Re: [LAU] Time of music in a seqennser

Paul Davis wrote: VST plugins (especially soft synths) are designed to be limited. Especially those who emulate old synthesizers are mostly all the same. The only difference is in the GUI (and obviously in the limited set of oscillators, filters and so on of that particular synth). I can only speak for myself, but I guess that most people using open source software are not interested in such kind of tools. There's no reason to limit possibilities in the open source world because you don't have to sell the same synth again and again. I thought a lot of times about starting to write a soft synth similar to those available in the VST world. But - again, at least for me - there's no motivation, since I can fire up csound and create any kind of sound I would imagine with a bunch of lines. Of course I don't have the shiny graphical interfaces with rendered knobs. Instead I have unlimited possibilities (as much oscillators as I want, connected in any possible way, filters, effects, and so on). It's all about marketing. Yes, there are also commercial modular synthesizers which are versatile as well. But, again, I can express much more (and more quickly) with a bunch of lines in csound than using virtual patch cords. The main reason to have virtual patch cords is marketing. Moreover, even if we had VST plugins working perfectly on Linux, most people wouldn't switch anyway. Linux is free, so it can't be as good as an o.s. that costs money. Most musicians don't pay for software anyway, but they perceive commercial software as better, because of its value in money. This is less true for a web browser, for instance. Everybody like Firefox. But it's crucial for most kinds of software. Especially in art and music - where a lot has to do with irrationality and subjective perception - most people don't trust open source software. Just my 2 cents. -c.