Re: [Rosegarden-user] [Rosegarden-devel] First-time experience with MIDI playback

[Grammostola R. <ros...@gm...>]

Christopher Cherrett wrote:
> You may fail to fully understand why the user cannot grasp certain 
> concepts, however if the most intuitive defaults are not used the user 
> will soon add a huge load of support related questions on the developer.
>
> Like: I am new to Rosegarden and I cannot get any sound out of 
> Rosegarden, what am I doing wrong?
>
> So it only makes sense to eliminate any unnecessary stumbling blocks and 
> seek to make the entry into using RG as painless as possible.
>
> RG was one of the first audio applications I had ever used about 5 years 
> ago and I was so lost it hurt.
>
> Thanks!
>
> -------- Original Message  --------
> Subject: Re: [Rosegarden-user] [Rosegarden-devel] First-time experience 
> with    MIDI playback
> From: James Warden <wa...@ya...>
> To: ros...@li...
> Date: 03/27/09 08:16
>   
>> Hello,
>>
>> I fail to fully understand the necessity of a sound font or internal synth out-of-the-box. It could just be me but the first time I downloaded RG, I knew what I was downloading according to the description given on the website and the package maintainer, i.e. a MIDI sequencer and notation editor, among other things, which implied (or so I thought) that I would need to get something that produces sound by MIDI triggering (soft synths, soft instruments, or external h/w). Is it not obvious for users that want to play with MIDI for making music, somehow ? I certainly did not expect RG to come bundled with a soft synth. 
>>
>> I think it is more important to get the interfacing with audio layers easier to set up for newbies (Jack, ALSA, pulse, or even OSS ?). But even there, it is certainly not RG's fault if the user does not read what it takes to have RG outputting sound correctly (jack setup). In my case, jack has been no bother at all and RG worked OOB :) It may only be a question of karma in the end :lol:
>>
>> Cheers!
>> J.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Fri, 3/27/09, alex stone <com...@gm...> wrote:
>>
>>   
>>     
>>> From: alex stone <com...@gm...>
>>> Subject: Re: [Rosegarden-user] [Rosegarden-devel] First-time experience with MIDI playback
>>> To: "D. Michael McIntyre" <ros...@gm...>
>>> Cc: ros...@li...
>>> Date: Friday, March 27, 2009, 5:53 AM
>>> Mike,
>>> When i started using Jack, it took a bit of working out,
>>> but was due to me
>>> being a complete new linux user, and getting my head around
>>> the paradigm.
>>> We're not talking about a 'domestic' sound
>>> utility here, are we. It's a
>>> precision tool of use.
>>> I think things have improved since my early days.
>>> Jack's not a hassle for me these days, and just works,
>>> so while i appreciate
>>> the challenge that comes with first time use, and a steep
>>> learning curve,
>>> but as a component in a DAW, it's no more difficult
>>> than setting up
>>> Gigastudio, which could be a complete dog fight to install,
>>> and worst of
>>> all, maintain. (I had 5 boxes for GS, and the mess of
>>> trying to get them to
>>> work together, regularly)
>>>
>>> I would agree that maybe it's time to bring Jack, ALSA,
>>> OSS, Freebob, and
>>> FFADO together, into 1 installable app/utility that
>>> represents a complete
>>> solution. Surely this would be the best result for those
>>> all important first
>>> users.user
>>>
>>> I can't agree that Jack is Hell, anymore than i can
>>> agree that win or mac
>>> sound for what we do is 'plug and play.' That may
>>> be the case for domestic
>>> multimedia use, but start getting serious about producing
>>> music, and they
>>> both have their challenges to overcome, minus the open
>>> nature of Linux
>>> sound, and the multiple sources of feedback that help fix
>>> problems.
>>>
>>> I've helped a few users, even at my infant linux
>>> knowledge state, and the
>>> single most common hassle i discovered from others, is
>>> understanding what
>>> Jack does, where it sits in the soundsystem framework, and
>>> the fine tuning
>>> involved in getting the best out of the hardware.
>>> Alsa's a candidate for
>>> this too, and i would suggest it can be just as challenging
>>> to the new user.
>>>
>>> I have the continuing impression that users, having access
>>> to things like
>>> the kernel, which is unavailable to them in commercial
>>> offering, are either
>>> enthusiastic about the opportunity of having greater
>>> control over their pc,
>>> are disconcerted by having greater control over their pc,
>>> or frankly, too
>>> lazy to persist, because it's not an immediate fix, and
>>> doesn't plug and
>>> play, like their 'windows' rig. (and i would
>>> suggest this is changing too,
>>> as the latest 64studio standard build beta 3 just works.
>>> Out of the box.)
>>>
>>> If a small 'free' soundfont is a hassle, why not
>>> just a simple synth, so the
>>> user can enjoy the sensation of getting sound when they
>>> open the app, then
>>> they go on from there into wider, more adventurous
>>> horizons? Isn't that what
>>> they do in other, non opensource OSs, anyway?
>>>
>>>       

To make Rosegarden more user friendly maybe a newbie should  find it 
more easy to get sound with it (include softsynth (?) all ready discussed)
Another thing would be an automatic start of jackd, like Ardour and 
Qtractor has , if I  am right.

\r