Re: [linux-audio-user] Linux Audio Direction (was New Sound Subsystem Needed For Qt4/KDE4)

On Sun, 2005-07-31 at 05:51, tim hall wrote:
> Last Saturday 30 July 2005 18:01, Jan Depner was like:
> > On Sat, 2005-07-30 at 16:04, hanaghan@email-addr-hidden wrote:
> > > I want to know
> > > what makes you spend the time you do on this stuff so guys like me can
> > > pilfer legally and freely your hard works and then subsequently bitch at
> > > random about how it doesn't work! :)
>
> I understand the tongue in cheek-ness of this remark, but I think you've
> muddied the waters by using this analogy.
>
> > One of the reasons that I started working on JAMin with Steve, Jack,
> > et al is that I was using Ardour. I had tried to contribute to Ardour
> > at first but it was too far along in development for me to jump in and
> > easily get acclimated. I didn't have the time to spend to get up to
> > speed. I felt that I owed something back to the community (and Paul in
> > particular) for the work that had gone in to the applications that I was
> > able to "pilfer legally and freely". As far as playing nicely together
> > is concerned, that's why we used JACK. JAMin was actually designed to
> > be the mastering backend to Ardour. I have to admit that once I got
> > started working on JAMin it was a hell of a lot of fun ;-) It seems to
> > me that some of the best ideas come from those who "bitch at random".
>
> JAMin is a good example. I'm really impressed with the way it was developed
> collaboratively, starting from a discussion here & on LAD AFAIU. I like the
> fact that it's not a drop-in replacement for anything I've ever seen before
> (my experience of music software outside Linux is limited) I like what it
> does, the way it does it and I LOVE the way it looks. In fact, the only thing
> I don't like is its heavy use of resources on this machine, but I suspect
> that's a direct result of the sort of processing involved and I'm not
> expecting that to change. Soon I will own a computer that was made this
> century. Describing yourselves as those who "bitch at random" is
> self-deprecating to say the least. I'd like to see more projects happen this
> way.
>

    You are correct, JAMin did start as a discussion on LAD.

    There are a number of Windoze/Mac mastering packages (like
T-RackS). A lot of audio mastering is done using suites of hardware -
preamps, EQs, compressors, limiters. It can get very expensive.

    There is some *serious* processing going on so it probably won't get
any lighter. Hopefully Moore's law will take care of that ;-)

    I was being facetious when I mentioned those who "bitch at random".
As someone else pointed out earlier, without users a project is pretty
much a dead beast. Where I work I try to sit next to the people who are
using my software. The short feedback loop is the best way to make sure
that you're creating something useful. With JAMin I can't actually sit
next to the people using our software but I can do so virtually via the
mailing lists. I sincerely believe that the users are the best source
of innovative ideas. Sometimes what they want is not possible but the
discussions keep the ideas flowing.

-- 
Jan "Evil Twin" Depner
The Fuzzy Dice
http://myweb.cableone.net/eviltwin69/fuzzy.html
"As we enjoy great advantages from the invention of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this
we should do freely and generously."
Benjamin Franklin, on declining patents offered by the governor of
Pennsylvania for his "Pennsylvania Fireplace", c. 1744