To Rbt, about FTS

Dear pal Robert,

I'm putting this on the forum, because maybe others will have some ideas. And since you and I have talked about this sort of thing before, you know I mean it in the most positive way!

So: you mention that you've got a new version of FTS coming out, with interaction with CSound. What I REALLY REALLY wish :) is that you would consider a redesign of the front end, the GUI, that you have going. I honestly think that FTS could get a lot of people interested in new tunings, but when that program comes up there is almost no way to know what to do with it.

If you spent a little time studying the interfaces of some of the VST instruments that are out there - lots of them - you'd quickly see where clutter and non-intuitive groupings of controls/options creates a barrier to good workflow, whereas those that have spent time looking long and hard about the part of the app you actually interact with have found ways to maximize the program's useage.

If you or anyone else feels this is too far off topic (though what I'm trying to do is help improve a microtonal musical instrument/environment), I'd be happy to go to meta or private. But I wonder if anyone else has the same reaction. I swear I'd fiddle around with FTS more if it wasn't for the awkward nature of playing with it. You've got programming chops to burn, and I love what you do with it, and I'd love to see you hook up with someone who has some kind of interface training or a young stud that loves to put graphical front ends on things. I've seen people turn a mess into something useable by simply stepping back, taking a look at how things are laid out and organized, and whipping that aspect into shape.

Now, back to the format skirmishes...

Cheers,
Jon

Hi Jon,

> It would be for naught if I didn't offer to help. Consider me a beta tester
> or usability tester any time you wish - I would be very happy to part of
> your feedback loop. Just let me know when you want me to bang things
> around, OK?

Thanks for the offer. Yes I will do. I'm about to do another phase of
work on the midi relaying / keyboard retuning part of FTS actually
and as that is what would probably interest you most then a good time
would be after I finish this bit - perhaps in a few days time
though that may be optimistic.

I'll let you know when it is ready.

Cheers,

Robert

Rbt,

{you wrote...}
>Thanks for the offer. Yes I will do.

Excellent - sorry for the delay, I went on a short trip.

>I'm about to do another phase of work on the midi relaying / keyboard >retuning part of FTS actually and as that is what would probably interest >you most then a good time would be after I finish this bit - perhaps in a >few days time though that may be optimistic.

Oh, hell, Robert - you're *always* optimistic! Why do you think we like you so much?!? :)

>I'll let you know when it is ready.

Cool. I didn't realize that my Scala was dated enough that the midi relay didn't function. It does now, but it would be great if yours could do it without too much latency. Right now that is the only bit of bother with Scala, though it is definitely good enough for developing tunings.

Cheers,
Jon