(max) applying pitch and amplitude modulation, in general

other pitch or amplitude parameters can be modulated the same as note pitch and note amplitude

I’ve spent a fair amount of time on synthesis, and recently on modulation of pitch and amplitude. You need to keep in mind that the techniques I’ve shown for pitch modulation can be used to modulate any pitch control. For example, the modulation of a cutoff frequency for a filter is handled the same way as modulating a MIDI note. In each case, you have an

• offset (the MIDI note for pitch, or the MIDI note plus starting offset of the filter for cutoff frequency),
• depth (the amount of pitch modulation or center frequency modulation),
• and the modulation source.

Likewise, you can amplitude modulate any signal, including the signal gain of a filter or the depth of a pitch modulation source. You must simply include offset depth to make up for lack of amplitude modulation depth in any modulation chain.

Just remember that smooth modulation takes place at the audio rate, so you will need to convert messages to audio rate signals in your modulation routines. And don’t forget that lot’s of things can generate messages in Max. You’ve dealt with random number generators, counters, sequencers, etc. Take some time to experiment.