Blogging to Paradise

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

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

Hi all,

I’ve been working on SonicMood v4.9.2 and making progress on adding a proper undo/redo capability so you can reverse editing changes. This is taking longer than I expected (as usual) since I have to be careful with the way I handle changes (since one control can affect others).

I also am making some cosmetic and functional changes to make the whole operation a little more intuitive (I hope!). And I’d like to improve the way timing is selected with a few more choices in the note and rest durations. Still thinking about how to handle that.

Finally, I am still planning on adding MP3, etc., recording capability. I’d like to do that soon, but don’t know if it will make it into this version or not… I’m afraid I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked with the undo/redo thing, so we’ll see…

On a side note, I just wanted to let you all know about what I consider a GREAT deal over at MacHeist. They have a “bundle” sale that just started today (March 25th) with what I consider mostly incredible apps for $39! I don’t know how they do it. 25% of their sales is supposed to go to charity, too.

I don’t know if you have to be a member or not (doesn’t cost anything) but if you’re interested, here’s the link to their web site:
http://www.macheist.com/

SonicMood isn’t part of the bundle and I don’t get anything out of this. But it just seems like such a good deal that I thought I should pass it along.

Cheers,
John

Not to be confused with the impending birth of our daughter’s baby!

SonicMood v4.9.1 has been posted on the web site. You can download it there or use SonicMood’s update feature to download it.

Most of the changes are cosmetic, intended to improve usability, especially with Mood editing. But there are some bug fixes, of course. A list of the changes are here.

Enjoy!

Version v.9.0 is out, and we’re having a sale!

To honor the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, we’re taking 44% off the price of SonicMood!

For this week only (Sunday thru Saturday), SonicMood is only $7.25 (it’s usually $12.95)!

Help us celebrate this historic event by taking advantage of SonicMood at 44% off.

I just wanted to let everyone know; please help spread the word!

John

We’ve just released the newest version of SonicMood, 4.8.9! It’s HOT so get it now!

We got back last Saturday and all was well. Well, there’s a LOT of ash on the ground, in the trees, etc. But other than cosmetic issues, nothing was harmed around here.

We’re back in business!

John