[gmpi] Re: Reqs 3.8 Events - ramped events

On Saturday 17 January 2004 15.30, gogins@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I totally agree with Koen Tanghe.

"Me too."


> Perhaps the general principle can
> be clarified.
>
> Let us not be engineers here with "good enough" solutions.
>
> Let us be scholars and scientists and make GMPI represent music -
> as much music as technically feasible.

I that describes MIDI, actually - only that was a loooooong time 
ago... Things have changed. We're even considering mostly ignoring 
CPUs that don't have decent FPUs. Back when MIDI was designed, FP was 
way too expensive, even for "control rate" data.


> That means, if we have a choice between a larger type and a smaller
> type to represent a value, we choose the LARGER TYPE unless that
> makes GMPI TECHNICALLY INFEASIBLE. I.e., timestamps.
>
> And if we have a choice between a more precise type and a less
> precise type to represent a value, we choose the MORE PRECISE TYPE
> unless that makes GMPI TECHNICALLY INFEASIBLE. I.e., controller
> values.

Exactly.


> The target isn't just the music we've heard - or even that some guy
> in China or Jamaica has heard - but the music that nobody has yet
> heard but that GMPI and software like it will make possible -
>
> - unless that software is engineered to be "good enough".

IMHO, designing plugins that emulate the limitations of MIDI *isn't* 
good enough. The limited resolution of MIDI forces you to figure out 
all sorts of funny ways of representing things, just to fit a usable 
range into 7 bits. And then the user is supposed to figure out what 
your parameters mean...

It's a total PITA, and a complete waste of time. Pick natural units, 
use real numbers and restrict the ranges only to keep really bad 
things from happening.

Of course, you can still invent arbitrary limitations in your plugins, 
if that lets you make more money through upgrades or something... ;-)


//David Olofson - Programmer, Composer, Open Source Advocate

.- Audiality -----------------------------------------------.
|  Free/Open Source audio engine for games and multimedia.  |
| MIDI, modular synthesis, real time effects, scripting,... |
`-----------------------------------> http://audiality.org -'
   --- http://olofson.net --- http://www.reologica.se ---


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