Blogging to Paradise

OK, we’ve got those bugs fixed and this is the version to get!

Thanks,
John

I just discovered a bug that will prevent you from saving Mood files. Ouch!!!

I’m working on v4.9.8 and the fix (it’s an easy one) will be in it. But for now if you try to create a new Mood file or save Moods to another file (changes to Moods will still be saved OK to the Mood file you started with) it won’t work.

I’ll get this next version out ASAP!

Sorry for the troubles…

John

I’ve finally finished all the work I wanted to do for this version. So go and get it!
http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodDownloads.htm

Cheers,
John

I’m putting the finishing touches on this latest version of SonicMood. Unless some new bug shows up, I will probably post the update by early next week.

Here’s a short list of improvements and bug fixes:

Each instrument can use its own note pattern.
Added a new Mood, called “Bells Knells.”
Improved the way pictures are added to the picture window.
Improved the “crash reporter” to make it easier to report bugs.
Improved some of the cosmetics.
Fixed some bugs related to deleting and undo.
Fixed some registration issues.

There are many more fixes and improvements, too numerous to list here. You’ll be able to “read all about it” on the history page of our web site once the new version is posted.

Cheers,
John

Our dog, Sam, passed away New Year’s Eve in the early morning. He is survived by his companion, Annie.

Sam was a puppy when we got him, appearing out of nowhere in our back yard one day. We still don’t know how he got there or where he came from, but there he was, looking thru the back sliding glass door with a silly grin on his face. He was a mutt-ly mix of something like golden retriever, boxer, and who knows what else!? He had a puppy’s body with huge feet - we knew he’d be a large dog…

He was a quiet dog, unless instigated by Annie. He LOVED food and could never get enough. I called Annie “hyper dog” and Sam “stomach dog.” They used to go out into the yard and chase whatever was there (squirrels mostly). They’d patrol the fence hoping for another dog to bark at. They were great companions…

Sam and Annie were “indoor” dogs (Annie still is, of course). We’d let them out during the day but they slept inside with us. I remember Sam lying on the carpet with a “chew bar” (fake “dog bone” treat) near his nose at night. I remember Annie not eating her dinner so as to tease Sam who would finish his in about 10 seconds and then spend the rest of the evening looking at Annie’s food and hanging around the area, just far enough that Annie wouldn’t snap at him (Annie takes gruff from no one!)

Towards the end Sam got a little slow and had some trouble getting around - but he never lost that silly grin… We miss you Sam!

Finally! We managed to decide we’re done and finish the beta testing… <grin>

So v4.9.6 is posted on our web site now. Get it here:
http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodDownloads.htm

If you want to know what’s changed, just look here:
http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodHistory.htm

If you’re interested in additional Moods and seeing what others have done, check this page out:
http://www.sonicmood.com/MoodSharing.htm

If you’d like some beautiful scenery to add to SonicMood’s “Picture Window,” this is the place:
http://www.sonicmood.com/Scenes.htm

Read what others have said about SonicMood here:
http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodReviews.htm

and enjoy!

John

Well, we’ve been hard at work readying the next version of SonicMood, and it’s nearly done! Beta testing is at the point where only small bugs are surfacing, and I feel like the “last bug” <grin> has been squished!

So with any luck we’ll be going live in the next day or two. As usual this has taken much longer than anticipated, but I believe the improvements and new features will be worth it! Here’s a few of the new/changed items:

Added three new Moods (”Rainy Day,” “Aurora,” “Inside”), and added a “Check for New Moods” Mood menu item. The new Moods should be added automatically so the check is there “just in case.”

Updated and changed the Help system to use a browser to display the Help files, instead of using the Apple Help system.

If the “Green + zooms SonicMood full-screen” is checked in Preferences, then clicking the green “+” causes the SonicMood window to zoom to full-screen while “Option clicking” causes the window to shrink to its small size.

Added a “drop picture folder” capability to the “Picture Window” (formerly the “Scene Window”). The new capability allows for nested folders so you can drop a folder containing picture files and folders containing more picture files. Picture files/folders/images can be dropped anywhere on the window. Added this “drop picture folder” ability to the list window, too. Generally cleaned up the code to make it more efficient and improve error trapping.

Fixed some bugs on the “Individual Note Properties” page of the Edit window:
Fixed a bug that caused the BPM/seconds conversions to be inaccurate.
Fixed a bug that caused the note time multiplier to be wrong and to display the wrong values next to the selection buttons.
Fixed a bug that caused some sliders to indicate zero instead of the correct settings.

And this is a very short list compared to the full list of changes!

Should be soon…

We’ve done preliminary testing on the new alpha (soon to be beta!) of SonicMood v4.9.6 (and also the currently shipping version, v4.9.5) and so far we’ve found nothing that doesn’t work just fine under Snow Leopard.

The one area that’s a bit of a problem is digital audio recording. Since SonicMood relies on Soundflower to record, and the current version (1.4.3) of Soundflower doesn’t work with Snow Leopard, SonicMood can’t record digital audio. Note that this doesn’t affect MIDI recording at all, just recording to AIFF, etc., files.

I have found a temporary work-around by using a customized version of Soundflower that I discovered here: http://si02.info/index.php/audio/tutorials

Digital audio recording works fine under Snow Leopard using this customized version of Soundflower.

Anyway, other than the recording hiccup discussed above, SonicMood seems to get along fine with Snow Leopard. We’ll be doing more testing, of course, but I think it’s safe to say SonicMood has no major problems running under Snow Leopard.

And the beta should be starting SOON!!!

Cheers,
John

Boy, I am slow! We released SonicMood yesterday morning - it’s finally out!

This version 4.9.5 adds a number of new features despite its “bug fix” number change. Here’s a few highlights (complete list is here: http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodHistory.htm)

• Can record digital audio with the help of soundflower, a free utility.
• Changed the MIDI file format so each instrument now has its own track.
• Added an “undo/redo” capability to all controls.
• Added “.caf” (Core Audio File) to the list of audio files SonicMood can play as “soundfiles.” If you have iLife installed, you may find some interesting sounds here: “/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple/iLife Sound Effects.”
• Many more updates and bug fixes!

Get it here: http://www.sonicmood.com/SonicMoodDownloads.htm

Thanks!
John

Are we there yet? Are we there yet???

Well, it’s been a long time coming, but SonicMood v4.9.5 should be out in a few days. I’ve basically finished the updates to the Help and beta tested the heck out of it! So barring a catastrophic bug showing up now, it’ll be out before the week is…

I’ve made a few changes (improvements?) to the web site, too. A selection of SonicMood’s repertoire will start playing when you visit some pages. The selections were recorded (of course) with the new recorder I’ve added to SonicMood. It makes recording SonicMood so much easier! I’ve changed the web site’s look a little to be more in keeping with SonicMood’s spirit - I hope you like it!

Boy, it’s been almost two months since my last post. I’m really not much of a blogger I guess… But I have been working hard on the changes/improvements to SonicMood, so it’s all good!

Cheers,
John