a refreshed UI

[unguitar]

Hi dear Jeff and all,

it was a long time I wasn't using Mobius intensively as I used to and this has allowed me to view it from a different angle that made me think to things I'd like to share with you.

We all know what a great potential is in this application and how many powerful possibilities it has given at our diposal, so no intention to to criticize the amazing Jeff's job.
We also know that Mobius has always been a work in progress, Jeff has always been available to add new features and fix the limits of its great architecture.

I have the feeling that if we manage to move its interface out from the "Edp" concept and work on it with a fresh mind it would bring more of its power to a more frendly, less intimidating use.

Ok, I am not saying anything revolutionary or particularly interesting for you who have gained a full control over its UI.
I was just feeling a little depressed by knowing how many possibilities are under its skin and how hard is to navigate into its many menues/submenues through an intricate concept to dive in.

Please, don't take it as a criticism, consider the reason of my post is because I love this software, I'd love to make a deeper use of it and see more people use it.
Mobius will always represent the reason that allowed me do the jump from the double Edp setup to the laptop, opening another world in front of me.

Luca

[buzap]

Hi Luca

I can understand your sentiments. If I'd be someone marginally interested in looping, I could be intimitated by Mobius' steep learning curve without discovering its possibilities.

My suggestion would be to provide templates for a few things: i.e. a "song looper", "guitar looper", "remix looper". These things would work more or less out-of-the-box and give a broader audience a chance to find what they want right from the beginning.

I'm actually considering building a nice starter-package for multi-purpose looping - if I have time... ;-)

best regards
Buzap

[Per Boysen]

"Templates" is a good ide!

But generally I think this whole discussion is somewhat moot because a graphical visual interface really shouldn't have anything to do with the capabilities to use a music instrument or real-time sound desing device! That is just a misconception brought over from the office software world, where it actually matters what a letter or presentation looks like. When working with sound as pitch, timbre and all kinds of digital processing, the user has to know these components in the first place to imagine his own music. Any other attitude would turn Mobius into a simple band-in-the-box software...

The bottom line is that I think we should keep reminding new users that looping is about sound and not graphics. If a user has a problem remembering what real-time processing he has applied it might be good idea to look into creating less complex music as a starter, and build solid skills from there. With such an attitude live looping becomes a rewarding way of learning to become a better musician and composer.

Mobius is more like a store-house full of cables and pedals. You walk in there and pick two or three that you cable up up to make your vision happen. But in a very different way than office software or DAW software (like Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase) where the screen sort of shows a representation of the end product or an audio signal path. In a live looping software the screen rather shows the number of loops you got spinning, their direction and mode.