- Doggiebox - lists.zygoat.ca

No problem in ProTools Free
by MATTYJOE＠aol.com 21 Mar '03

21 Mar '03

Hey, Just to chime in on the AIFF compatibility issue, I've exported a 1:30 aiff from doggiebox and used it as a track in ProTools Free with no problem. Seeya, Matt

1 0

AIFF format
by lee gummerman 19 Mar '03

19 Mar '03

I'm having an odd problem with AIFF files exported from DoggieBox. Though they open and play fine in QT player, I can't seem to open them in Deck (via "Add sound to library"). I am able to access them in Deck if I first open and re-save the file in Amadeus II, even though I leave the format (44.1 Khz, 16 bit) the same. One difference I notice is that in Finder, the DB output's "Kind" is shown as "AIFC Audio", where Amadeus's is "Audio IFF Document". Do you know what the distinction is? -- Lee

2 1

crashes
by Greg Williamson 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

doggiebox (latest rebuild) crashes on my G4 powerbook immediately after launch. does anyone have any suggestions? -- Greg Williamson Brisbane, Australia http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gpw http://homepage.mac.com/jayavant/ "It's perfectly monstrous how people say things behind one's back that are absolutely true." - Oscar Wilde

2 1

just some ideas...
by Justin M. 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

I haven't been able to use the new build yet because of the package problem...which is odd, since I'm set up as the admin and haven't had the problem before...but here are just a few questions/comments from a guitarist using doggiebox with a home studio. 1) I think someone else might have mentioned individual volume controls for each drum, but I'd like to expand a little on that, since I'm not sure exactly what they had in mind. I'd like to see the controls set in the score itself, and what would be even handier is a crescendo feature of some sort so that I could do something like have a snare or kick beat grow louder to lead into a chorus. If that makes sense...I'm obviously not as up on some of the technical aspects, and I suspect a lot of people like me would like a feature like that rather than setting an individual volume on each drumbeat, which is the only other way I could think of to do it. 2) When I'm adding bars, the bars always come in at the beginning...it's not too much of a problem now that I plan for it, but I pretty much just sit down with a short sketch of the song on headphones and map out how I want to do the drums, and since I'm never sure of how many bars the song actually has, it becomes a bit of a problem when I realize I'm short. I also had some trouble copying and pasting measures...I can't remember if it took out the entire bar or how it worked when I tried (I pretty much just gave up, I have a short a attention span), but it would be great if there were separate features to copy and paste both the bar itself or just the contents of the bar into another bar...again, if that makes sense. 3) Have you thought about adding stereo functionality to individual drum lines? It might be there and I'm missing it...I haven't had a chance to play with the program as much as I'd like. But it would be nice to be able to pan a drum into the left or right channel instead of having everything centered. I've found some ways to deal with that in mixing, but I've recently regressed from using ProTools to using my trusty Tascam (I don't know why, I just prefer analog recording, even on a four-track) and so I don't have the luxury of nearly limitless tracks like I used to. 4) I might be the only one with the problem, but my computer does something weird when I try to export to .aiff...basically it tells me it's been exported, and it will then sit there until I force it to cancel. If I cancel too early, the .aiff doesn't play. I'm not sure what the time limit I have to let it sit there is...something more than five minutes and less than an hour. 5) Are there or will there be more possible sounds on the registered version? As I've said, I'm not a drummer, and I won't be importing any sounds myself...some things like brush work and stuff like that would be awesome. 6) I think maybe someone has mentioned this, but it would be nice if there was a separate selector on the left for things like the muted snares and so on rather than using the pull down menus. Just some thoughts, like I said...this is a great program and I'm amazed at how realistic a sound you can get from it. My main problem with using drum tracks and so on is they always sound like a drum machine, and I don't get that feeling nearly as much with doggiebox. Apologies in advance for anything I've mentioned that's already gone through the idea wringer. -Justin _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail

2 1

Audible "click" after importing new drums
by Michael Carlyle 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

I've been recording short snippets of sounds from my Boss Dr 550MKII. I've taken great pains to edit the files so that there is no extra space before the sound, to keep it in rhythm with the patterns. I've also edited out any extra space at the tail of the sound, making sure it fades neatly and cleanly. I am saving files as 16 bit mono aif files with no compression. When I build a new kit and import these sounds, most every one has a "click" at it's tail end. I've double checked all the files I imported by viewing and listening to them in an external editor. The original files are clean, with no "clicks" or "pops". I must therefore conclude that Doggiebox is somehow adding this "tail pop" as I import the sounds.

2 1

Re: [doggiebox] Re: Doggiebox feedback
by Ben Kennedy 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

On 10 2 2003 at 6:30 pm -0500, Steve McNally wrote: >2) Ability to keep initial beat when increasing resolution >i.e. I first have 4/4 with some 4 highhats, two kicks and two snares; when >i go to 64/64, those 8 notes should be in time where they ought to be and >I can add additional notes from there. (Virtual Drummer does this) I'm not sure I understand what you're illustrating here; can you describe the issue in a bit more detail Steve? >4) Not really a feature request, but: What is DoggieBox doing when it >samples an AIFF? Why is the resulting sound different from the input file? Huh... what do you mean, is it being mangled? What are the properties of your source file (in terms of bit depth, sample rate and channels)? The only difference you should find is the level; the input will be attenuated slightly in the mix. If things are indeed wacky, if you can send me an example that would be cool -- the source audio file, and then the drum kit file, would be useful to compare. -b -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

2 2

Inporting Different kits
by Pop-Cycle 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Hello All, I'm going to try to ask this question the best I know how. Please forgive My lack of knowledge this is all so new. I want to add new drum sounds to Doggie Box. Do these have to be certain kind of files. Such As Aiff, Wav, Mp3, Midi, I have a folder that has .ds extensions. Is there a way I can use these? Any Ideas. Pop-Cycle

3 2

Doggiebox 1.0.1 now available
by Ben Kennedy 04 Mar '03

04 Mar '03

Greetings all, Doggiebox version 1.0.1 is ready for download at http://www.doggiebox.com. New in this version: - Added command-H key equivalent to hide the application, by popular demand. :) - Fixed bug where tempo icons were sometimes being drawn upside-down in the pattern properties sheet. - Brought the user's guide up to date with the current feature set. - Implemented registration incentives for non-licensed users. (Also, the web site has received a face lift, wheee!) The licence cost will remain at $29 USD until version 1.1, by which time there should be even more fun and useful features. Work in the immediate and near future will now focus on: - undo functionality - better control over exporting, to alleviate clipping problems - drag-and-drop editing - dynamics controls - enhanced sequencing/structuring tools, as recently discussed here on the list Enjoy, -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

Export Audio broken?
by Mike Carlyle 03 Mar '03

03 Mar '03

Found the new 1.0.1 version on the website today. Kudos on the new look site. Looks like some very "under the good" stuff was changed, from reading the revision history, One thing I notice right away was that Export Audio no longer responds in any way at all. No dialog results from selecting it while a song is open (or closed, I would assume). Fortunately, I still have my rev "g" hanging around and must continue to use it.

2 1

AIFF file import- I stand corrected
by Michael Carlyle 25 Feb '03

25 Feb '03

In a message posted by me earlier in the day (while I was at work) I stated that I had successfully imported AIFF files exported from DB with no intermediate steps. I just tried it now and sure enough, it doesn't work. I also run Peak. I must have used it to translate or resave the file in my earlier experience. Foggy memory, I guess. Sorry for the confusion and I just want to set the record straight on that import issue.

1 0

Silences update
by Ben Kennedy 24 Feb '03

24 Feb '03

All, I wanted to apologize for silence as of late -- I have been tied up for the past week with other projects, and also redesigning a fresh web site for doggiebox.com. I will reply to your unanswered e-mails within the next couple of days, and you can look forward to an updated web site and 1.0.1 release before the end of the week. -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

Re: Doggiebox feedback
by Ben Kennedy 11 Feb '03

11 Feb '03

On 09 2 2003 at 8:30 am -0500, François Rayer wrote: >So as musician, I downloaded it and play a little with it. These are >the feedback and ideas I got about it, I hope this might help to make >this thing to become ZeGreatThing ;-) Hey François, Thanks a lot for the feedback, I appreciate it, and I'm glad you are having fun with Doggie :) All of your ideas are right on point; here are my thoughts: >You might propose to the user to set one instrument per line (on the >left side of the bars) and so adding/removing a beat is just a click on >the right place in the instruments/beats matrix. To keep the thing >readable it's better if it adds the symbol of the instrument (like you >do now). Yep, I tend to agree. Originally, my goal was to simplify the whole grid by causing various drums to share spots -- for example, cymbals and hi hats which wouldn't typically be hit at the same time. However, I realise this does create extra hassle for quickly adding/removing things. As it happens, doing what you've illustrated in the JPEG is very much what I've had in mind for the near future. I am thinking of having a switchable mode, so that you can either use the current behaviour (compact five-line grid) or switch so that every instrument shows up in its own space... and then have the drum kit list/palette follow the mouse around so that it always appears to the left of the current row, in line with the grid currently being edited. Also, functions related to this: providing option-click to erase the current drum, regardless of what it is; and control-click for more options (as you suggest). >2. The ability to name a set of bars is fine, I would like to be able >to sequence them as the song need it, without copying it. Yeah, I hear you on this; that's also on the idea list. Seems it would be cool if you could copy a section in the section list, and paste it in somewhere else, so that it functions like an alias to the first one. I am thinking that the bars would show up in the editor like usual, but with an indication that they are actually an alias for a pre-existing section elsewhere in the song -- any changes made to one would be made also to the original. Or, it could be locked so that changes could only be made to the original. >3. The granularity feature is fine but should be manageable by bar to >keep a more compact interface. In principle, I understand where you are coming from on this, and I think there is room for improvement. However, I'm wondering how to implement it in a way that would not cause widespread confusion. :) I think the first step is that I need to indicate, on a per-bar basis somehow, what the current granularity is -- i.e. what duration of note that a given beat division represents. >4. As a general remark, most of Mac users like the CTRL click (or right >click) because it's fast. Many functions might be implemented that way >and so being context sensitive (when you right click on a bar you get >bar menu, on an instrument a menu about the instrument...) Exact; I foresee the power here, and I just haven't had time to flesh it out yet. For example, I envision control-click to provide a velocity slider, so that you can alter the volume of a given drum/cymbal hit, etc. >That's it for today :-) I will play a little more with this demo and >perhaps come back to you with more feedback. Awesome; I love the suggestions, and look forward to your other ideas. By the way, I am copying this to the mailing list so people can get an idea what is is lying ahead; hope you don't mind! -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

6 6

Re: [doggiebox] Doggie box instrument icons, etc
by Ben Kennedy 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

On 10 2 2003 at 6:21 pm -0500, Michael Carlyle wrote: >The documentation seems to lack a technical description of those icon's >properties (file format, size, color depth, etc.). I could see myself making >icons and using them, if only I knew those properties. Yeah, the documentation completely lacks anything on the drum kit editor. It is my intention to flesh this out a bit before releasing 1.0.1. Hopefully within the next few days... hopefully. (I wish I could duplicate myself sometimes.) Anyway, as it stands, here's the lowdown on drum icons: they can be of any graphics format that Quicktime can natively parse (JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PDF, etc) and will be scaled down as necessary. The de facto ideal size is currently 18x18. >I'd like to propose that you explore a drag and drop window or sheet that >contains all of your default icons. I would have no problem using the >default versions if I could find out where they lived. You *should* be able to open up Ben's Premier Kit in the drum kit editor, and simply drag the icons out of those drums into your new drums. I say "should", because currently you can't, and that kind of sucks. It's purely a user-interface issue that I need to address. In the mean time I can send you a .sit of PDF's containing my icons if you like. :) -b -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

Doggie box instrument icons, etc
by Michael Carlyle 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

First, Thanks to Ben and all concerned for what is a fantastic start to a potentially life-changing product (for me anyway). I've been programming a Boss DR-550 MKII for over 12 years and I have been on the lookout for a graphical-based computer alternative for just about that entire time. I've only been using Doggiebox for a couple of days. I have one thought on the instrument icons. Unless I'm missing something, when I build a new kit (something I plan to do using some Boss sounds) the default icon is the little snare drum. There is a choose button that, I suppose, is meant to allow one to browse to a custom icon that the user (me, for example) could create. The documentation seems to lack a technical description of those icon's properties (file format, size, color depth, etc.). I could see myself making icons and using them, if only I knew those properties. I'd like to propose that you explore a drag and drop window or sheet that contains all of your default icons. I would have no problem using the default versions if I could find out where they lived. More later.

1 0

Keyboard shortcuts for hide/minimize?
by Ben Kennedy 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

People, I would like to solicit your opinions on something. A user has written me requesting a keyboard shortcut for the 'hide application' function that is available in the Application menu. According to Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, apps should publish this as cmd-H, and similarly, the 'minimize window' function as cmd-M. Here is what I wrote back to him just now: >The one issue is this: I personally have a grudge against apple's choice >of cmd-M and cmd-H for minimize and hide; they are such plain and useful >key combos that I feel app developers should be free to use them for main >app functions. So I am inclined to assign a more obscure key combo, like >ctrl-cmd-H, to that function instead of just cmd-H. What is your take >on that? Do you feel that the Hide function should stick with the apple >guidelines and be simply cmd-H, or would it be reasonable for me to >assign something more obscure? As it happens, a similar discussion happened only last week on the mailing list for my e-mail client of choice (PowerMail), and here is what I wrote at the time: >In my opinion, Apple has really screwed up with their recommendations for >cmd-M = minimize to dock and cmd-H = hide application. I agree, they >should have chosen more obscure shortcuts, laden with modifiers, to >accomplish these tasks. Not only do I personally rarely ever have a >desire to invoke the functions, but the "vanilla" keycodes are already a >scarce resouce for app developers (there are only 26 letters of the roman >alphabet after all, many of which are in use for ubiquitous functions >like open, save, close, etc). > >Personally, in applications I'm developing (http://www.doggiebox.com) I >am deliberately ignoring the HIG in this regard. I will assign the main >menu keys as I see fit, and I will only consider rearranging them to >support Apple's weird ideals if I start to receive user feedback on the >subject. I actually posted that in response to another user, who was commenting on the latest PowerMail's implementing the cmd-M for minimize (which till then was assigned to a more useful function, in fact, "send mail"). As he so eloquently put it, >"Minimize Window" is misleading! Please rename it to "Suck to Dock" >and change its shortcut to command+shift+option+control+Suck. I had to have a hearty laugh in agreement on that one. Thoughts? -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

3 2

Re: [doggiebox] 10.1
by Ben Kennedy 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

Thanks to those of you who replied re the 10.1 problems, It occurred to me what the problem might be -- the default install location is /Applications/Doggiebox, and since the Applications folder is owned by an admin group, the installer might have had problems writing there without authenticating as an admin. Anyway, I've also realised that there are other implications with using the PackageMaker-built installer format; for example the system keeps a record of the installed package and its version, and will warn you with subsequent installs if the version numbers conflict -- even if you've deleted the package and its related files from your system in the interim. So the upshot is, I'm just going to Stuffit everything (like with all previous builds) in the future. The Installer package was an interesting experiment. :) Meanwhile you can safely do this from a Terminal to get rid of the installer package detritus, if you desire: rm -Rf /Library/Receipts/Doggiebox-1A7.pkg -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

10.1
by Ben Kennedy 09 Feb '03

09 Feb '03

Hey all, Has anyone here successfully installed 1A7 on OS 10.1? A user has written me saying that the installer is choking midway through with an error, "can't set file attributes". I'm wondering if this is to do with 10.1, or whether it is a problem specific to his system. -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

2 2

Re: [doggiebox] Export adds silence?
by THECREAPINKID＠aol.com 04 Feb '03

04 Feb '03

the silence lets the drums decay how a real drum kit would sound.. it just lets the drum samples ring out/fade out... it sounds better that way rather than cutting it short on the next beat... has anyone got any doggiebox drumkits they could send me : ) ive not yet build one myself, but i have loads of real drum samples for it... so how about some swaps?????

3 3

Findsounds.com
by Ben Kennedy 04 Feb '03

04 Feb '03

Hey all, I realise that many people are hurting for drum sounds to start building custom drum kits. I figured there had to be something like images.google.com but for sounds, and indeed a google search for "sound" turned up this: http://www.findsounds.com. Check it out; I've only played with it for about 2 minutes, but for example, typing in "snare drum" turns up hundreds of matches from all over the web. Neat. -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

Export adds silence?
by lee gummerman 02 Feb '03

02 Feb '03

Thanks for the new version, a lot of nice improvements. I exported a small (two bar) pattern as AIFF and the resulting file has a couple extra seconds of silence after the pattern ends. Is this intentional? -- Lee

1 0

Doggiebox news, and 1A7 (1.0g) now online!
by Ben Kennedy 31 Jan '03

31 Jan '03

Greetings all, I am pleased to announce Doggiebox build 1A7, hopefully the last build in the "pre-release" series! You'll notice a bit of a revamped look in this one; here are what's new and changed: - At long last, there are document icons! Many thanks to Scott Bremner for graphic design. - The preferences dialog has been revamped, with several new options. - There is now support for multi-line bar layout, with a user- specified number of bars per line. - It is now possible to choose whether to create a new untitled song on startup. - It is now possible to disable the playback position indicator. - The behaviour of selection highlighting and the insertion point has been changed slightly, to more closely match the behaviour of a text editor: when one or more bars are selected, the insertion point disappears. - Added recognition for AIFF sound files ending in ".aif" (in addition to ".aiff"). - The drum kit editor will now post an alert when trying to import a sound of an unsuitable sample rate. - Drums are now assigned a default sound and icon in the absence of any being defined in the drum kit editor. - Fixed bug where drum sounds would not play back when auditioned in the drum kit editor. - Registration key system introduced, along with a revised About box and application icon. Download now from http://www.zygoat.ca/products/doggiebox/download.php Please note that this one is distributed as an Installer package, which you should be able to double-click to automatically install into your / Applications (or wherever) folder. If you run into any problems with it, please let me know. As usual, all problem reports and feature suggestions are welcome, particularly to this mailing list; if all goes well, we will announce the "1.0 final" next week. Late last fall we ran a short survey of Doggiebox users, and all respondents were eligible to be randomly chosen to win free Doggiebox licences. The response was great and we drew five names at random from the database; congratulations to: Rob Hunter (San Diego, CA, USA) Paul Norman (Cambridge, MA, USA) Robert Koble (Clifton, NJ, USA) Etienne Beaupré (Montreal, QC, Canada) Gavin Mahan (San Diego, CA, USA) Thank you to everyone who provided feedback! -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

Re: [doggiebox] No sounds, had to force quit...
by Ben Kennedy 23 Jan '03

23 Jan '03

On 08 1 2003 at 10:13 am -0500, Gavin and Danica wrote: >Hi Ben, >This is what shows up in the console log. >Not sure how to specify a target. 1A4 works fine. >I am sending you the song but I only created it this morning. It really >doesn't matter what beats I put in or what kit I use. This one was using >your Premier kit. I will also send you Phil's 707 kit. Hey Gavin, Remember this thread? To be honest, I can't remember what the exact problem was that we were trying to solve, but the song you sent plays back fine in 1A7 (about to be posted probably tomorrow or the next day), so I'd say wait till then and see if your problems are solved. :) FWIW, it seems that the Roland kit has blank icons for some of the drums. By blank, I don't mean absent, but I mean transparent. There's new code in 1A7 to add default icons to drums that don't have any set, but when I open up the Roland kit, a good portion of the drums still show nothing, which means DB thinks there are icons there for em. It's possible that DB is being buggy, and I can investigate the kit in further detail, but can the creator of the Roland kit confirm or deny this? :) -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca

1 0

input file format
by MATTYJOE＠aol.com 23 Jan '03

23 Jan '03

Also, What's the specific preferred file format for sounds to be added? Sample rate, mono/stereo, file type, etc. ? I'm able to select the .wav files on my machine, but not the .aif files. Thanks, Matt

3 2

Re: [doggiebox] No sounds, had to force quit...
by MATTYJOE＠aol.com 07 Jan '03

07 Jan '03

I've been trying to create/modify kits and having the same problems. I just want to take your Ben's Premier Kit and add some rimshots and such in place of the cymbal rides. Problems aside, I really LOVE Doggiebox. Thanks, Matt

1 0

No sounds, had to force quit...
by Gavin and Danica 07 Jan '03

07 Jan '03

Hi Ben, Gavin here again. I am using the 1A6 build with my Jaguar. Had a couple of bars of 4/4 and just through in some drums. No sound was heard when putting them in. I tried playing (looping playback) them back and again got nothing. It appeared like it was playing. The Stop button appeared and got weird highlights on the actual bars, moving in time.. I had to Force quit, after the spinning circle showed up, the Stop button did not stop the program. I restarted the imac. I have tried it again again no sound when putting in the drums, no sound is playing back, either. The play button appeared gray then after a couple of seconds it played, no sound though. I pressed the Stop button, the spinning circle showed up, but it stopped. I tried the 1A4 build again and everything seems normal.. I have been using a couple of Phil's kits, also. Having troubles with the icons... Happy holidays, (I had to work to 4 am on Xmas eve and 1 am on New year's) Later, Gavin.

2 1