Munger1~: towards a Cross-Platform Swissarmy Knife of Real-Time Granular synthesis

munger1~ is a new and enhanced version of a powerful Max/MSP real-time granular synthesis external found in the PeRColate library. Apart from added features and optimizations, including ability to generate theoretically unlimited number of grains per second using real-time input, munger1~ also offers GPL-licensed platformtransparent code using the flext library. Thus, munger1~ is compatible with both Max/MSP and Pure-Data without any alterations to the source. Due to object’s complexity, as well as a significantly less common porting path from the Max/MSP/C to a platformagnostic C++/flext, this project has resulted in a number of improvements in flext build scripts and supporting documentation. It has also generated an invaluable list of caveats which are presented in this paper in hope to foster more platform-agnostic object design and porting efforts. Since its release, munger1~ has been featured in two interactive multimedia creations whose technical and artistic impact is also addressed in this paper.