RE: software based phrase sampler

["jeff larson" <jeff.larson@sailpoint.com>]

> From: aaron leese
> Wow, I may have found the right place after all ...

Something of an understatement.  Welcome to your new home :-)

> I am looking for further development ideas .... I have a few 
> of my own, but I am trying to get this product finished by 
> september, so any features that you can suggest, I want to know about.

A few words of advice:

If you're expecting to make money from this, do some market research.
Look at what Ableton Live does.  Look at the other software loopers
that have been available for several years.  Search the archives
of this mailing list for software looping discussions.

Forget about the proprietary hardware interface and support off the
shelf MIDI foot controllers.  People willing to incorporate a laptop
into their rig tend to be technically savvy and have other MIDI
hardware or software. They already have a foot controller and dislike
consuming floor space with another one.  At the very least make
it optional.

Provide the option to run it as a VST plugin.  Again, musicians with
laptops are frequently also using them to host VST instruments and
effects, and expect the ability to wire the looper into their VST rig.

Support synchronization with external devices.  Many loopers like to
use them in conjunction with a drum machine or software sequencer
running drum patterns or background loops.  At the very least, 
provide the ability to generate a stable MIDI master clock for
a slaved drum machine.  If possible, support the ability to 
to be a slave to a MIDI clock generated by a drum machine.

Good luck with the project!

Regards,
Jeff


PS: Back to your hardware.  If you understand hardware and device
drivers well enough to build a small 12 button USB footswitch and make
it appear to the system as a MIDI device, then provide software to map
arbitrary MIDI messages to the down and up transitions of the switches,
and can manufacture it for under $200, that would be a very attractive
product for many laptop-based musicians.  You will make more money
off that than you ever will with looping software :-)