About

The Goal

We would like to continue development on JSONloops, our open-source real-time multiuser audio sequencer that works cross-browser. We are software hackers and music producers who grew up learning on simple tools like Fruityloops. We aren't aiming to build the world's most complex audio sequencer, we wish to create a simple tool that the next generation of software developers and musicians can learn from. Think Fruityloops, but in a web-page and multiple users can edit the same song at once.

This sounds like a very complex technical goal to achieve, but we have already completed a working prototype which won Best Collaborative Hack at NYC Music Hack Day 2011. JSONloops has been mentioned on TechCrunch, The New York Observer, and CreateDigitalMusic.com. We've gotten a tremendous amount of positive feedback and even more requests to release JSONloops as a full fledged open-source project.

Older video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZLLgel6Gs

Open JSON format

JSONloops songs are composed entirely in JSON . JSON is a widely used plaintext format for storing and exchanging data on the web. It is the standard which services like Google, Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook utilize for sharing and receiving data. JSON is supported by every modern programming language to date.

A JSONloops server emits and can receive a standard JSON message on every step of the sequencer. This means that a developer could easily write software in any language to extend JSONloops. It also means that songs can be remixed and edited using existing tools, or even just a plain text editor!

The Community

While developing a functional piece of software is critical, it's also very important to us that we build a vibrant open community around the project. We know from experience, that community is one the pillars of success in any open-source software project.

Why are we asking for money?

We need funding for software development costs. JSONloops is open-source, but it will require hundreds, if not thousands of hours of software development to reach a stable version (v.1.0.0 in semantic versioning ). Aside from the core team of developers, we plan to hire a series of "open-source" interns to work on the project. This small amount of funding will allow us to accelerate the pace of development for the project, as well as give a great incentive to inspire developers to join the project. We have the experience necessary in leading open-source projects, and the network of developers ready to make this possible.

The Team

Marak Squires, Elijah Insua , hij1nx Click on any team member's name or picture to see their Github open-source profile. Github is a place where open-source developers share and develop source code. We love Github!

The company I work for has been very gracious in offering free hosting for the JSONloops project. This will allow us to not have to worry about paying for hosting costs! Thank you Nodejitsu, the best node.js hosting provider ever!

When do you expect this to be complete?

If we can successfully raise enough money, we plan to release version 1.0.0 in Fall of 2011. We expect to start the online beta for all donors sometime in the next three months.