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How are you dealing with the current situation? Make more music?

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We see a little more visitor traffic on our site recently, so I wonder if our users are using the time they are confined to their homes (or home offices) with making more music than usual?

We are currently working on Synfire 2.0 and that kind of work is not much impacted by the current pandemic. While I find myself disinfecting door knobs, keyboards and mouses more often (and washing everything with soap that I take home from the grocery), current development work and customer support will most likely not be impeded by the crisis. The often dreaded long hours at the computer now turn out to be kind of a soothing refuge.

How do you deal with this extreme challenge?


Fri, 2020-03-20 - 18:44 Permalink

Thank you for asking.

 I live far away on the contry, so thinks aren't that different. I have a lot of animals, so I am never alone or out of work.

 I have been working on a template with cubase and synfire. I was a little annoyed about the long saving time in synfire. I have build a very usefull template using midi drone. 
I am very excited reading about the new 2.0 synfire release. I was wondering if you could inlight us about what to expect.

It would be a very good time if the release wasn't to far away. 
Hope you and your family is okay, and can cope with the isolation.

best regards Charlotte 

 I

Sat, 2020-03-21 - 10:29 Permalink

For me the current situation is not so bad, because I live in the country and behind me the forest starts right away. I can always go for a walk in the forest.
Nevertheless, I really enjoy sitting here at the computer and creating something with Synfire Pro. I think that the software deserves to deal with it. You have a very high learning curve, but once you understand the system you can do wonderful things with it. The great thing is that you can do a lot with just a few simple steps and you can try it out again and again. I'm already looking forward to version 2.0, and I'm very excited about what we can expect there.
I would also like to thank André for his work and the special customer service.
So let's make music!

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Tue, 2020-03-24 - 04:52 Permalink

I enjoy writing a lot, so there is no time for anxious thoughts. I using the time to catch up with this wonderful software. I am looking forward to continue my learning process. Thank you for continue improving it.

 

Best,

Thu, 2020-03-26 - 01:42 Permalink

My life hasn't changed much because I've always worked at home: restrictions are very annoying, but we make this sacrifice thinking that it can help reduce the infection and, above all, the enormous workload on hospitals. The health situation in Italy is quite heavy, the only thing to do is to wait and compose, and I take this opportunity to review and deepen my notions of counterpoint. I put Synfire aside a bit because I've just bought a Native Instruments M-32 and I'm having a lot of fun with Komplete Kontrol, but I'll be back soon :)

Fri, 2020-03-27 - 12:03 Permalink

Working intensely on 2.0 turns out to be a boon. It calms me down, leaving little time for worries. 

Unfortuntely it is impossible to spend 100% of your time hiding in a safe place. Going to the grocery and bakery is still stressful. There are too many people walking around in stores, unable to keep the recommended distance. Especially in a big city (Hamburg = 1.8 million) with a lot of public transportation, it requires a constant sense of awareness to keep track of what's potentially contaminated: Hands, clothing, zippers, the purse, car keys, door knobs, shopping carts, shoes, elevator buttons, fresh produce, milk cartons, jars, cans ... it would need a biohazard-safe lab to stay in control of all that. So you end up just doing the best you can without going crazy.

Who knows. When all this will eventually be over, something good might emerge from it. At least a little more respect for the fact that we are all in the same boat and have to cooperate rather than compete.

If anyone's interested, we could run a virtual user meeting on Zoom next week. I hope to get something done by then that I can show.

Fri, 2020-03-27 - 21:28 Permalink

Keep safe Andre

Virtual Zoom next week sounds great, although I'm all zoomed out today!

why don't you use the opportunity to demo your 2.0 prototype in the zoom, it will cheer us all up!

Sat, 2020-03-28 - 17:20 Permalink

Not much has changed for me either. Ive been reclusive all winter anyway. Using synfire to make some of my jazz funk things. Really looking forward to 2.0.

Hard to believe Ive been Synfiring for almost 10 years now. Thanks for all you do and wish you continued health. 

Do you have a list of things that will be implemented in 2.0? 

Sat, 2020-03-28 - 21:00 Permalink

A Zoom meeting with André showing off the progress in his development with Synfire sounds awesome, I rarely go to my studio these days. (The studio isn't in my home)

Tue, 2020-03-31 - 17:26 Permalink

Of course do we have a long list of features for 2.0. But I'd rather focus on the one big thing for now: Generators that have the potential to fire up new styles from scratch and fill libraries with phrases automatically. I always wanted more drag & drop and less fiddling with the pencil. An infinite library is a game changer. Although it's unlikely that the music definition language itself will be exposed with 2.0 already, it will do its magic behind the scenes.

I hope to get something ready by end of this week!

Thu, 2020-04-09 - 16:36 Permalink

Hi Andre,

How will we know about the upcoming session? will it be posted here?

Cheers,

 

Carlos

Tue, 2020-04-14 - 19:24 Permalink

Usually we send an email invitation to most recently active Synfire users (incl. demo users), but I can post it here, too.

Tue, 2020-04-14 - 20:18 Permalink

Unfortunately it's the inverse for me Andre. When I'm doing the day job, it's in the same room as the music. So when the day job is over, the last place I want to be is in that room! PS. Let's get that zoom organised, we are getting impatient!

Sat, 2020-04-18 - 15:11 Permalink

I'm so looking forward to the meeting, but have not yet managed to get examples done that I could show. Synfire 2.0 is not even launching at this time, because it is decomposed into several parts that need lots of refactoring before they go together again. I will probably only be able to show some results of the new generative features w/o a GUI yet.

What I would like to do is discuss some rarely used workflow stuff and get some feedback from users about what features could be removed or hidden somewhere for more advanced users. 

Regarding Covid-19, with everyone in our household confined to indoors, working full-time, home schooling the kids and all, focussed development is quite a challenge ;-) I'll do my best so you don't have to wait longer than necessary!

Fri, 2020-04-24 - 03:00 Permalink

I'd like to check out your zoom meeting.. I've never used zoom.. but will look into it.   

I live in NYC, Manhattan..  The city is extremely quiet.. A medical center down the street from me has a refrigerated truck where they are storing dead bodies. A lot of bodies are unclaimed, or people to poor to bury their family..  New Yorkers in general really behaving themselves.  But this covid virus thing keeps expanding into areas, no one has thought of before.   I'm staying home 85% of the time.  writing music..   I've been away from Synfire for a long while. But my writing has moved towards a lot of sing note motifs, not band like comps anymore.  So now is a good time to dig in again.   What I gathered from my first experience with Synfire Pro was valuable. although I had a lot of technical issues.  I began to think of the motif, over a chord progression, and when to alter motif to fit the chords, or expand complexity of chords to accomodate melody.  Something that really fascinates me at this point in my senior life.  

This extra time being forced to isolate is also a good time to devote to learning something new, and not vegetating in front of TV..

Sun, 2020-05-03 - 11:16 Permalink

We see a little more visitor traffic on our site recently, so I wonder if our users are using the time they are confined to their homes (or home offices) with making more music than usual?

Definitely, yes.

I am pleased to bring you this orchestral and cinematic style composition today. It comes with some beautiful captions taken with drone by Ruvim Miksanskiy, videographer based in Portland (Oregon - USA

Mon, 2020-05-04 - 10:22 Permalink

I must confess, after a couple weeks into this global catastrophe, that it is more distracting and consuming than expected. I feel like there are only few hours left of the day for development. Too bad, because working on Synfire actually gives me a calm state of mind. That generator example therefore is still not ready.

So for the next Zoom meeting, we might need to resort to workflow tips and Q&A for now, if that's ok with you?

Mon, 2020-05-04 - 19:17 Permalink

Hi Andre 

let's do that. I think 6pm UTC is a good time for time zones. Why don't you schedule a weekly drop in. How about tomorrow for the first one?

Mon, 2020-05-04 - 19:39 Permalink

Thank you Ruchir, he needed a gently kick, to go ahead with a weekly or every second week meeting. Synfire is a software that lead to a tons of questions. There will be Q and A  for many weeks ahead.

 

Mon, 2020-05-04 - 23:00 Permalink

I would very much like to attend your virtual meeting..  Are there tech specs somewhere for me to go over.. or can explained here.     I have an old mac top w/camera..  and a new HP Elite tablet w/camera.    Or do we NOT need a camera on the individuals end..      PC's are new to me.  But I have done one Televisit with my Dr.

I am enjoying the peace and quiet of NYC now.   I can go for walks..  very few cars..  a number of people have obviously left the city..  a lot like me stay in 90% of the time..   Realization gets rough waiting in long lines to grocery shop.    But one good thing about being old, at least for me,  it is easier to shut off my emotions about a situation I have no control over.   I do get in moods. I do get moments of high anxiety.  In fact during an endocopy/colonoscopy this morning,  They informed me I have an ulcer.   I knew something was wrong..  and I feel certainly the constant state of upheaval we (and I suppose everywhere)  can be a great strain. Cause we are in a situation, that we have very little tol look back and reference.   And it's  obvious the top people in charge of some things are totally incompetetnt

And all this spare time, has really made me question, 'What am I doing with my life now?'  It's like the John Lennon line in Working Class Hero..     'They keep you doped with religion, sex and tv - you're still fucking pheasants as far as I can see. 

It's like the structure of our life.  in you house. spend 2 hours in a car,  8 hours at an office.   The rigidity and repetitive natrue of  it gives us security,  somelikes locks us up like a prisoner. Most of my life I was a free lance musician/composer.  I kept my own hours, which were pretty radical at one point.   If you don't work, you don't eat..  I did have 'straight jobs' too.  Where I always had to be sometwhere at a certain time.  That give you financial security, emotional security (provided your job doesn't suck)  but it also makes for rigidity..  

I've lived in Manhattan for 40 years now.   in the middle of the madness.  I totallly loved it for 30 years or so..  Now I'm kinda over the weirdos, the constant state of being in a rush, a frenzy, to keep every thing going.  I wonder about moving to  a rural aread.  So I just had to think about eating, sleeping, making music.    But I feel a musician,at least I always need a fresh supply of stimulation. 

Of course our crazy president is always creating drama.  which I have tried to cut out of my life a  lot.  except for the things I can't change.  And we're never going to go back to the old 'normal'    Not even  sure when we'll reach some kind of normal.  now normal is a constant state of change.    Both parents have past..  I know my Dad would not have tolerated this situation very well.   

And of course a new composition always cheers  me up, 

MarkStyles

 

Are there any Synfire users here in America . or not more than 7 hours times difference and speak english want to email, converse, skype?   

Tue, 2020-05-05 - 01:15 Permalink

Andre, I feel your pain. I'm working on some software at the moment. Despite having more time and less distractions to stop me working on the project, the lack of control over my life, somehow robs me of all inclination, drive and concentration. Instead I find myself scrolling up and down social media constantly hitting refresh, blindly watching crap on the TV, ultimately putting off work that will pay the bills.

Looking forward to a Synfire zoom session, hope to learn something new, be inspired and distracted from the greyness of life under lockdown.

 

Tue, 2020-05-05 - 10:44 Permalink

Are there tech specs somewhere for me to go over

Sure. Scroll down to the bottom of this page (link here). Zoom is pretty easy to run, also on macOS. You can enter the meeting room at any time for a test. Also feel free to use it for casual meetings with other users at any time! 

I wonder about moving to a rural area

Just what I am pondering for a while, too, since we now have broadband optical fiber Internet in the small village my father was born (go figure). Hamburg, a metro area with around 2 Million people of all origins, seems quaint compared to NYC, but it is still a big city with a lot of noise. And, traditionally being a hub for trade and global business, it lacks the cultural buzz of Berlin.

Looking forward to a Synfire zoom session, hope to learn something new, be inspired and distracted from the greyness of life under lockdown.

Looks like something everyone of us could use. More than enough reason to have a weekly meetup, I guess. What about 

Tuesday 19:30 CET (06:30 pm GMT (London), 01:30 pm EST (New York), 10:30 am PST (California), 05:30 am AEDT (Australia))

So the first meeting will be today ;-)

Tue, 2020-05-05 - 16:06 Permalink

Hi Andre, to avoid zoombombers, should you only make the link and/or password available in the forums to registered users?

Wed, 2020-05-06 - 22:28 Permalink

I would have liked to have joined the meeting yesterday, but unfortunately that time of day is not convenient for me personally. Will a recording be made available like the last time please?

Thu, 2020-05-07 - 12:21 Permalink

I thought the meetings would benefit from being informal and relaxed, so no recordings (already deleted them). By not recording anything, we might also encourage attendees to keep their cams turned on. I find it somewhat awkward to talk to black boxes.