Chordware Progression Assistant

[Musical Gym]

Right, I think a show and tell would be good for anyone new to it.
I searched youtube but didn't find any match for chordware progression assistant except for three non-related suggestions.

[trewq]

Try 'chordwarepa' for the search.

Again these 2 videos were made years ago with a slow computer

With just a screen capture program.

Anyone can see how bad these videos are by today's standards ...............................................

I've been trying to delete them since videos are used by some to judge a product worthwhile.


Thanks to all who downloaded the program.

Steve

[Musical Gym]

thanks Steve

[trewq]

thanks Steve

You're welcome and thank you for your time and advice about helping people begin with this. That kind of feedback is needed.


BTW there is a midi in option to trigger acc contents - 'MI Acc' - which overloads the router port. So avoid that for now. A fixed update will be ready in a day or two. All other triggering looks OK.

[lingyai]

Screencast-o-matic is a pretty good desktop video recorder. The version you'd want (which can record PC audio) is $15 / yr. It has editing features, though the free Windows Movie Maker should work just as well for that.

Here is my suggested outline for a video.

-- Pre-prepare a short example which is easy to follow, and which sounds pretty decent (or if possible, amazing).

-- Start the video just by playing the end result, noting that this what it Chordware PA can do for you.

-- Then, walk us through how you got there, starting from scratch. Explain the steps as you take them.

Edit out the umms, ers and other debris.

Voila!

Keep this one short and simple -- make it an intro and very basic up-and-running tutorial. Five minutes or less? Don't try to use every feature if it makes the video too complex. If need be, note that other features will be treated in another video. Having a video which loses people is worse than none.

That done, think about more advanced / elaborate tutorials (i.e. separate videos) if needed.

As general guidelines, consider perhaps

-- watching someone else's intro / basic tutorial which you think is concise and effective; then steal their approach!

-- pretend an old friend has come to visit you after many years. You're catching up in the kitchen. He asks, "So what have you been up to?" You tell him about the app. "Really? Show me." Show him. Have a bit of fun showing him how cool it is. He won't bite. Neither will we!

[Musical Gym]

I'd like to know why so many windows? Is that due to constraints of the programming language used? Seeing and keeping track of all those pop-ups doesn't feel very intuitive.

[trewq]

I'd like to know why so many windows? Is that due to constraints of the programming language used? Seeing and keeping track of all those pop-ups doesn't feel very intuitive.

I honesty don't know what you're talking about. What are these popups you are trying to keep track of? Do you mean popup menus?

Is it that you are trying to understand and use everything at once?

Certain tools are suited for the keyboard, while others for the piano roll, or the player. Many tools, like transformation controls, you may eventually not find practical use for. But if you're like me, you'll use them anyway just to experiment. And experiment is what musicians do a lot of. So I think that eventually you'll feel better about it.


More to say but have to cut it short for now.

[trewq]

Screencast-o-matic is a pretty good desktop video recorder. The version you'd want (which can record PC audio) is $15 / yr. It has editing features, though the free Windows Movie Maker should work just as well for that.

Here is my suggested outline for a video.

-- Pre-prepare a short example which is easy to follow, and which sounds pretty decent (or if possible, amazing).

-- Start the video just by playing the end result, noting that this what it Chordware PA can do for you.

-- Then, walk us through how you got there, starting from scratch. Explain the steps as you take them.

Edit out the umms, ers and other debris.

Voila!

Keep this one short and simple -- make it an intro and very basic up-and-running tutorial. Five minutes or less? Don't try to use every feature if it makes the video too complex. If need be, note that other features will be treated in another video. Having a video which loses people is worse than none.

That done, think about more advanced / elaborate tutorials (i.e. separate videos) if needed.

As general guidelines, consider perhaps

-- watching someone else's intro / basic tutorial which you think is concise and effective; then steal their approach!

-- pretend an old friend has come to visit you after many years. You're catching up in the kitchen. He asks, "So what have you been up to?" You tell him about the app. "Really? Show me." Show him. Have a bit of fun showing him how cool it is. He won't bite. Neither will we!

Thanks. Good info.

I just don't know how I'm going to make time yet to accomplish it.

[Musical Gym]

Pop-ups is probably wrong term. Many/most applications tend to have a dedicated "window" or application space wherein multiple screens can be accessed within a single "space". Yours feels like a bunch of individual windows/entities that get opened or closed without a central application space or main anchor/staging area. For instance, in Kontakt I may have an arpeggiator tab which I can click on to work with the arp; while the arp has the focus I can concentrate on just that function. If I want to work with Effects, I might click an effects tab in order to add an effect or tweak it; all this "switching" is done within a main container; if I'm tweaking effects, my arp controls do not remain visible until or unless I actually click the arp tab again. That's what I meant by a sea of windows in CPA. You open one and it's open until you close it. There's no sense of a simple and logical, single container from which sub-containers can be accessed only when necessary. Once I grasp the reasons behind the multiple workspaces in CPA, I may find that it makes sense to have it the way it is.

[lingyai]

Screencast-o-matic is a pretty good desktop video recorder. The version you'd want (which can record PC audio) is $15 / yr. It has editing features, though the free Windows Movie Maker should work just as well for that.

Here is my suggested outline for a video.

-- Pre-prepare a short example which is easy to follow, and which sounds pretty decent (or if possible, amazing).

-- Start the video just by playing the end result, noting that this what it Chordware PA can do for you.

-- Then, walk us through how you got there, starting from scratch. Explain the steps as you take them.

Edit out the umms, ers and other debris.

Voila!

Keep this one short and simple -- make it an intro and very basic up-and-running tutorial. Five minutes or less? Don't try to use every feature if it makes the video too complex. If need be, note that other features will be treated in another video. Having a video which loses people is worse than none.

That done, think about more advanced / elaborate tutorials (i.e. separate videos) if needed.

As general guidelines, consider perhaps

-- watching someone else's intro / basic tutorial which you think is concise and effective; then steal their approach!

-- pretend an old friend has come to visit you after many years. You're catching up in the kitchen. He asks, "So what have you been up to?" You tell him about the app. "Really? Show me." Show him. Have a bit of fun showing him how cool it is. He won't bite. Neither will we!

Thanks. Good info.

I just don't know how I'm going to make time yet to accomplish it.

Perspective, dude You've been working on this programme for years. I'd reckon that, including time spent getting to grips with the recording software, you're looking at maybe 10 hours tops to plan and make a serviceable video. It's like you've spent years courting a girl, and when she agrees to marry you, you suddenly don't have time to shower, shave and get a clean suit for the ceremony!

[trewq]

Pop-ups is probably wrong term. Many/most applications tend to have a dedicated "window" or application space wherein multiple screens can be accessed within a single "space". Yours feels like a bunch of individual windows/entities that get opened or closed without a central application space or main anchor/staging area. For instance, in Kontakt I may have an arpeggiator tab which I can click on to work with the arp; while the arp has the focus I can concentrate on just that function. If I want to work with Effects, I might click an effects tab in order to add an effect or tweak it; all this "switching" is done within a main container; if I'm tweaking effects, my arp controls do not remain visible until or unless I actually click the arp tab again. That's what I meant by a sea of windows in CPA. You open one and it's open until you close it. There's no sense of a simple and logical, single container from which sub-containers can be accessed only when necessary. Once I grasp the reasons behind the multiple workspaces in CPA, I may find that it makes sense to have it the way it is.

I see. Thanks!

Yes some win management is called for, cosmetic changes maybe too.

Being just midi based, the Player is the main staging area for the other windows. Unless just using chords and arps to get initial content, its the player that needs other windows to support its features being used, or to provide content for other windows controls to manipulate.

But I can see how it can look sort of awkward to a newbe when the only listing is the view menu. And when a window remains after you're done with it. But to have the chord win disappear when you done with the replace feature might be a jolt for the user for example. So I'll need to think about all this.

Thanks again
Steve

[Musical Gym]

Thanks for taking the "criticism" constructively. I must spend some more time with it.

Edit: Spent some time with it tonight and got further than I had gotten before, which isn't too far.
I had a crash: series of Access Violation windows, one on top of another in rapid succession; finally ended task in task manager; not sure what I was doing, so can't report on what buttons in what order preceded crash; maybe I'll remember when I get back to it again.

[trewq]

Spent some time with it tonight and got further than I had gotten before, which isn't too far.
I had a crash: series of Access Violation windows, one on top of another in rapid succession; finally ended task in task manager; not sure what I was doing, so can't report on what buttons in what order preceded crash; maybe I'll remember when I get back to it again.

Its been awhile but I wanted follow up and not leave this looking unresolved.
I have not been able to reproduce this crash without any info or clues to track it down. Since then however, I removed a lot of code no longer used, and cleaned up compiler warnings which improved its performance. And now I no longer get that same error message which had occasionally occured on shut-down.

You can check out other recent updates on the What's New Page:
http://www.chordwarepa.com/chordwarepa_002.htm

Thanks mg, and to all who have given me user feedback in the past. It has often led to improvements.

I'm usually expanding on features that interest me, so I could always use that kind of feedback to help new users. I'm still learning how best to use it myself. There are no procedures set in stone - which would make a tutorial video a lot easier. Often there's a good tradeoff to weak points though, and no straight path to creating music anyway. One edit feature I use a lot though applies subtle bits of harmony or timing from one part (play button) to another with just a touch of the pointer on the keyboard's display... There is loads of user interaction with this midi composer.

Anyway, check the new Help doc - explains basic tools and work flow on the first few pages.


Cheers as always to KVR,
Steve

[Musical Gym]

thanks Steve

I'll download the new one and take a look; I think if I spend enough time with it, it will make more sense.

[trewq]

thanks Steve

I'll download the new one and take a look; I think if I spend enough time with it, it will make more sense.

You can just play with the controls on the sample file. This is how to understand what it does. Just have fun.

Edit: I didn't mean to oversimplify and skirt any issues though. I really interested in your experience and any problems you might encounter.