I asked Mark McCurry about Zyn-Fusion for Android (Patreon)

A few days ago I wrote an e-mail to the creator of Zyn-Fusion, regarding the possibility to create an Android version of that mighty single-window ZynAddSubFX interface. It'd make it available on phones and tablets. I was quite surprised with what he told me. I thought you might want to read that too, so I asked him if I can publish our e-mails, and he kindly approved that. I interleaved our quoted points to make the text flow better and to avoid redundancy.

unfa:

Hey, Mark!

With the modern multi-core smartphones and tablets around I wonder - would it make sense to build Zyn-Fusion for Android?

Mark:

This was one of the plans I had for continuing Zyn-Fusion forward if there was sufficient income to justify delaying getting a traditional job. Unfortunately that goal was not reached and I don't personally have the resources to tackle such a large scope increase.

unfa:

I  guess the interface could work as it is - with the exception of maybe  allowing for multi-touch - but that's completely optional. Could be  useful for zooming in and panning around the UI with two fingers on  smaller devices maybe.

Mark:

I wouldn't recommend using the new interface on screens smaller than 10" diagonal. Anything smaller would need redesigning to make the contents legible and the touch regions distinct.

unfa:

I  think to myself that being able to program ZynAddSubFX patches on the go would be one of a better time savers in urban transport systems I can  imagine :) I could then send the XMZ files to my desktop and load them  into Ardour.

The current  UI already has a keyboard pane on the bottom always visible. I guess an  initial version should not take much work to make.

But only you can tell, as you know it inside out.

Maybe  I'd be possible to build Zyn-Fusion with an Android version from the  same codebase? That'd be really neat, add no extra time slots have to be  spent updation the Android build. Also keeping it capable of reading  and writing regular ZynAddSubFX patches seems as a key feature to me.

In the future it could maybe take advantage of the fact that Android 6 introduced a MIDI API.

Or even run just the UI and send OSC to a different machine for the hard lifting to do.

Mark:

That was the initial setup plan.

unfa:

I  guess it might be all much more complicated than I can ever imagine.  However if Zest is as portable as I think it is, maybe that's not so far  fetched?

Mark:

Zest is portable enough that there shouldn't be a significant technical limitation keeping it from running on more embedded platforms such as an android device.

unfa:

I think that  this could also be a very good way to spread ZynAddSubFX further and  gain new users. I think it'd be the most complex synth running on  Android ever. That alone could get lots of new people to use it on  desktop.

What do you think of this?

Mark:

Interesting, but there's no where near enough developer hours in the Zyn team to address this.

unfa:

I see, definitely not a priority. Maybe it's worth dropping on Kickstarter then.

Mark:

One of the challenges with this is that I don't think anyone on the Zyn team would be able to take enough time off of their normal day job to put in the hours if a kickstarter needed to be setup and needed to be programmed on success. I'd say if you get into redesigning any part of the interface and are targeting a variety of android phones, then you're looking at another multi-month process. The funding numbers from Zyn-Fusion sales indicate that there currently isn't enough of a commercially oriented audience to fund the work, nor is there someone ready to slip into the role of implementing on a full-time basis.

One detail which may become relevant down the line: I'm hoping to ramp up interest to stand a chance for Zyn being an organization in GSoC (Google Summer of Code - unfa) 2019. Stuff like android development might integrate with that if there's enough interest, though there might be a scope mismatch.

There you have it! If you happen to be a skilled Android developer with passion for open-source audio, maybe Zyn-Fusion for Android is a project waiting for you. Let us know :)

- unfa