Q1. What's the story here?
A1. Tiny God consists mostly of the creations of Russell
Borogove, an unemployed software developer, who has been
developing weird audio software in order to entertain and
educate himself. This primarily consists of plug-in components
for VST hosts such as Audiomulch,
plus a few stand-alone programs.
Q1a. That link didn't work.
A1a. That's not a question. Try this link instead.
Q2. Why "Tiny God"?
A2. Because this comic strip still
makes me laugh my fool
head off years later.
Q3. What's VST?
A3. VST is Virtual Studio Technology,
Steinberg's
specification
for plug-in components for their Cubase digital audio
workstation software. In short, a VST plugin can receive,
manipulate, and send chunks of digital audio data in
conjunction with a bunch of other components; this allows
users to expand their capabilities a piece at a time,
much like buying new effects units or synthesizers at
your local music gear dealer, without having to throw
away all your existing musical equipment. The VST format
is available on both Windows and Macintosh platforms;
besides VST, there are platform-specific standards for
this kind of software: DXi on Windows, and AU on Mac OS
X, to name two.
Q4. What's Audiomulch?
A4. Ross Bencina's Audiomulch
is a software "music studio" or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
which supports VST plugins, but is somewhat more loosely
structured than most VST host software. Many of the plugins
I've developed are designed for use with Audiomulch;
they're tailored to its strengths and its limitations, and
may not be usable or useful in other hosts.
Q5. Why aren't your plugins available for the Mac?
A5. I only have so much free time to work on these
plugins, and I have no experience programming for
the Mac — yet. That said, I am trying to make
time to learn to program on OS X, and some of my
projects may well come to the Mac some day. Currently
I'm looking at Audio Units rather than VST on the Mac.
If there are any Mac programmers out there who want to
port my plugins to Mac VSTs, please contact me!
Q6. You're giving most of your software away. How do you
make money doing that?
A6. I don't. I have a day job doing engineering for a game
software company in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm trying to
make time to work on Tiny God projects, but when I tell my
friends that I want to come home from a long day of programming
and program some more, they try to get me to seek professional
help, or at least a stiff drink.
As I learn more
about audio programming, and write reusable audio code,
I'll be able to produce cooler plugins, which I may be able
to sell for more money eventually, but I'm not relying on that.
Q7. (No longer relevant)
Q8. I've got a great idea for a plugin! Can I tell you
about it?
A8. Please do. Many of my best projects have been inspired
by other people's ideas. Just don't complain when your
idea collides with someone else's in my head, and I
create something totally unlike what you were envisioning.
I can't even keep my own ideas on course half the time.