Csounders tend to be forward thinking people, I believe. It is clear it helps to be someone interested in new things in order to keep up with all the recent developments in Csound. Besides the forums and mailing lists we hope also that Csound Journal will continue to spark interests in things new and exciting about Csound. To that end, I know there are ever more varied and interesting articles still out there, if only gestating as an initial idea in someone's imagination, so I encourage you to move forward, write those ideas down, and create something interesting to share with the rest of us.

Csound5.02 is nearly out or has been released by now. This version marks a particular milestone for me, because it is the first time all the bells and whistles, which can be included in a Csound build by selecting the various options, seem working.

Interfaces too offer interesting ways for various frontends and utilities to emerge utilizing different languages such as Lisp, Java, Tk/Tcl, C/C++ and Python. Winsound, which has been given a new lease on life thru the use of the Csound api and FLTK is a good example of that. Lettuce seems very popular among users too as well as the FLTK_gui. Also the Max and PD Objects as well as Cswish for TK/TCL, continue to show how far reaching Csound can be. Blue continues to grow and a new MacCsound version is probably just over the horizon.

As Spring has turned into Summer and everyone heads for the beach utilizing their portable and mobile devices, perhaps the time has come again to think about a version of csound with a "small footprint" for use on mobiles. I actually saw a woman standing in the surf in her bikini talking on her cell phone. Can waterproof laptops and underwater Csound concerts be far behind?

Enjoy your Summer.

--Jim Hearon