OSS Music Composer Gaining Attention 116
An anonymous reader writes "Following in the footsteps of Psycle, VioLet Composer is a completely GPLed music composer for Windows that has slowly but surely been gaining attention. In an interview at Laptoprockers the author covers not only the program itself but the his reasoning behind choosing to open the source using the GPL."
OSS alternative to Logic? not there yet (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:And now with link (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ruling the World (Score:1, Interesting)
The same can easily be said of closed source. Or are you trying to tell me that Adobe Photoshop has always remained the same and that this is the side effect of closed source?
At some point it crosses a threshold where it's not only good enough but something of a standard.
Standards are easy. Anyone can write up a standard. It's a question of the overall validity of this standard in any particular market that determines if the standard applies.
So, aside from Linux tell me where this accepted standard in the world of open source vs. closed source exists?
Not to harp on the OSS movement because there is something of value there but you're trying to make it seem like the way that open source progresses and it's acceptance is somehow different from closed source. It's simply not. Maybe more eyes get to see the workings of the OSS project but that doesn't always mean better and upto this point in time there is little evidence of it.
I'm glad that there is stuff out there so the novice can work on this type of software without breaking the bank or turning to illegal methods to gain the software but the bottom line is that this, like most OSS, is not ready for primetime on the professional market.
Also, I feel where you think the strength of open source exists is not the real strength at all. For one, the values you're putting on OSS as a strength really hasn't appeared to be one because of dominating closed source pro-tools. Second, I feel you're missing the point of having something that people can work with on their own to produce something that is closer to what they need while the same feature may not have real marketability. This is the only real plus I see to OSS; the ability to make mods where you need them the most. The sad fact about this is that if someone else hasn't already adopted this mod into a OSS (or closed source model for that matter) project than there probably isn't much of a call for it.
I find it fantastic that Google can mod Linux to be what they need it to be without any baggage to make for some really kick ass servers that suit their needs but unless you're doing modifications on an OSS project to suit your needs the only thing that is progressive about it is the savings in software costs. And I'm still a fence-sitter on the question of that being progressive. Profit is still the largest motive in innovation.
For Buzz-lovers (not alcoholics, but musicians)... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Don't forget ModPlug (Score:5, Interesting)
Mono (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:That's not music composition (Score:3, Interesting)
Thank you! I switched to Lilypond several months ago and never looked back. It is so much more flexible than Finale and its ilk due to the fact that it isn't constrained by a graphical representation. I also find that writing music in text is a lot faster than point-and-click or even recording and going back to adjust all of the quantizing problems.
I love the ability to use music variables to hold repeating sequences. I love the programmability (even better with the new streams model). It's extremely easy to write parts for each instrument and mix-and-match them into different scores. I find that, for example, some people in choirs like to see the full SATB parts in a traditional two-staff layout, others prefer a four-staff layout while some prefer just to see their own part. The pianist really wants to see the SATB put on a standard two-staff piano score. No problem with lilypond, I can tailor the presentation to each individual choir member if I wish.
And it makes beautiful engravings, too!
In my opinion, Lilypond completely outclasses commercial and proprietary music scoring software.
Re:And now with link (Score:2, Interesting)