The Joomla! Forum ™

Hi!  I have "claimed":


I love FOSS, and am excited to help out the Joomla! community.  For my task, I will write and perform (with the help of fluidsynth) a composition about Joomla!  My only question is what this song will be used for.  That way I will be able to write it accordingly.

Thank you for this opportunity!

Joomla! Task

[me=AmyStephen]Changed subject slightly for sorting all threads to match against Google resource  [/me]

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

I am so excited to see you have claimed this task! This is a very open ended task. The music could be used for a variety of purposes. Slide shows. Background music for the introduction for a tutorial. Music played at a conference. The use of this composition could be as creative as the piece itself.

Give some thought to the meaning of Joomla! and how it is used all around the world.

We are looking for the right mentor for you and soon they will post and let you know they are available to help you in your work.

Thanks very much for working on this task and I wish you well. Do not hesitate to ask for direction or community input. And, have fun!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Trombonechamp,

I am so excited you have taken up this task.  Being a musician myself, music is the way I most effectively communicate with the world, and I think some excellent music, the international language that knows no barriers, is just the thing Joomla! needs. (way bias opinion I might add)

I am available to help you in any way you need.  Please feel free to contact me at marpomultimedia@gmail.com with any questions you may have.  I will do my best to answer and help you on your way.

Jenny

PS - thanks for the hint on FluidSynth.  I had not heard of it, but now have downloaded and I am excitedly looking forward to experimenting.

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

Thank you, Jenny. This is an awesome task and I appreciate your willingness to mentor this.

Can't wait!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Thank you all so very much for giving me this chance to do this!  I have been looking for FOSS projects I can compose for for quite some time, so I am really excited about finding the opportunity

About the song:
So far, my plan is to score it for cut-down orchestra: One violin, a viola, a cello, a contrabass, a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, a French horn, a trumpet, a trombone, a tuba, possibly a piano, and some percussion.

From the research/brainstorming I have done so far, I found a bunch of ideas.

• Start with a mambo, before I break into the rest of the song
• Quote the free software song as a harmony throughout
• Hide dates (first release date?) and names (project admins or opensourcematters board members?) into the song throughout  (Bach/Mozart style)
• Possibly trace the history of Joomla through music
• Use Hydrogen to make some complex afro-cuban rhythms
• Add some non-western sections, especially music of african decent to show the Swahili name.

The only thing I feel guilty about is that I am writing it on Finale in a Virtual Machine instead of on Rosegarden or Noteedit.  My major complaint about Finale is the fact that it doesn't play back dynamics, so right now I am considering scoring it in Finale and then going over to Rosegarden to do some MIDI editing and typesetting.

I would like to have a rough draft done soon to post for some review.

Thanks a lot!
Max

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

It sounds like you have some really interesting ideas going on Max!  I can't wait to hear what you have come up with.

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

GHOP Contestants Please Read: Task Process Start to Finish for important updates on the contest.

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

I am done with the outline of the song.  The outline just contains the basic structure of the song.  I still have to make it more interesting and fill up the song.  I can post the score as well if you would like me to.  I would love some feedback on any improvements I can make.

Some notes:
-This song traces the history of Joomla!  It starts with mambo (wonder how I represented that ).  After that, there is the fork section, where Joomla! forked from Mambo.  On the release date, it is a completely Free/Open Source (free software song) CMS.  During this repetition of the free software song, it slowly starts to break into African drumming.  Joomla! already had the community before it was released (rest of the instruments playing Free Software Song) but it started to spread to more people all around the world (drumming).  After that, it breaks into a complete rejoice section with the drumming, and an unclear ending (Joomla! is still actively developed) (Should I change the ending to a fade to better represent this?)
-The percussion instruments used to transition from the Free Software Song section to the rejoice section aren't the instruments I am using.  The real instruments are still trapped in Hydrogen, and can't be saved into a MIDI file.
-I had to add a few extra measures and an extra note on the end, or else the real last note was cut off.
-My computer is too slow to play this in Fluidsynth, so if you have a slow computer you may want to try Timidity instead.

Also, does anybody know of a program that will let you adjust the volume (or maybe even pan) of specific MIDI instruments as the MIDI file plays through?  It seems Rosegarden doesn't have this capability.

The song is at http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/joomla.MID
(Sorry, my server is so slow!!!!)


Thank you!

EDIT: Here is the new download link. http://joomlaplace.org/ghop/joomla.mid
I realized I forgot a few explanation points, too.  The rejoyce section is in unison because of the meaning of Joomla!  In addition, the beginning is a solo section with a solo I have yet to write...

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

That was a great start! Nice to hear the movement and the many different styles of music introduced. Percussion was especially interesting.

Good Job!

Hmm... I'm not sure. Power Tab (a Windows program) can do it with guitar tabs (it plays them as midi and can import midi). I don't know of any midi programs for it though... The time consuming, last-resort workaround would be to create new tracks for different volumes, but that may not be worth it...


And I have a question that may or may not have an obvious answer:
Will the final version be a midi?

The final version will not be a midi.  I am using the midi for all purposes until I finish with the actual score.  When I am done with the score, I am going to edit the midi file before rendering it to a wav with timidity or fluidsynth.  Next, I will use audacity to fill in some gaps, especially the percussion part (which I will remove first, just there for reference now) and the solo at the beginning.  As you can see, it isn't an obvious answer! 

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Your progress and plans are very enjoyable to observe. This is a fun one!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Great work on this!

I looked to see if there was something I could find to help you software wise on the pan and volume in midi, but I am at a loss.  You may have to handle that in the mix down later.  I like the ideas you have for mixing it all together and then doing the final mixdown.  Audacity is a great audio editing program. I know other musicians that think (kind of like doing a pencil sketch) in midi until they have a complete vision, then they get on with other ways of creating using actual instruments and players.  Seems like you are taking somewhat of similar track.

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

Thank you everyone for your responses so far.

I think I may have found a program that will work.  It seems that the 0.9 series of Muse has this functionality.  I would have to compile it from the source since the repo is down, and since I only have 0.8.1.

Does anyone actually like the ending I used, or should I just use a fade instead?

P.S.-Like the new avatar, MMMedia

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Okay, here is alpha 2.  I uploaded it to http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/ ... alpha2.MID for the MIDI of http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/ ... alpha2.pdf for the score.  I improved a bunch of things, especially filling up the song with more instruments and revising the ending.  It should be a fade, but I will add this effect later.  The percussion is still bad, and will continue to be until I am done writing the song and start editing it together.

I would love all of the feedback I can get, big or small!

Thank you!

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

I am so loving your composition.  The changes are great, very nice movement between parts.  It has a really good flow to it, nice dynamics.  I wish I could hear it played by a live band.

One hint on the ending.. You can either make it go big.. crescendo, with a finality to it, percussive ending that is strong, or make it go small, like a fade like you have suggested, perhaps with a small high instrument in solo right at the end with a hanging note (signifying things to come).  (just a though, I love it regardless)

Excellent work Matt Max.  Truly great.

Edit:  Sorry for calling you Matt - Max.  I had an acquaintance  Matthew on the brain, it seems my fingers just typed what I was thinking.

PS.  Thanks for liking the avatar.  I took the picture myself.  (fabric lighted penguin in our yard, a gift from my husband for the season. hehe)

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

Wow! Impressed with the score, as well!

I agree with Jenny on the ending. Mainly, we really don't want Joomla! to end abruptly,  so, be gentle with us when you end the song.  It should suggest continuousness, rippling positive impact through the world.

Well, you know what I mean..hehe!

This is fun - thanks for your contributions!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Thanks for the feedback!

I am also getting help from my music composition mentor (done through a school mentorship program) so hopefully I will have more feedback from there as well.  I will wait for this feedback before releasing alpha3.

Now, for the hard part.  I have to name it.  Just naming it "Joomla!" is kind of boring.  Unless there is a specific name I have to name it, I would like to do this the open source way and open this up for people to suggest names.
If anyone has a name idea, please post it here!!!
It can even be as simple as "The Joomla! Song".  All of the names suggested will go into a poll, and the one with the most votes will become the new name.

Thanks everyone!

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Guess no one is feeling creative. 

Anyway, alpha 3 is out!

MIDI Song: http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/ ... alpha3.MID
PDF Score: http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/ ... alpha3.pdf

This is the last one before the MIDI mixdown, so any feedback is appreciated!

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Still LOVING THIS!  I had it playing many times yesterday as I was reviewing other work. It makes me very happy to know that Joomla! is deserving of such an amazing creation.

Suggest - All together, As a Whole for the song title. 

Come on people - don't be shy - throw some ideas out here!

Max - again - you have been a real community leader with your support and feedback for others. You absolutely rock. 

Keep doing what you do!
Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

I too really think your composition is awesome Max!  A suggestion for the title - All Together

Keep up the good work!

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

Thanks a lot!  I am mixing it down to a wav as I write this.  I just can't seem to find a good orchestral soundfont and/or set of patches.  eaw-pats sounds awful!  Does it matter if the soundfont is open source or not?  I may just use the SmartMusic one that comes with Finale.



Great names.  One or two more, and I'll post the poll.


I'm glad I have been helpful to the Joomla! community!

Thank you again!
Max

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Does anyone know about any realistic-sounding soundfond?  I spent all of Sunday and this morning looking for and downloading soundfonts, but all of them sound like garbage.  You can't even tell what instrument it is supposed to be!  Most of the links I found were dead.

Thanks!

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

This is a relatively good site http://www.homemusician.net  they also have a soundfont search crawler here http://www.homemusician.net/search .  I will do a bit more scouring of the net to see if I can come up with any more ideas.

_________________
Co-author of the Official Joomla! Book http://officialjoomlabook.com
Marpo Multimedia http://marpomultimedia.com

I did it!  Beta one (without the percussion yet) is out.  I used Synthfont. It is almost the program of my dreams.  It is only for Windows, though, and it isn't open-source.  Other than that, it is amazing!  If anyone here hasn't tried it, I highly recommend it. 

The soundfonts I managed to find:
Fluid
Unison
Squidfont


Please, I would love every last bit of feedback you have, especially about the sounds of the instruments.  I can't exactly have much of an opinion on the instruments because I have heard this song over and over and over and over again.

Thanks for that website.  It has several specialized fonts on it (instead of just GM ones) I will have to use to try to replace some of these instruments.

http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/joomla_beta1.ogg


Thanks!

P.S.-Sorry about the slow server!

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Gosh, I love this song! It's been so much fun listening to it evolve - having it run in the background as I read tri-folds and User's Guides and look at plugins and send PMs to translators. It's like my GHOP theme song.

Is it possible (I might be wrong - it's just my opinion - feel free to ignore) that it is missing it's final note? After that build up and repeated energy - does it need a single - prolonged - final note for emphasis? Is it missing the exclamation point that goes behind Joomla!?

I am not a musician - feel free to ignore.

Thanks for this song, Max - it is so very cool - and thanks for being involved with us - you are a great community member. I rely on you!

Amy

_________________
http://Twitter.com/AmyStephen
http://www.alltogetherasawhole.org/

Oh, sorry, forgot to mention this!  There will be a big long fade here.  I just haven't edited it yet. 


No, thank you!  I have wanted to contribute to an open-source project for a while, and you and the rest of the Joomla! team, and of course Google, made it happen.

Thank you!
Max

P.S.-Do the instruments seem balanced, and do they sound like you would expect them to?  Do I need to find new soundfonts for some of the instruments?

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

I have "recorded" it and mixed it down into Release Candidate 1.  Everything but the solo is there now. 
I would appreciate any feedback you have.
There is a score, aup, midi, Finale '03 file and hydrogen file available if you want them.

Thank you!!!!

Low Quality: http://BernsteinForPresident.com/music/joomlar_rc1.ogg
High Quality: http://BernsteinForPresident.com/music/ ... rc1_hq.ogg

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com

Wow. Awesome job man! It's really nice until the end... idk if anyone else agrees with me, but the end seems to sound like a siren of sorts. not the best ending in my opinion. The rest of the song is awesome though!!! Keep it up!

Thanks.  I never really listened for that.  I changed it to sound less muddy and stale by adding a counter-melody line. 
It makes it seem a lot more full, while still representing the "All Together, as a Whole" meaning.

I encourage everyone to vote for their favorite name, or suggest a new one.


Thank you!!!

Release Candidate 2
Low Quality: http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/joomlar_rc1.ogg
High Quality: http://bernsteinforpresident.com/music/ ... rc1_hq.ogg

_________________
Leonard Bernstein for President -
Web Development Services: www.BernsteinForPresident.com
My Software Freedom Blog: Trombonechamp.Wordpress.com