HN updates

The development of HN2 is still on par with Synfire. HN2 does automatically move with Synfire development because it builds on the same components. Some things even appear first in HN2, e.g. the tabbed window layout. A new update is currently being prepared.

Both programs however, follow a different concept and will therefore never look the same. HN2 is an entry-level chord progression explorer with support for building a song structure. It is meant to get you started with a new song idea, while Synfire is a full arranger designed to work side-by-side with a DAW all the time.

I have no idea yet why HN2 users do not contribute more to the discussion on this site yet. This is probably why you feel it doesn't get the attention you would like it to get. There are tons of interesting topics worth an in-depth discussion, concerning building progressions, using the palettes and circle of fitfths, building one's own phrase libraries, and more. This is a whole little universe in itself. I wish there was more forum activity around it. If you have an idea why this is, let us know.

Andre
PHY6's valid questions have triggered an interesting challenge.  I’ll start the ball rolling.  I have no idea, apart for what I read on the forums, of the number of Cognitone clients, the split between Synfire and HN users, their expertise or their motivations.  So what follows is speculation about this unknown group from one who looks at the ‘industry’ as much as the music.

Some marketing fundamentals’ guesses:
•    purchasing software requires no musical or technical expertise
•    music prototyping is an esoteric subject: … how do people get to music prototyping and hear of your team’s creation? … how do you imagine your clients? Do you know enough about them?
•    Synfire is complex and expensive (more than a quality DAW) with little (any?) competition; and HN lite is too lite for your target audience

•    HN (heavy) appears as a relatively simple well supported introduction to the subject … and although expensive for many hobbyists it’s not much more than a few restaurant meals with reasonable wine

•    HN has little competition … perhaps the imminent v2 of Rapid Composer from Music Developments might provide an alternative (assuming the history of bugs and tutorial support are also addressed– read their KVR forum for more insights into your HN dilemma)

As a purchaser of HN who has some technical but little musical expertise, and who approaches music as an enjoyment and hobby I offer the following guesses:
•   People early in pursuing a computer-based musical hobby accidentally come across Cognitone and try HN in the belief it will provide a very useful shortcut to easily creating enjoyable credible music

•    Their lack of musical knowledge, despite the support and tutorials, makes it hard to jump to easily produced musical creations, and so they get discouraged
•    Their lack of technical computer expertise makes it hard for them to articulate problems in terms of how the program operates, how it relates to the innovative concepts, and how the creative process flows
•    Combined, the above two points and a fear of losing face mean they don’t feel confident in asking newbie questions in the forums
•    It follows that these users won’t engage in the sorts of debates you would like to encourage
•    Those that get it have the pre-requisite knowledge and jump to Synfire (if they can afford it) … although it may be that not a lot of the Synfire user base gets involved in the forums either.

I reckon this is an important conversation for Cognitone’s development whichever way it goes.  It's not only about guiding current HN users into Synfire but also about generating interest in music prototyping in the Cognitone way.

Before closing, although I'm not yet a regular user of HN (heavy) I'm very impressed with its quality,  the frequency of updates and how they generally implement a subset of the latest Synfire developments. 

Hey Raymondo,

thank you for taking the time to share your impressions and insights. Much appreciated.

music prototyping is an esoteric subject

Back in the day of C64 and Atari, software sequencers have been as esoteric as Synfire is today. It took a decade for them to become mainstream. With music prototyping being a new generation of "intelligent sequencing", I would not be surprised if it takes several years from now to break through (we just begun).

Their lack of musical knowledge, despite the support and tutorials, makes it hard to jump to easily produced musical creations, and so they get discouraged

Judging from email feedback, this does not seem to be a problem for must of our users. Although it depends on how demanding your expectations are and which musical style you are in. Working with a DAW alone can get even more discouraging. Not so much because of the learning curve of the software, but rather due to the challenge to deal with an empty track sheet. Unless you are a really skilled musician capable of coming up with new ideas "on demand" (and able to play or at least resemble them), starting a project without any guidance is an extreme entry barrier. Sure, you can get a beat going in no time, but making it a piece to remember past the current day, is a challenge.

Regarding pro vs. newbie: Hobbyists tend to think that "real pros don't need these tools". That's a myth. Pros are using this (any countless other tools) for various reasons, if only to get inspired or to try something new. And I'd say it's rather the pros who are afraid of losing face when posting here.

Synfire is useful for both beginners and educated musicians alike. Whether you use it as a starter's guide into music, or as a tool to develop new ideas based on your existing knowledge of music - both approaches work fine! Therefore a primary design goal of the software was to implement and respect established music theory and make it work with all styles of music. We did not want to make it an easy-to-use entertainment gadget. Otherwise it would have been fun to use for beginners (at least for a certain time), but pretty useless beyond that. More like an iPad app than a desktop workstation. We believe this is a sustainable, long term evolution and the technology has to be deep enough to support that.

Interesting..
HN2 is not for people who don't know nothing about music ..you must combine the phrases an  for a quick musical results you must go to Band in a Box
SFP is a interesting program, but will never be a big seller, because it is rather expensive ( that's my prediction, but perhaps i am wrong)

Therefore to get SFP to the "mass"it needs be lower in price, but again that is my idea
Selling software can by  quantity of sold software or by  price
How cheaper software , how more people are willing to pay for it.