[Traverso-devel] Re: Hello Traverso P1

[Remon Sijrier]

Hello,

Forgot to reply to list as well. Thanks for the ideas and feedback, it's 
highly appreciated!

I'll reply to the list in separate emails to keep things on topic, for sure, a 
number of your suggestions is long-term, but it's very cool to have them!

Due my day job I've less time to work on Traverso, so development stagnated 
for the past year, but I restarted working on it, finishing some new features 
in cvs, and making it release ready. From that point on, we'll see what 
happens, small changes at a time and then releasing it I think :)

Best regards,

Remon

> Hey Guys,
>
> Sorry for disappearing.. I've been taking notes in the background.
> My lawyer would like you to know I may have misunderstood Traverso in some
> ways and cannot be held liable :)
>
> ------------------- Begin Notes --------------------
>
> I'm writing the following with commercial slogans intact partly for fun
> (sarcasm) and partly for application because they could help people rally
> around the concept of the software. Even successful open source require a
> name and personality defined through phrases that help the new user grasp
> the purpose.
>
> Traverso's greatest power stems from the developers intention to make
> editing a Speed of Thought(TM) process. Chiefly this has been accomplished
> through the contextual Mighty-Mouse/Speedy Key(TM) [key+mouse] design.
> This should be the focus of the application development; thinking on,
> testing and refining this "direct editing approach". [Not just how it's
> implemented now, but exploring this idealogy and willing the discovery of
> further Speed of Thought interface choices.]
>
> It would be wise for developers to spend time thinking on how to translate
> Traverso's contextual controls to Multi-touch LCD panel gestures. The
> future of music software is in multi-touch interfaces and Traverso should
> be designed now with this in mind.
>
> I see Traverso 0.5 as a well executed foundation for one or more powerful
> yet minimalist DAW(s). Visual overload is a common problem with software
> circa 2004 forward. Instead of interfaces becoming more meaningful and
> refined as screen real-estate boomed the amount of unrelated features
> holding weight on a screen has increased leaving many applications
> unapproachable to new users. The time to apprehend the system is greater
> than finding a simpler system or sticking with what you know already.
> Modern DAWs in particular suffer from  visual overload. Traverso partially
> solves this problem through its arrange window's mouse+Q global menu
> although this menu could be better arranged. In the case of menus; words,
> headings and subheadings are *everthing* so carefully choosing how to
> layout just this menu can make a lot of difference to end users.
>
> Finally, don't be afraid to change major aspects of Traverso until 1.0.
> In Traverso's case be willing to change keystrokes at any time to help
> keep the design growing comfortably into the *very limited* computer
> keyboard. --Short term use-ability will suffer but the application will be
> able to realize it's full potential and avoid feature-jam (key traffic
> jams). Most users will respect such a decision. If keystroke assignments
> are not kept fluid *and* tested frequently Traverso will struggle to
> achieve and maintain the most efficient use of the keyboard.
>
> What niches are left in the DAW arena?
>       - Fidelity, every user hopes his system sounds the best
>       - Speed of editing, most professionals judge an environment by output 
> and
> productivity - Short Learning curve with well properly organized
> (hierarchal) feature set
>
>
> With the above in mind I'll go on to make suggestions I feel would help
> Traverso in becoming a DAW of choice and beyond (some of this is more well
> suited for Traverso 4.0 than 1.0:
>
> ---------------
>
> 1) Consider how artists work and build the interface for them first and
> industrial process second;
>
> - Note how artist's recontextualize data and implement methods and
>   classes to handle this; for instance an audio clip's amplitude data
>   could be copied and converted into midi CC controller data and further
>   applied to any target. Or MIDI CC data could be converted to a sinewave
>   or squarewave and directly used to ringmodulate other audio clips data.
>   Auto type conversion and modulation is really a key area that DAWs
> totally ignore but would make working with them more fun!
>
> 2) Consider making the UI more simple instead of more complex.  (Removing
>   Icons, Meters, etc.). This seems a bit crazy, but the power of Traverso
>   is really in the arrange window UI. Is there some way to keep the user
>   in the "Speed of Thought(tm)" editor at all times? This would result in
>   highly productive user sessions, which for any DAW is the real measure
>   of value.
>
> 3) Consider supporting 1 or 2 of the most widely used of the plugin
>   formats (this keeps users happy while the features and controls are
>   shifting beneath their feet). [VST2 would be a good choice]
>
> 4) Don't worry about a mixer UI, just use the main arrange window --
>   Mackie Tracktion proves that mixing directly in the arrange view
>   (through automation and clip level controls) is fine and Traverso feels
>   like a next generation design of Tracktion. Lots of things about
>   Tracktion are cool, but Traverso promises to be lots faster.
>
> 5) Support MIDI &/or OSC control for Traverso automation from PD, Lemur,
>   Max, Etc.
>
> 6) Consider allowing user envelopes input from a keystroke - for example;,
> shift+v = volume envelope which then allows points to be drawn and edited
> over a whole clip shift+p = panning envelope
> shift+s = speed of playback envelope
> shift+~ (new breakpoint on envelope)
>
> 6a) Allow copying and pasting of envelopes and fx settings between clips.
>   (clip property cut/paste)
>
> 7) Consider a preference or user controls for adding noise as super low
>   level amplitude modulation of signal rate envelopes (volume, etc) for
>   warmer sounding mixes.
>   - There are many techniques similar to the above. I've prototyped a few
>   of them and would be happy to share at some point
>
> 8) Consider allowing clips to play at slower and faster playback speeds as
>   defined by an envelope (resample the slowed or sped up playback for the
>   current frequency using "secret rabbit code" or similar). The play
>   cursor on said clips (which should turn a special color, would then lag
> or accelerate... a (snap or rubber band marker) could be dropped on the
> clips at points where you wanted the cursor to jump back in line with the
> master play position.
>
> 9) Consider that simpler designs encourage people to use their ears more
>   often... Consider that "if it sounds good, do it" discourages technical
>   over-analysis of process and allows artists to be artists and engineers
>   to learn to be artists.
>
> 10) Routing - Mackie Tracktion wins in this department. It goes a step
>   beyond busses allowing users to cable their own signal networks for
>   channel audio routing. Consider making Traverso a plugin for PD or PD a
>   plugin inside traverso with traverso channel objects routing audio
>   around inside PD (or on a per channel basis)... This would totally rock
> the hardcore computer music people's worldview.
>
> 11) Keep everything per clip, but of course add groups for quick volume
>   changes of whole clip sets.
>
> 12) Move very slowly to implement any type of loop playback system.
>   Working with Loops is popular only because it's fast. IMO It needs to be
>   rethought.. More about this later.
>
> 13) work something out with DSPaudio so we can co-develop the app with you
>   guys and get some benefit like being able to utilize some of the code ;).
>
> 14) Signal flow (physical layout) - Consider putting audio inputs on left
>   and audio outputs on right of the arrange frame (into track, out of
>   track).
>
> 15) beat detective and advanced time editing:   Lets talk about this one
>   later... An adaptive timeline with editable properties per channel.
>
> 16) Stay focused on audio and perhaps integrate MIDI as a direct function
>   of the audio a LA melodyne.  There are several opensource DAWs
>   attempting to do everything and not doing anything well so best to focus
> on the strong area of the interface and don't implement MIDI or composition
> until a truly original idea sparks something equally as cool as what is
> there now. I'd toss another vote to integrate Traverso within PD as an
> object basically as it is now... That'd be pretty slick. Amazing even.
>
> 17) Consider the role that happy accidents play in the composition process
>   - A common source of happy accidents is timing. Consider, building an
>   adjustable delay (+/-) into every link in the mixer DSP chain so that
>   users can adjust the timing of FX events. It might already be needed
>   for latency compensation of plugin processes... Many other ideas in
>   along these lines.
>
>
> 18) Consider rendering the waveforms in 3D with various visualizations of
>   spectral content for different editing views. Melodyne is moving this
>   direction with amplitude not just being a peak, but also having
>   depth. Someone will eventually go much further than this.. ;)
>
>
> Traverso 0.5 UI Niggles:
>
> A) Clip Gain changes should be on a logarithmic response to the mouse
> input... large gain changes are too slow.
>
> B) Mac laptops don't have multiple mouse buttons without an external
> mouse. Lots of audio Professionals use them anyway... Allow room for a
> Mac Specific layout or mouse handling
>
> C) Add quick volume ramping (10 or 20ms) to shift+mouse position
> movement of play cursor... this would remove much of the needless clicking
> we get from moving the play position around during playback.
>
>
>
> That's all for now. I hope this is useful and on point... I don't want to
> waste any time.
>
> Best Regards,
> Anthony Bisset