archive or store source material.
Third-Party Source Availability
Interfera's Aporee Seeder (Seeder 1) depends entirely on the availability of Radio Aporee, a third-party platform operated independently. The developer of Interfera has no control over Radio Aporee's infrastructure, API availability, or continuity of service. If Aporee is temporarily or permanently unavailable, Seeder 1 will not function — this is not a bug in Interfera.
The Internet Archive Seeder (Seeder 3) and the EnvionSeeder (Seeder 2) rely on the Internet Archive API, which has a substantially more stable and documented public infrastructure. These seeders are considerably more resilient to downtime.
Note on Aporee dependency
Should Radio Aporee change its API, restrict access, or go offline, Seeder 1 can be reconfigured to query alternative sources — including other geolocated sound repositories or custom endpoints — without modifying the rest of Interfera's architecture. The seeder layer is designed to be replaceable. The developer accepts no responsibility for disruptions caused by third-party platform changes or outages.
Automatic retry limit
When Seeder 1 encounters repeated network errors — for example, a 503 response indicating that Aporee's server is temporarily unavailable — it will attempt to reconnect up to 5 times before stopping automatically. This prevents the seeder from entering an infinite fetch loop that would lock up or destabilise the Max patch. After 5 failed attempts the seeder halts and displays a status message. You can restart it manually at any time once the source becomes available again.
Interfera and Envion
Interfera and Envion are complementary tools.
Interfera
Contextual listening, playback, real-time transformation.
Recording is optional and intentional.
Envion
Includes direct download.
Fetched files are saved locally and reusable offline.
Licensing Note
Interfera accesses multiple third-party sources through real-time and randomised queries. Because sources may change continuously and multiple recordings can overlap, Interfera cannot automatically determine attribution or licence information.
If you choose to publish material that includes recognisable source recordings, it is your responsibility to identify the source where reasonably possible and comply with the applicable licence terms.
Interfera is a listening and transformation environment — not a sample pack, not a content library, and not a tool for bulk downloading.
Recording and Responsibility
Interfera does not automatically save or redistribute content. Recording occurs only as an explicit user action.
Responsibility for usage, recording, and redistribution remains with the end user.