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M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2011 10:41 pm
by jcabraham
What did you do before Hauptwerk? Were you a computer scientist?
What inspired you to start working on Hauptwerk in the first place? How long did you keep your day job?
What language is Hauptwerk written in?
Is there any cutting-edge programming or crazy hackery involved (I'm a scientific programmer)?
Is there any information on the architecture (programming architecture) of Hauptwerk?
[Deleted by admin ...has no place on this forum]

Regards,

JCA

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2011 11:27 pm
by GDay
Yes, we are all in awe of whatever or however Martin was inspired to create HW, maybe he'll pen his memoirs one day . . .

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Sun May 15, 2011 11:47 pm
by jcabraham
I apologize to Martin if I mistakenly supposed that HW1 had been made open source. I certainly think he is entitled to his work, and that nobody has the right to deny him the rewards of publishing, or selling, what-have-you, his work. I am in awe of Hauptwerk, both as a VPO and as a piece of programming. It has become my prized possession, and one of the great joys of my life. Thanks, Martin and Brett!

JCA

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 6:26 am
by mdyde
Hello JCA,

Thanks for the kind words and interest!

Sorry - I don't really have much time at the moment (it's still very hectic here after the release of Hauptwerk v4) but briefly:

- I used to have lessons on the organ at school and have always loved organ music (of all types and genres).
- I worked as an Oracle and C++ senior programmer and technical consultant in a medium-sized software development company in Birmingham for a number of years prior to Hauptwerk.
- I started work on Hauptwerk v1 and St. Anne's in 2001, in my own spare time, mainly for my own benefit since I wanted to take up practising the organ again.
- I released it publicly in 2002 and was pleasantly surprised to find so much interest in it.
- In 2003 I started work on Hauptwerk v2, which was redesigned from scratch, concentrating on making it as realistic and powerful as possible on then-current computer hardware, still in my spare time.
- In 2004 I left my previous job to concentrate on getting Hauptwerk v2 finished (which was a risk since v1 didn't make enough money to live on).
- Hauptwerk v2 was finished and released at the start of 2006, as a product of Crumhorn Labs Ltd, which I formed in 2005 for the purpose.
- That was fortunately well-received and did well (although with hindsight its MIDI settings were overly-technical, which many people found awkward).
- V3 was released late 2007.
- Late 2008 I sold Crumhorn Labs and Hauptwerk to Milan Digital Audio, for whom I now develop the software, so that I could try to concentrate more on programming, rather than so much on day-to-day support and running a business.
- V4 was released about a month ago, and I'm very pleased with it indeed - in general I think we've really managed to get the balance right now in terms of realism, functionality, flexibility and ease of use.
- Despite originally developing Hauptwerk v1 so as to be able to practice with it, the past 10 years have been very, very hard work (long hours, almost 365 days/years, although I did manage to get a week off last year for the first time in many years, which was lovely!), but that's just the nature of making and supporting a product to a high standard and making it succeed. Hence I never really did get any time to practice on Hauptwerk after all (apart from briefly when testing features or trying to help with customer issues, etc.), but the satisfaction in having produced v4, and in having hopefully brought a lot of pleasure to people, and in having hopefully made a real and positive contribution to the organ world, more than makes up for that.
- Hauptwerk's written in C++/C using the Qt multi-platform (GUI) libraries.

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 7:53 am
by Fokko
Martin is juist a great ARTist playing his own almost higher playing levelfield.

Thanks to Martin!

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 2:33 pm
by MikeDC
The question I've always had re. Martin is, when do you sleep since you always seem to answer our questions moments after we post them and regardless of the time of day or night--for which we thank you immensely,

Of course, please don't feel obliged to answer this one. :)

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Mon May 16, 2011 4:31 pm
by James
Dearest Martin
I for one can not really express my fullest gratitude for the development of Hauptwerk. The deep satisfaction and happiness you have made possible for me is immeasurable. Your contribution to so many of us--players, sampleset producers, equipment suppliers and many others is not easily figured. Conservatively, thousands of us have benefited by your labors. That said, I think you should take 4 hours off--next week. :wink:
Thank you,
James

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 7:34 am
by mdyde
Ha! Thanks. Very kind of you and glad you enjoy it.

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 9:56 am
by Rauschpfeife
James wrote:Dearest Martin
I for one can not really express my fullest gratitude for the development of Hauptwerk. The deep satisfaction and happiness you have made possible for me is immeasurable. Your contribution to so many of us--players, sampleset producers, equipment suppliers and many others is not easily figured. Conservatively, thousands of us have benefited by your labors. That said, I think you should take 4 hours off--next week. :wink:
Thank you,
James


+1 :-)

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 6:32 pm
by kaspencer
Well well well, Martin was an Oracle programmer eh! And a C programmer to boot.

Ye olde Chinese proverb says: "He who programs in C language in Windows reboots often but learns quickly!"

One more little question for Martin: Did you ever know Peter Scott, who was a Principal Applications Architect/Programmer at Oracle UK - primarily based in Manchester (Cheadle) rather than in Bracknell or Thames Valley Park ... ?

Ken.

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Tue May 17, 2011 6:41 pm
by jcabraham
I say to Martin, thank you for dedicating your skill and intelligence to the betterment of humanity, rather than in benefiting the soul sucking leech that is Oracle.

Jim

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:43 am
by mdyde
Hello Ken,

One more little question for Martin: Did you ever know Peter Scott, who was a Principal Applications Architect/Programmer at Oracle UK


Not that I recall.

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:43 am
by kaspencer
Thanks Martin ...

I worked quite extensively implementing and developing Oracle databases in the Health Authority context in the late 1980s and up to 1996-7. I left the NHS in 1996 to market my own products. I have also programmed in C since 1986, although I have never really got on all that well with C++. Martin is obviously a highly accomplished programmer, and we have plenty of evidence of that in the HW software application.

Then, with regard to:
I say to Martin, thank you for dedicating your skill and intelligence to the betterment of humanity, rather than in benefiting the soul sucking leech that is Oracle.
Jim

Surely Oracle is no worse than Microsoft, or Apple, Jim?
And I think from his answer, Martin was an Oracle application programmer and database developer, rather than working for the Oracle Corporation.
So far as I recall, it was Larry Ellison who took the initiative in the development of practical relational database software engines from Ted Codd and Chris Date's original theses, so LE deserves credit for his work. At least the Oracle RDMS software was actually developed by Oracle, whereas it is surprising how little of Microsoft's early (and later too) software was actually developed at Microsoft.

No doubt there are a great many interesting biographical histories in the Hauptwerk community!

Regards

Ken

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:43 am
by polikimre
Is it just my imagination or there is indeed a higher than average number of software developers around here (myself included)?

Back to the topic of this thread: I've had this question for a long time, and it comes up every time a product is being developed by a single person. What happens, if, God forbid, Martin gets hit by a truck?

Re: M. Dyde FAQ?

PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 8:06 am
by mdyde
Hello Imre,

Is it just my imagination or there is indeed a higher than average number of software developers around here (myself included)?


I think that's true in general of computer/electronic audio/music, mainly because it's traditionally a field that has required a fair bit of computer/technical/MIDI experience, and computer audio software and hardware has traditionally been aimed at people with that level of experience, although that's gradually changing. (It's also often the case that a lot of computer software is/was designed by computer programmers, for whom there's a natural tendency to assume a similar level of experience on the part of the users to themselves, sometimes making it fairly inaccessible for most of the population, since most of the population aren't computer programmers!)

With Hauptwerk v4 we're really trying to make Hauptwerk easily accessible to everybody interested in organs and organ music, not just the relatively small percentage of organists and musicians who have lots of previous computer/MIDI experience.