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This is also a recurring issue for me with this developer's apps.
Well yeah. Technical writing is a profession for a reason.
Just as a side note, the dynamic nature of software is just as much an argument for writing (an updating) manuals as for not writing them.
In the case of ios apps, especially ones by indie devs, I think a lack of manuals is almost always down to the fact that they couldn't be arsed to write one themselves, and can't afford to pay someone else to do it for them. Which I can understand, even though I try to avoid apps with no manuals.
It also follows that good manuals, like the brilliant one for Atom2, are really miracles, to be much appreciated.
Yeah, I am thinking of another indie dev who does put a lot of work into manuals, Art Kerns. There is clearly a hell of a lot of work that goes into them. I get the impression he doesn't enjoy that aspect, but he knows the importance of it. I have great respect for that. Devs, please - write manuals, preferably good ones but failing that, any kind of manual that covers enough to teach people how to use your apps. It is genuinely a matter of basic respect to the users. But it is also in your own interests. Buyers will be more likely to use, enjoy and recommend your apps, youtubers will be more likely to make good videos on them. It's a win win.
Many thanks for the kind words about the Atom2 manual @ervin
The manual was made as a favour for my good friend Victor ( @blueveek ). It also helped that I was on the beta from the beginning, and therefore learnt the app inside out. I'm very glad the manual has been well received, but also can't help thinking about all the ways it could still be better. Ultimately, I'm glad Victor didn't have to spend more time away from coding to write the manual.
I think we're reaching an awkward point where the complexity of current music apps requires much better documentation, but the economics simply don't support it. The truth is that devs rarely have enough time to work on the apps themselves (and answer support questions)... let alone spend time on manuals. Likewise with marketing, which is why there seems to be so much dependence on YouTube videos that are 'paid for' with app codes.
Here's the problem statement...
...and so finally.. my call to action...
If there is an app you love that doesn't have a manual... why not start writing one?
Nice idea! @espiegel123 you fancy writing that manual for Shockwave? 😛 /jk
Since I doubt smaller app devs will be convinced to create detailed instructions for their releases, they should contract out the work to someone like Doug at the Sound Test Room. He’s pretty good at demonstrating and if devs would simply provide him with a list of points to cover, then an app could be demonstrated from top to bottom and then they’d have a video “manual” available immediately.
Well, I sat yesterday with Shockwave to try things and take notes with the intention of sharing them later. It was a nice to do it, taking time to learn something under the surface.
I don't think I am going to do it again though. For different reasons:
So was this all for nothing? I don't think so. Shockwave sounds great, deep and different; the reverb is awesome (I even bought Numerical Audio's reverb hoping it would be the same but I couldn't get the same space?); I did spend some time trying things up instead of complaining (thanks for your patience, folks) and had a nice conversation with clever people here in this forum.
Time to move on.
Here are the notes I took:
====
STAND ALONE MODE:
It always starts on play even if you close it after pressing the stop button. That means that if you have a sequence running, it will begin playing it as soon as you fire it.
Be sure to choose MPE in the settings if you are planning to use the built in keyboard. Otherwise, no sound.
If you think the uninvited pop-up window for modulation is annoying you can disable it in the settings: just turn off Enable Long Press. You can then assign modulation by tapping Route in the top pane. Note though, that you then won't be able to apply modulation to the envelopes.
Unfortunately you can't modulate the steps of the sequencer (that would be cool).
If you wonder why the sawtooth wave sounds like a sine it is because the brightness is all the way down.
GENERATOR SECTION has two sections:
1. Note generator (NOTE GEN)
Tap enable to generate notes or leave it if you want to play the notes yourself.
Transpose (TRANSP) will respond to the notes of the keyboard. Ex: if you set a sequence of C's and play F, the sequence will get transposed to F.
[...]
PS: I managed to combine the envelope with MPE pressure to control amplitude. A rare feature I've only been able to do with Madrona Labs Aalto (still testing with Continua), with which you have control of the volume from the start (ie, you are not constrained to a predefined attack level) and yet you can have a tail (envelope release) even when you release the key quickly.
Cheers
Nice thought but the reality is that good manuals (or any manual) has a much smaller influence on sales than you think. I think what a lot of people don't understand is that most of these apps dont generate enough revenue to compensate the person that wrote the app in first place. I don't mean that they didn't get rich .... I mean they won't earn anything like a living wage if you look at the money earned plus time spent.
Real questions:
How many additional copies of Shockwave do you imagine would be sold if it included a detailed manual?
What percentage of ShockWave's users would read the manual if it had one? [SPOILER: people that use manuals overindex on their preference and don’t realize that the overwhelming, really overwhelming, majority of people don’t look at them...even when they are stuck.]
How many $/hour spent wor
Contract out?
I don't think you realize how little revenue these apps generate.
People have suggested that better manuals will result in more revenue. This is something that seems reasonable but unfortunately is not the reality. In this app space , the people that provide good manuals do it from a sense of pride or obligation.
Btw, for Shockwave there already are a few decent tutorial vids.
@espiegel123 fair point, kind of. I agree that few people read manuals, sadly. But if there was a decent manual, I or someone else would have made a tutorial video on this already that covered the trigs area etc. And that would mean more people are using the synth to its full potential even without having read the manual. Jakob for example completely left this out of his tutorial and only covered the keyboard as a trigger. Likely because he also didn't understand that section sufficiently well to cover it. Has there been a thorough tutorial made on this? If so, please share the link, cheers.
As I say, the main point is that it is a basic respect to the user to give them the tools they need to use what you made. Whether that is directly through a manual, or indirectly through someone who has read the manual making a good video on it that covers all aspects of the app. The synth part is not the confusing bit of this app, it is the trigs etc, which may be obvious to people well versed in modular, but not to the average user. All this app really needs is a good written description of how the trigs section etc works. Wouldn't be a big job.
If there were a writeup that covered the trigs, how many additional sales would it generate? I don't mean that facetiously. 10 more users, 50, 100, 1000?
For how many Shockwave users do you think a lack of understanding of the trigs is the difference for being able to make good use of the synth and not liking it?
Probably would make little difference to the sales, though it might at least prevent some refunds. Lack of manual could also put users off buying a future update. Anyway, at the end of the day, the main thing ghat I have repeated time and time again Ed is that, regardless of sales, it is a basic respect to the user. End of story.
I will say that a detailed walkthrough from me on an app could potentially lead to, I don't know, 50 or 100 sales maybe, over time, on a video with, say, 5000 views, at a rough guess? And that's just one youtuber. I would possibly have done one on Shockwave back in the day if there had been a manual.
If your point is that overall Shockwave shows disrespect to the user because there isn't a manual. I am going to have to disagree with you.
A great deal of care was put into a lot of details of the apps that show a lot of respect for the user and a lot of care for a lot of fine details that a lot of app developers don't bother with. A lot of care/respect went into creating great sonics and developing something unique rather than rehashing territory well covered.
Maybe you didn't mean to come across as harsh -- but the impression I have from your comments is that you think Kai has failed to demonstrate respect for his users -- and I disagree. Overall, the app shows a lot of respect for his users. I say that as a manual writer and tech editor, who loves good manuals.
Would I like to see a manual? Yes? But a lack of one doesn't show a lack of respect when so much obvious care went into the app overall -- and a lot of thought went into making it figure-out-able.
This is a good point Ed. I guess my point would be that it is nevertheless a disrespect, but not an intended one. Of course my view is not that Kai disdain his users and you are right that attention has been paid to many aspects of the app.
Is there any info available on the “utility” section anywhere? Have googled and YouTubed and can’t find these parameters even mentioned on other PD synths or mentioned in any PD tutorials.
Do any of the presets use this section? I couldn’t find any.
Has anyone one created a patch that uses this section?
Sounds good but feels quite limited without this mysterious section unlocked…
Any help appreciated!
Do you mean the entire page 2? Utility is really a misnomer here. Many people have made use of the two sequencer lines. The four modules of the top row come to bear mostly on page 1.
I’m on iPhone so may have different layout to others…logic, divide, chance, sample &hold are the sections confusing me (I am a novice though). It sounded like you might be saying those sections can only be used with the sequencer but I may have misunderstood.
I’m reasonably ok with other sections and have used Kai’s other apps. Just this one bit 🤯
Ah, sorry. logic, divide, chance, sample &hold are essentially modifiers: they take an input signal from somewhere else (key trigger, envelope), and uses it to generate a new signal that can in turn be used by other modules. Possible use cases!
DIVIDE: takes LFO, divides by 2, sends to Note Generator
CHANCE: takes key trigger and sends it with 40% probability to Envelope 1. This module should really be called PROBABILITY because that’s what it’s called as a source.
S&H: moves Seq 1 one step forward whenever the CHANCE module triggers.
LOGIC: sends a signal to Envelope 2 only (AND) when Seq 1 and Key trigger at he same time.
Hope this helps a bit.
Haven’t tried any of this but on first glance helps a lot! Thanks! Looks like it can get quite complicated quickly. Looking forward to trying some of these out.
Much appreciated 🙏🏻