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Well trodden ground? Except there wasn't desktop software that could do this beforehand.

If you can't see the innovation, let me spell it out for you in very few words: the software has an intuitive-enough UI that you need no prior knowledge of the program to use it, and you can share musical ideas in one or two clicks. Please tell us exactly which desktop program allowed you to do this, as easily, pre-2012? Yes, this is novel, since it enables something that wasn't possible before.

I think it's very likely that he has seen one of the multiple music apps I've put out over the years and has actually taken inspiration from it. Either way, it's not required, but considerate to acknowledge your predecessors. Particularly given that the concept is pretty much exactly the same.

Thanks for the honest comment. I think you're quite right about the "if you build it, they will come" messaging, and the importance of self-promotion.

It's also OK to build projects that don't necessarily go anywhere. I recently had a music app I was developing and I had hopes for turning that into a business, but I quickly realized that in order to make the app really competitive, to have enough value that people would pay for it, it would become a job on top of my job, and that would really kill the fun. At the end of the day, side-projects like this are mostly about having fun and learning a few things.

I am happy with my small userbase. The fact that a few people keep coming back, and the app lives on its own, without me promoting it, means that some people find genuine value/enjoyment out of it. I intend to keep the app running and free for as long as it doesn't become a maintenance burden.

Thank you for responding irshadshalu, I sincerely appreciate you taking the time. I agree that HN works in unpredictable ways. I don't know if you were just more lucky than I was, or if people like your app better because the UI looks better. If that's the case, it's interesting to know.

This HN account is new-ish, but the original MusicToy blog post from 2012 is still around [1].

As far as Git goes, I would appreciate it if you had an acknowledgement somewhere that linked to the MusicToy repo[2], or just mentioned in passing in terms of inspirations/predecessors. You obviously have no obligation to do this, but it won't take away from the success of your app if you choose to do so.

I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, and may your success encourage you to build more great projects.

[1] https://pointersgonewild.com/2012/04/23/musictoy-music-made-...

[2] https://github.com/maximecb/MusicToy

Yes, we're all inspired by other things. Neither of us invented grid sequencers, or music theory.

I know there was no hostile intent, and I'm glad that OP is having fun, but hopefully you understand why I feel a slight pinch when I see something that is so close to what I've built making the rounds on HN with zero acknowledgement from OP.

If we just go by a description of features, we've both built a grid sequencer in JS, with a built in synth that is designed to play on a scale so that everything comes out "sounding good"... With a serverless architecture so that you can share the tunes with anchor tags. It's precisely the same idea. How would you feel? Would you be able to be completely detached?

I did promote MusicToy a bit. The original MusicToy made the rounds on reddit 8 years ago. MusicToy2 has had the same (small) base of active users for about 1.5 year now: https://mt2.musictools.live/

Either way, I should probably look at this as a learning experience. It shows that I didn't promote my project as well as I could have. My project could also use better mobile support in terms of auto-scaling the page for mobile displays.

Tone Matrix isn't a grid sequencer though, but fair enough, I should have said the first JS-based grid sequencer, not the first grid sequencer online.

I too feel a little cynical, because I built basically exactly this back in 2012. Before Google, and before Ableton. AFAIK, it was the first grid sequencer online. The first version used the Mozilla audio API, before Web Audio was even a thing. I wish I was credited for the inspiration somewhere, but I guess it's very possible that this is an independent reinvention.

I called it MusicToy: http://maximecb.github.io/MusicToy/#aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...

It's almost exactly the same, with the pattern encoded in the URL, but it also has drum samples, and it has very few dependencies (no need for node or any web frameworks). I personally prefer having time go from left to right because that's how most sequencers work, and our monitors tend to be wider than they are tall.

I also made an updated, more advanced version (MusicToy 2) in 2019: https://mt2.musictools.live/

> inflation has been more stable and lower in recent years than much of the Bretton Woods era...

That depends how you measure inflation. The government-published inflation rates use all kinds of creative accounting to make the number seem artificially low. It's in the government's interest to make it seem like that's the case. The reality is that housing prices (and rents) are increasing at a very high rate, and this is probably the biggest expense that we all have to pay. It's also a fundamental need.

I myself feel a little embarrassed when I realize how much is missing from Zupiter. There are still bugs, and people are asking for so many extra features, my TODO list is already pages long.

> If sharing IS important for you, change you design in the way that it becomes the default option.

How would you implement that, making it the default option?

I implemented this last night, and it solves the problem I was having with portamento: https://z.musictools.live/#95

That does sound pretty cultish. I kind of get how VCV takes some of the fun out of modular for them. There's definitely something fun about playing with physical hardware and connecting it together. It's also a way to do something technical that doesn't involve computers. Another angle is that if VCV rack does a good job at emulation, it kind of highlights the foolishness of spending thousands on hardware. That being said, I might be biased. I actually own a Behringer Neutron :O

Thanks a lot :)

The only thing I find a bit unfortunate is that despite many people trying it (wordpress shows over 5000 hits), very few people are using the share feature to share what they've created. I'll have to investigate what stops people. I'm wondering if it's just having to create an account, or if I've done some major UI design error.

Update: edge disconnection is now implemented. Click on the the input-side port associated to the connection. This will leave you with a dangling connection which you can reconnect elsewhere, or click anywhere to drop.

> I was unable to figure out how to disconnect a cable. I tried alt, ctrl, shift click, right click, but none of it worked.

I will likely implement that later today. Clicking on an input-side port will allow you to reconnect it to something else (or to drop the connection).

> A larger mixer component would be very useful, like 6 in to 1 out.

Agreed.

> Do you plan to add MIDI out?

I've thought about it. Right now, it supports MIDI play/stop/clock output, so you can synchronize it with a drum machine using the ClockOut node.

> Really cool to have a "reactor" in the browser, keep it up :)

Thank you :)

VCV rack is pretty awesome, and you can do a lot of things with it that you couldn't with Zupiter. It's much more of a professional tool and as far as I know it's very well-regarded in the modular synth community, and a good way to pick out modules before spending hundreds or even thousands on physical hardware.

However, I think Zupiter is a nice way to get people who've never played with sound synthesis interested, and the sharing feature is one thing that differentiates it from most browser-based music apps out there. You can easily show your friends what you've made, or modify what other people made.

So you think the oscillators should essentially be stateful? That might explain why I can't seem to implement 303-style slide correctly.

Thanks. Yes I do have plans for something like that. There's definitely a need for people to create new modules and reusable components, otherwise it gets too messy too fast.

OP here. Feedback and questions welcome! Feel free to reply to this comment.

I also created a little subreddit to discuss Zupiter: https://www.reddit.com/r/musictools/