Dear All
This is an announcement of some major changes that will be happening at Eigenlabs over the next few months. These changes are very significant, I hope in a good way, and will affect every Eigenharp player in time. They bring a number of opportunities to us all as well as some new challenges.
The first change is the formation of a new, non-profit organisation, The Eigen Foundation. This will take over the development of the EigenD system and have a mission to further the playing experience for you all, promote the continuing improvement of EigenD and to advance the performance of music using electronic instruments in general. It will have remit beyond the Eigenharps to facilitate the development of expressive performance using computer based musical software and hardware and it will promote open standards for the communication between such systems with a specific goal of assisting in the creation of a new network protocol for musical performance, something badly needed by us all and as yet unrealised.
It will also have an educational mission, to get young musicians playing expressive electronic instruments. I personally think that this part of its activities may be the most important thing it will do, in time. It's no good having all this marvellous technology if no one knows how to play it, and we need to start introducing young people to it as their first instrument.
It will be regulated by the Charity Commission of England and Wales, as is normal with such organisations.
The full current EigenD, Stage and Workbench software source code will be donated to the foundation by the shareholders of Eigenlabs and will become freely available as a combined system to all users. Over time it is probable that both Stage and Workbench source code will also be released under the same GPLv3 licence as core EigenD. This software will form the core of the foundation's efforts to improve live musical performance and we will actively work on broadening support beyond the Eigenharps to other interfaces, including many of the exciting new instruments now being made.
The formation of the foundation has just been set in motion and we will be seeking suitable trustees and volunteers to run it over the next few months. I will be one of the founding trustees and will be making an initial donation to the foundation to get it up and running and to cover initial continuing work on EigenD. The current software team will continue to work on EigenD in a freelance capacity as far as resources permit, which means at a reduced rate compared to development over the last three years initially, but should things go well this can change to suit circumstances and finances. This whole process will take several months to complete.
We are also considering the future of the Eigenharps themselves. Eigenlabs continues to make these (a new Tau build has just started for example) and we may also transfer this business to the foundation in time, should it seem to be appropriate, although it is presently too early to be able to give any further information on this to you. It will depend on a number of circumstances, not least the amount of community support and help that comes about for the new foundation. I will keep you all posted as to developments in this area.
I'd finally like to say that I think this may be a very positive development for EigenD and the Eigenharp players that use it. I think that it has become steadily more obvious that it would make a much better community project than one owned by a company and thanks to the generosity of my fellow shareholders we are now able to make this a reality. I will continue to be actively involved in the future, but it is also now genuinely and fully open to you all to get involved, to contribute and to benefit directly from that activity. With some work, some help from you all and a following wind we can make this foundation a powerful force to improve the live performance of computer based music in the world.
John Lambert
FAQ:
When will this happen?
The setup of a foundation usually takes several months to get approved by the Charity Commission, so at least that. There are a lot of details yet to be determined, such as the full board of trustees, so it may take longer. We will keep you posted.
I've just bought EigenD and now you're going to release it for free, can I have my money back?
No. Thank you for your support, but any funds returned to you will simply reduce the amount of funds available for the setup of the foundation and make future software development more difficult. You lose absolutely nothing in this change. The only thing you have to put up with is watching others who didn't buy EigenD in the last six months get the benefit of it when it becomes free. This may be annoying but you will be no worse off.
What's happening with Eigenlabs?
Eigenharps are still being made by Eigenlabs, please see above.
Can I be a trustee or volunteer some help?
We're looking for just those people right now, please write to me directly, I'd love to hear from you. If you have suggestions for a trustee, we'd like to hear those too, but please make them directly rather than on the forum if you can as we don't want to cause any embarrassment to anyone who can't do it.
Will I be able to donate to the trust to help it in it's work?
Yes you will when it is formally established, and it will have (if approved by the Commission) the normal generous UK tax breaks for such donations.
Is this all totally certain?
No, because all new charities must first be approved by the Charity Commison of England and Wales, which has yet to happen. This process can take some time, see above.
When exactly will EigenD become free?
Probably in the couple of months, but it may take a little longer.
UK
