The Mobius Technological Enslavement Device is now available

[Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@Sun.COM>]

Some of you may recall that about 9 months ago during an embarrassing
bout of hubris, I announced that I was writing a Windows looping
application that emulated a Loop IV EDP.  It probably comes as no
surprise that I underestimated how hard that was going to be :-)

But I'm pleased (and relieved) to finally say that a public beta of
the Mobius looping device is now available.  You can find it at
www.zonemobius.com.  It was developed on Windows XP, should run on W2K
and ME, but might not run on 98.

Mobius is essentially 8 independent stereo EDPs with the ability to
copy loops and timing between them.  Extensive MIDI, computer
keyboard, and UI button control is provided.  Progress through the
loop is displayed as a horizontal "thermometer" annotated with markers
that show when quantized functions will occur.  Loops (including
complete layer histories) may be saved to and loaded from files.

I believe there is fairly complete coverage of features except for
three notable areas: Loop Windowing, Interface Mode, and external
synchronization.  I'm working on loop windowing now.  Andy Butler made
the wise suggestion not to get too fixated on a perfect
emulation and instead implement features the way they made sense to
me.  I do have an EDP and use it to cross check behavior, but if you
are an expert you will notice some differences.  Most of these are
discussed in the user's manual.

While anyone is welcome to try it out, it would be best if you already
have some knowledge of the EDP.  For obvious reasons I don't have the
resources to replicate the EDP manual, the documentation I do have
is concerned mostly with configuration and how Mobius is different
than the EDP.  This is a true beta, so it's still a little rough
around the edges.  Basic operations should work but as you explore the
fringes you may find problems.  PLEASE report them.

There is no immediate plan for a Mac port or a VST plugin.  I am
finding it easier and more interesting to evolve Mobius as a
standalone application that can host VST plugins and provide the
optimized performance features I want, rather than having it be a VST
plugin and wrestle with host interaction issues.  That may change
once I start exploring Ableton Live, but not for awhile.

I hope some of you find this as entertaining as I do.

Jeff