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We are currently debating which direction to take with new content that is supposed to be shipped with Synfire. This is roughly our roadmap so far. Maybe you have other ideas we should also consider.
Examples: Some time ago we removed the old example arrangements from the installer because it was just too hard to cover a spectrum wide enough to be convincing (we didn't spend enough time to make them compelling enough). We will create new and better examples, although the question remains which genres to cover. The current idea is to include an arrangement file, a description, and a finished audio mix that's independent of any individual user's equipment.
Libraries: It's tempting to ship style construction kits for users to have instant fun. I don't know about you but when I'm browsing style-specific libraries, I can feel how my creative muscles atrophy. I'm getting really lazy. Lego blocks that are designed to fit together rob me of the exciting challenge to try something unexpected. This unique Synfire feeling of "what happens if ..." is gone. Painting by numbers just isn't it. When convenience keeps you in an eight bar loop, you might never reach the point where Synfire really shines: Open-ended experimenting with your own ideas.
We want to avoid this trap with style-agnostic libraries that include more general musical idioms (e.g. syncopated chords) that are potentially useful for vastly different projects. I've started some already, but it really takes a lot of research and detail work to create this kind of libraries. We will outsource some of that. We need fresh, unusual, inspiring stuff. Not something Band-In-a-Box already shipped 30 years ago.
Factories: This has the most potential, IMO. The more time you spend tinkering with Factory settings, the more useful results you can get. Best of all, you don't run the risk of getting stuck in a stereotype or genre cliché. It's genuine unseen raw material. Some of the output is useless, but every couple minutes you come across something that uniquely clicks. We will invest more time in configuring new Factories that you can use and customize.
I'm also dreaming of a Factory that listens to you playing a few notes and then comes up with similar suggestions. That'll be even better than recording. Doing that for multiple instruments (e.g. a string section) is tricky though. Research is ongoing.
So., 12.04.2026 - 14:33 Permalink
Two large categories/processes, each worthy -
- Starting with music in your head, working to realize it in the world.
- Starting with elements in the world, then choosing, combining and polishing them to create new styles, forms, and compositions not specifically pre-conceived.
I suggest to avoid pre-judging or favoring either method, but rather to do as much as possible to enable, streamline, and amplify both.
So., 12.04.2026 - 16:18 Permalink
Good point. I'm using both processes on a regular basis.
Sometimes I wake up from a dream where I hear fully orchestrated music or complete songs that deeply touched me. Then, still half asleep, I hum the melodies into my phone, trying to capture the essentials. Some characteristics are immediately obvious, like time signature, vocals. Others are hard to grasp. I mean, it's difficult enough to analyze music when you are fully awake. It's enormously harder when that perception was merely imagined in your synapses (although, in a lucid dream it's not much different - you just can't rewind and replay because there's no object permanence).
Dozens such notes on my phone are waiting to be put into Synfire. The first approach you mentioned couldn't be more fitting. Those listen-and-continue Factories would be useful but we don't have them yet. So I will take the record and harmonize route.
The other approach is what I'm doing most of the time. Grab stuff, experiment, get surprises and follow my intuition to make something of it. It's more gratifying and fun. I love exploring and experimenting because it doesn't feel like a failure if you don't accomplish something immediately. There's no right or wrong. Everything can prove useful later on.
I understand that many people coming from DAWs are used to the first approach. They want to replicate it with Synfire. More content doesn't really help with that. More tutorials will be more helpful.