Audio-reactive visuals for Ableton Live
Your music,
made visible.
Photism is a Max for Live device that turns any Ableton track into living, audio-reactive visuals. No mapping, no VJ rig, no export wait. Drop it on a track and press play.
M4L.DEVICE +++ MAC.+.WINDOWS +++ AUDIO.REACTIVE +++ SCENE.LIBRARY +++ 16.MACROS**
Scenes
ink
Domain-warped marbled ink that flows with your mids.
explore →
morphogen
A living inkblot grown by real reaction-diffusion chemistry.
explore →
signal
Studio-grade meters: FFT analyzer, waveforms, peak hold.
explore →
relic
A raymarched 3D organism. Accents slowly regrow the whole structure.
explore →
ingot
Molten chrome, raymarched. Accents reshape the metal.
explore →
anemone
Chains of glowing bead rings pouring out of one point. It follows your mouse.
explore →
idol
A Mandelbox carved into a mandala that morphs with every accent.
explore →
fluid
Real Navier-Stokes ink. Kicks stir the simulation.
explore →
citadel
Raymarched alien architecture. Accents rebuild the lattice mid-flight.
explore →
synapse
Every hit adds a node to a growing constellation.
explore →
gate
An endless corridor of machined gates that morph as you fall through.
explore →
mandala
Kaleidoscopic fractal breathing with the kick.
explore →
oracle
A near-black machine temple. The palette lives on the edges.
explore →
limitless
Your own image, melted and reassembled by the music.
explore →
forge
A chrome nanite swarm that assembles a construct and shatters it.
explore →
sand
Chladni figures from your actual spectrum. The pattern is the chord.
explore →more coming
New scenes ship as free v1.x updates.
How it works
- 1
Drop the device
Drag Photism onto any audio track in Ableton Live. The master bus works great.
- 2
Open the visuals
One click opens the renderer in your browser. Fullscreen it on any display.
- 3
Play
The full frequency spectrum drives every scene live. Kicks hit, visuals hit.
- 4
Capture
Record a clip straight from the visuals with the track's audio baked in. It downloads as an MP4, ready to post.
Play it in your browser
Photism also runs as a web app. Drop in a track or switch on your mic, and the same engine reacts live. No download, no Ableton, no account.
- Three scenes free · ink, relic and gate, with six palettes
- Any sound source · an audio file, your mic, or an instrument through your interface
- Automation lanes · draw scene and look changes across a whole track
- Nothing to install · it opens on a laptop or a phone
Already bought Photism? The same page unlocks every scene with your purchase email. One purchase is every version.
Who makes Photism
Photism is a solo project by Alec Hollingsworth, aka illoh.
I built it because I kept watching producers fight to share their music. The pressure to self-promote pushes all of us into awkward, sometimes embarrassing corners, and the standard move gives the song nothing: a screen recording of the arrangement view, a few meters bouncing. The song carries all the feeling and the picture carries none of it. I wanted something you drop on a track that just reacts. Plug in, press play, and it looks good.
I also never want it to lock you into my taste. Pull the palette from any image you love. Hand the limitless scene a photo and the photo becomes the picture. Drop in a transparent logo and the engine refracts it into the patterns. Your clips should look like your project, top to bottom.
Today that means a folder of WIPs turns into a month of posts, a full-song YouTube visual, or a live set if you push it. Someday it might listen to more than Ableton.
The name is the mission. A photism is what a synesthete sees when sound arrives: an involuntary flash of color and shape, the picture in your head when your own track is playing. Photism exists so you can show people that picture.
SOLO.PROJECT +++ EST.2026 +++ [email protected]**
Pricing
$19
Launch price. One-time purchase, no subscription, free updates through v1.x.
Get PhotismmacOS or Windows. Ableton Live Suite, or Standard with Max for Live.