what we can learn from music software

Music software has some of the most engaging and interesting user interfaces that I know of. Every time I see an ad or a yt video pop into my feed, I get pulled into this otherworldly piece of tech that feels like magic in the hands of a composer. Looking at the history, I think musical software has arisen out of a very different set of problems. Unlike SASS dashboards, social media, and other interfaces I’ve built, musical software has deeper connections to the hardware that preceded it. In fact, hardware is still very much used in modern digital music, and so the software must live alongside it and offer a competitive experience:

• I have a set of data — in this case sound waves, and I want to turn that data into something that the end user can interact with. There’s so many ways that data can be exposed, manipulated and expressed. The software then needs to make deliberate choices on what to show and what to not.
• At the same time, the software needs to be fun to play with. Exploring different sampler packs and looping things around is part of the creative process. Hardware achieves this effortlessly with physical instruments and tactile experiences. For software to do the same, UI/UX must be a requirement, not a “nice to have.”
• Musical software still heavily relies on skeuomorphism in many places to offer a familiar hardware experience

What stands out for me from above is how the software should be fun. What an interesting concept that seems so foreign in modern software design paradigms: tools not meant for a concrete task, but for open ended exploration with boundless play.

Interesting places to look at:

• slate+dash sample libraries
• garage band
• ableton
• OP1 + the rest of teenage engineering (orthoplay)