[Ardour-Users] a few thoughts

[Bill Gribble]

I think you're putting words in his mouth.  Skeuomorphism is one particular design choice that is fashionable now, but its not the only reason you might want to spend cycles on graphical interfaces.

Audio software and equipment has a long history of trying new UI ideas to help get the creative process mapped onto and inspired by the technology.  Think trackers, max/msp and pd historically, ableton, even the teenage engineering OP-1 for a piece of hardware.  Not to mention stuff like monome, and the bazillion arduino creations.

People have different needs and sometimes the visual part of an audio tool can be important enough to spend resources on.  Even MOST of your resources.  I personally think skeuo designs are stupid and just get in the way -- I prefer a TouchOSC type aesthetic that's clean and functional. But some people feel that a virtual rack of old gear front panels helps them. At least those people have lots of choices!  Lucky them. 

There will always be csound, chuck, ecasound, and others for those who prefer vi over GUI. And ladspa/lv2 plugins can be controlled by whatever host interface you like.  Skeuo interfaces are fish in a barrel, it's not interesting to beat them up.  How about discussing how GUI resources could be used effectively and inspiringly to make creative work more enjoyable and productive?  And how the tools can support those use cases. 

Thanks,
Bill Gribble

On Dec 2, 2012, at 13:58, Al Thompson <althompson58 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 12/02/2012 01:51 PM, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
>> On 02/12/12 18:42, Al Thompson wrote:
>> 
>>> I agree 100% with this.  Plus, the extra CPU power required to drive
>>> multiple plugin GUIs severely stresses a machine, when that horsepower
>>> could be much better used to do useful things.
>> 
>> Bullshit.  Plugins with "complex" GUI interfaces use just about the
>> same amount of CPU power as the ones with "simple" interfaces.
>> 
>> I don't want to use audio software that looks like a spreadsheet.
>> Computers are unmusical enough, without making "creative" software
>> look the same as doing your tax returns.
>> 
> 
> So, in your opinion, in order to do things strictly audio, it's
> worthwhile to give up ANY horsepower so that things LOOK more like
> electronic gear?
> 
> 
> -- 
> ---
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> 
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> mixing, equipment, etc, is at:
>   http://audioandmore.wordpress.com
> 
> 
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