[LAD] forking (was Re: Aeolus)

[Fons Adriaensen]

On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 09:30:12AM -0700, J. Liles wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Fons Adriaensen <fons at linuxaudio.org>wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 09:04:30AM -0700, J. Liles wrote:
> >
> > > I'm sure Fons thinks Aeolus is perfect because it meets his own needs
> >
> > On the contrary. I think it is very imperfect. It is, as everything,
> > a compromise.
> >
> 
> Then what is the problem with someone taking a shot at making it more
> perfect (from their perspective)?

Simple fact is that in the 9 years of existence of Aeolus I've had
*zero* patches or even just ideas meant to improve the quality of
the synthesis. In fact I've yet have to meet or receive any mail
from anyone showing a trace of understanding of how the code works.

What I have received is:

* Several new stops, some of these have been integrated, some
  have influenced the definition of existing ones.

* Several new temperaments, integrated.

* A request to allow saving/restoring the audio parameters.
  Implemented in the current development version. 

And also:

* A request to have a 'volume' control on each stop.

* A request to make Aeolus start up with the stops etc. that
  were in use the last time.

Both are no-go. Aeolus is meant to emulate a pipe organ, including
the limits of a real one. It's not meant to be a backend to some
sequencer or notation software, or a general-purpose additive
synthesiser.

Regarding the first request, organ stops are designed and adjusted
(by a talented craftsman) to work well in the particular acoustic
space that the organ is built for, and to be in balance and combine
well with other stops. The idea of a variable volume, apart from 
being impossible on a real organ, is absolutely contrary to those
aims.

Regarding the second, all it takes is clicking 'Store' before
quitting and 'Recall' after starting. Apart from that, no real
organist will ever leave an organ as he configured it - it is 
considered extremely bad manners to leave and organ without 
resetting everything and offering a clean configuration to the
next user. That is maybe the first thing my organ teacher ever
told me. 

Ciao,

-- 
FA

A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)