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RE: What is Your Weapon of Choice: Metronome, Drum Machine, Compás CDs, or Software?
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kozz
Posts: 1766
Joined: Feb. 26 2009
From: Eindhoven NL
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 RE: What is Your Weapon of Choice: M... (in reply to robert_inventor)
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quote:
Kozz,
Thanks, you are right it is a bug.
Yip that seem to have fixed it.
Some other recommendations:
After "testdriving" it I came across some more bugs. Buttons that react only one way, tempo settings wich are not correct. Eg. adjusting the tempo with the "tempo-text" changes the interface in colors, and displays a new tempo, but continues playing the same tempo. (you don't need 23 different buttons or fields that change or show tempo)
Tell me if I am wrong, but focus on the basic metronome at first. The "hidden" features are nice, but in essence the metronome should be rock solid, and from thereon you can build/show all the nice features.
IMO, the big dial could free up some space since it only shows a small bpm number and some musical terms. If shrinked it saves up a lot of space to combine groups of functions.
It may sound a bit nit picky, but thats how users, or at least I am, rate a program.
From a visual point of view I would like to see a more mature interface. Other buttons, more uniformity etc.
I'll see if I can come up with an example today to illustrate it.
"More bounce to the ounce" 
_____________________________
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Aug. 29 2010 7:26:01
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robert_inventor
Posts: 31
Joined: May 5 2010
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RE: What is Your Weapon of Choice: M... (in reply to kozz)
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quote:
Thanks, you are right it is a bug.
Great!
quote:
After "testdriving" it I came across some more bugs. Buttons that react only one way, tempo settings wich are not correct. Eg. adjusting the tempo with the "tempo-text" changes the interface in colors, and displays a new tempo, but continues playing the same tempo.
Okay, can you say a bit more about this bug? I tested it just now, tried changing the tempo text and the tempo changed fine, not just visually, the played rhythm as well. So I need a bit of help to reproduce the bug in order to fix it.
Also, one immediate question, does it happen when you use it in one particular window (e.g. main window, 3D graphics or whatever) or in all of them? Another question - is it something that happens for a particular rhythm or metronome?
I may have more questions after you say a bit more about it, if I still can't reproduce it here.
quote:
The "hidden" features are nice, but in essence the metronome should be rock solid, and from thereon you can build/show all the nice features.
Yes 100% agree.
quote:
IMO, the big dial could free up some space since it only shows a small bpm number and some musical terms. If shrinked it saves up a lot of space to combine groups of functions.
Yes, I agree, something that I've been thinking as well in fact.
split window
Anyway there is one thing you can do right away. If you go to the Opts drop menu there's an option to split the main wnidow. This will make the tempo dial into a separate window which you can resize as you like - or close and only show when you want to change the tempo. The 2D and 3D graphics also then become separate windows you can show as desired or resize, and main window gets remade smaller leaving out the tempo dial and the bouncing balls.
The thing about the tempo dial is that if you make it much smaller, it is hard to read all the numbers around the edge of the dial - as you'll see if you resize it as a separate window. Also the text in the center gets too small when it is small (though I could just prevent that text from resizing for small tempo dial).
tempo strip
There's also a tempo strip you can show in the 2D and 3D bouncing balls, which takes up much less space than the tempo dial, along the bottom of the window. Same idea as tempo dial, graphical interface to change the tempo - but linear rather than circular so takes less space.
Of course depends on how you use it, some users won't have much need for a graphical interface to change the tempo - if normally you have a tempo in bpm you want to use and it is easiest to just enter it as text, you don't need this at all.
You can show it at the bottom of "Bouncing Balls - Controls, Text and Layout (Ctrl + 233)".
You don't really need it in the 3D bouncing balls because the tempo dial doesnt' get in the way in the same way - but is available there too if you need it, in the More (twice) version of the Bouncing Balls - 3D Visuals (Ctrl + 226).
3D bounce in main window idea
I might do it so that you put the 3D bounce into the main window instead - as that combines the bounce with the tempo dial so saves space. You can't really put the 2D bounce in front of the tempo dial because it would be confusing, but in 3D with the visual depth, works okay. Also then optionally the user can show it as the bare bones tempo dial or just hide it altogether.
But to do it that way, I would need to change the layout of all the main windows, replace the current upside down T shape of the graphic elements (tempo dial at top in the middle, 2D bouncing balls as horizontal rectangle at bottom) with a rectangular element for the 3D graphics combining both - and then reorganise all the other controls around it. Not a lot of work, once you have decided how to do it, just drag and drop ui editing most of it - but needs thought to do it well.
Tempo text in 2D Bouncing Balls idea
This is another thought, could just add the tempo dial text field to the 2D bouncing balls same as for the 3D bouncing balls. With that + the tempo strip, then you've got all the functionality of the tempo dial in the 2D window just as for the 3D window.
So then could do the main window with the tempo strip, 2D bouncing balls, tempo text, and no tempo dial, but button to show the dial for those who like it, + button to show the 3D bouncing balls, as before.
quote:
It may sound a bit nit picky, but thats how users, or at least I am, rate a program.
From a visual point of view I would like to see a more mature interface. Other buttons, more uniformity etc.
Yes that's fine, great to talk about these things. The visuals do also make a big difference to usability, if you can see how things work and what to do at a glance and the important elements are easy to find and easily visible and unimportant things take less screen space, makes it much easier to use the program - especially when it's the sort of software where you continually tweak settings as you use it, e.g. tempo, rhythm, etc.
As for more mature interface, that will just come with time I think. Do what I can as I go along.
quote:
I'll see if I can come up with an example today to illustrate it.
"More bounce to the ounce"
Okay great
_____________________________
Robert Walker
http://www.bouncemetronome.com
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Date Aug. 29 2010 9:33:46
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robert_inventor
Posts: 31
Joined: May 5 2010
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RE: What is Your Weapon of Choice: M... (in reply to Munin)
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Here is a draft of the main window without the tempo dial, just 2D, for the Flamenco Metronome:
I'm not sure about it yet, need to come back some time when I can see it afresh - but does show how by removing the tempo dial you have more space for the bouncing balls and for the controls around it as well.
Maybe it is just that it looks a bit strange with the bouncing balls flush against the left side of the window, maybe a bit of a margin there would help with the window design.
Does it look better to you? What do you think?
I could put the 3D bouncing balls in the same space as the 2D bouncing balls in that window, just replace them by the 3D bouncing balls, didn't do that right now as it will probably need a small amount of extra coding to do it for techy reasons, minor things.
While with the 2D bounce it was just a case of drag and drop and resize user interface editing to do it.
Just like the split window option, you could make this an option too - I have to make new main window templates for all the metronomes to do them like this - but after I've done that, easy matter to just keep the old templates as well for the tempo dial, so you then have both as options. Also replacing the 2D window by a 3D one in the main window is the sort of thing you could code for once for one of the metronomes and it would then work for them all, and could just switch between one and the other possibility.
So then you can show the main window with 2D bouncing balls only (with tempo strip), 3D bouncing balls only, 2D + tempo dial all in one, or split, as desired, maybe as a drop list to choose from at the bottom of the Bounce Preferences window or something
Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px
_____________________________
Robert Walker
http://www.bouncemetronome.com
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Date Aug. 29 2010 11:57:21
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robert_inventor
Posts: 31
Joined: May 5 2010
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RE: What is Your Weapon of Choice: M... (in reply to Munin)
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Yes, indeed, who would have thought
I'd have been as surprised if you asked me say 10 years ago.
I think it was the polyrhythms that got me so interested in it originally, I really like polyrhythms, I mean I can't play them, not like a drummer, just use them a bit when improvising on piano / keyboard (try to play e.g. 3 in one hand over 5 in the other which is good fun to try, though my timing is probably a bit irregular, feels nice though, the feeling of both hands playing independently of each other as they do in a polyrhythm).
But I find them really interesting to program and listen to. Also the irrational polyrhythms too like the golden ratio and pi, and then with the newer harmonic metronomes, and the rhythmicon, and all these new rhythms including Flamenco now, just find it more and more interesting to work with as I go along.
Yes I have jazz drummers, guitarists etc. who use the software. Recently, I added the 4/4 + 7/8 type rhythms on request from jazz musicians.
Discussion at rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
I'm enjoying this discussion. Must be one of the friendliest forums I've taken part in  . Maybe playing Flamenco is something to do with it I wonder...
quote:
ORIGINAL: Munin
Please don't think all your efforts here go on unappreciated Robert. I have never seen a man so dedicated to a metronome, of all things
Seriously though, I don't understand half of the stuff being discussed here, but I'm sure jazz musicians can have a field day with your application.
_____________________________
Robert Walker
http://www.bouncemetronome.com
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Date Aug. 29 2010 12:12:28
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