Releases: chromatone/chromatone.center
🍰 New experiments, improved UI and new default synth
Yes, the day has come and we started switching to the new main synth for the whole web-site. It's based on Elementary synth and is much faster and more robust than the Tone js one. The shift was quite easy as I just needed to swap the synth component in the navigation bar and that's it!
Now all the funny new generative sequencers are powered by this synth as well as the built in keyboard and midi synth. Examples and practice apps still use old synth, but that will be changing soon. Tone will still be used for scheduling things as it has solved most of the issues there. But Elementary can finally take everything - let's see how it goes!
Now we have a separate scale panel with keyboard and guitar/ukulele notes shown. So we have Scale, Tempo, Synth and Audio panels available anywhere on the site. Very enjoyable experience, try it!
🎽 More features and cleaner panels
MIDI Keys web-app are working good, Chroma Touch app is built structurally, but need refinement. Aubio is now loaded from the NPM package - less clutter in the /use/ folder. The lib build is modular and easy to analyse.
🛝 Tone 15, more scale names and cleaner lib
We've added a whole lot more scale names found online. All the new names extend the Tonal.js ScaleType list and are instantly usable in many places on the web-site. First of all - the Chroma Profile app.
Tone was updated to version 15. We've changed deprecated Draw and Transport to getDraw() and getTransport() calls. Hope the performance and stability of audio synthesis will improve with that.
Cleaner apps
We are going to the situation where each Practice app will be very useful in daily practice and thus be full-screen and borderless.
New navigation bar
Navigation upgraded. More advanced navigation panel for better content browsing.
✅ Sidebar is always hidden - leaving space for content and apps
MIDI keys are introduced to synths. Soundfont synth is up and running. Willing to work on new features soon!
👀 Minimalist UI and refined navigation
Fresh revision of Chromatone interface. Less scroll distance for the same features.
- Got rid of Navbar menu
- Sidebar becomes the main way of navigation.
- Practice apps now have minimal heading for less scroll
- Padding and margins revised
- Parents and siblings now bear covers
- Completely removed Typescript from the project
- and more....
Stay tuned!
🛰️ Academy projects, events, links and more moving to Directus database
Directus 10 is a majestic tool to create very robust and interactive databases. With low-code Flow actions. Self-hosted, free and fully featured. I've been with them for long time, since the previous v.8, now deprecated PHP version. At first it was strange to see the whole product pivot to JS. I didn't have a Node.js server by that time and couldn't run new Directus on my shared hosting.
But now I gave it a try on a new small VPS server and with Coolify I got it all running very smoothly! Directus really shines there. It's a perfect DB UI builder, database manager and flows server. I mean you can create almost any flow of data, in and out, with incredibly powerful Flows. Clean and visible database space makes you connect to the data and it's structure. And create amazing things with the power of backend. It's like a backend frontend in that sense. ✨
So I'm moving data there. It's not as open source, as before, you won't see all the pieces of data right here in the repo. But it's much easier to work with, especially with others! For all these years of development I couldn't find anyone to get into code and content editing within the repo. Actually I've managed to guide a non-tech person through all the pull request procedure only once. And they don't want to do that any more 😅 And with Directus I've got first edits to the data within first weeks.
Now I can manage the data in clean and quite safe ways. And let others collaborate on it in a precise and safe way too. We have simple buttons to trigger complex tasks and build real content management system for all the knowledge and news, that gets generated here at Chromatone. By now I'm still the only developer in the project, but once the UI becomes "transparent" for people from both sides the creators and users will start using it as a product without thinking about code. But still creating and using very useful and enjoyable visual music experiences.
First experiment in moving data to the database is the Academy section. It's hosting almost 50 events, 10 projects and around a 100 of links for all the external links collection on the web-site. These were long YAML files and endless folders with very brief index.md and a cover .jpg file. Now they have a very intuitive editing interface and publishing flows. Years after developing the UI I found a way to get people interact in new ways with all the content. Events lead people to new experience, projects show future partners ways they can engage in collaboration with Chromatone too. It's a nice story, that's unfolding, and it should have more voices and roles in it.
The interactivity of Directus is yet to be really discovered as it has all the potential to make Chromatone a really live space. With people coming there every day to learn, practice, teach, perform or record music together. Polls, collaborative apps, ratings, authors, tutors and other creative input. All in robust and safe flows of Directus 10. It's not an easy thing to do. It all takes time and effort, but the joy of browsing and sharing your data in worth
it. ✊
So see you in the new chapter of Chromatone web-site and the whole project in itself. Chromatone Academy is not just a developer side-project, it's my real investment into real visual music future, where millions of people all around the world use color to study and practice music together. Share the vibes, build connections, feel the joy! Visual music will heal the world. 🙏
💡 v.2.0.8 More discreet design
The colors are indicators, but not space fillers. You can stay in light or dark mode and enjoy the background with only meaningful colors on screen.
Vite got updated to v.4.3.1 and it's FAST! Around 30% faster builds is a pleasure!
🏄🏾♂️ v2.0.5 Synced tabs, AMY synth, melodic minor
New feature:
- better browsing UX(
18bbfeb) (by davay) - active midi notes velocity(
07a98ea) (by davay) - new color mixer for research(
0e27f90) (by davay) - overview of Melodic minor modes (jazz scale)(
a14e006) (by davay) - start/stop sync across tabs!(
9c7d5af) (by davay) - midi sync(
86fd480) (by davay) - amy controls start(
bb1d808) (by davay) - successful AMY synth experiment(
a7aa0d5) (by davay)