Re: [Csnd-dev] John ffitch has passed away
Richard Knight <[email protected]> Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:00:08 +0100
| Newsgroups | gmane.comp.audio.csound.devel |
|---|---|
| Organization | 1bpm |
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
--=_e99afdce81dad5fffa77c1923ea84ef5 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Thank you for sharing the sad news with such poignant words. I remember first reading about John when I was at music college in about 2000 and had just heard about Csound, and in a nuanced way he and all of those involved with Csound have always been absolute heroes to me, and always will be! On 2026-06-14 17:09, Dr. Richard Boulanger wrote: > Dear Csounders, > > It is with a heavy heart that I share the news with you that John > ffitch passed away in the hospital this past Thursday. > > Although Barry Vercoe wrote Csound, few of us would have spent the past > 40+ years working, discovering, exploring, learning, teaching, > creating, and growing with Csound were it not for John's work, gift, > and commitment to supporting all of our dreams, especially mine. > > I am headed to London in a week to demo "Csound's Brain" with a > 16-year-old student at NIME. And, as always, I am using dozens of his > opcodes and tricks to make it sound magical and work beautifully! In > fact, I added extra days to the trip so I could go to Bath, visit him, > and help him with his Linux and sound systems. I have a mixer in my > bag for him and a Quest 3, too, so he could jam in the MetaVerse with > me in my studio and him in from home. Now, he will just live in my > music and be a part of every performance and will not need a Quest3 for > that! > > I have lost such a dear friend. We have all lost a dear friend. He > gave us all so very much. > > As we continue to share the beauty, power, elegance, and possibilities > of Csound with our students and each other, we now have a patron saint > who is teaching Csound to the angels. (And maybe adding some new > opcodes for them too, but probably not AutoTune.) > > I love you, John, and have been so blessed to work with you, study with > you, learn from you, hang with you, play with you, publish with you, > compose with you, and perform with you! > > There is a huge empty space in my heart that I will fill every day with > gratitude for all the blessings that I continue to receive from you. > > Do give Barry Vercoe a hug for me, and for all of us csounders, too. > > I can't begin to imagine the sounds and music that the two of you are > making possible up there. > > Gsound? > > - Rick > > - Dr.B > > Dr. Richard Boulanger > > Professor > > Electronic Production and Design > > Berklee College of Music > > Professional Writing & Technology Division > > https://richardboulanger.com --=_e99afdce81dad5fffa77c1923ea84ef5 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html; charset= =3DUTF-8" /></head><body style=3D'font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana,Gen= eva,sans-serif'> <p>Thank you for sharing the sad news with such poignant words.<br />I reme= mber first reading about John when I was at music college in about 200= 0 and had just heard about Csound, and in a nuanced way he and all of those= involved with Csound have always been absolute heroes to me, and always wi= ll be!</p> <div id=3D"signature"> </div> <p><br /></p> <p id=3D"reply-intro">On 2026-06-14 17:09, Dr. Richard Boulanger wrote:</p> <blockquote type=3D"cite" style=3D"padding: 0 0.4em; border-left: #1010ff 2= px solid; margin: 0"> <div id=3D"replybody1"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <div>Dear Csounders,</div> <div> </div> <div>It is with a heavy heart that I share the news with you that John ffit= ch passed away in the hospital this past Thursday. </div> <div> </div> <div>Although Barry Vercoe wrote Csound, few of us would have spent the pas= t 40+ years working, discovering, exploring, learning, teaching, creating, = and growing with Csound were it not for John's work, gift, and commitment&n= bsp;to supporting all of our dreams, especially mine.</div> <div> </div> <div>I am headed to London in a week to demo "Csound's Brain" with a 1= 6-year-old student at NIME. And, as always, I am using dozens of his = opcodes and tricks to make it sound magical and work beautifully! In fact, = I added extra days to the trip so I could go to Bath, visit him, and h= elp him with his Linux and sound systems. I have a mixer in my b= ag for him and a Quest 3, too, so he could jam in the MetaVerse with m= e in my studio and him in from home. Now, he will just live in m= y music and be a part of every performance and will not need a Quest3 for t= hat!</div> <div> </div> <div>I have lost such a dear friend. We have all lost a dear friend= =2E He gave us all so very much.</div> <div> </div> <div>As we continue to share the beauty, power, elegance, and possibilities= of Csound with our students and each other, we now have a patron saint who= is teaching Csound to the angels. (And maybe adding some new opcodes= for them too, but probably not AutoTune.)</div> <div> </div> <div>I love you, John, and have been so blessed to work with you, study wit= h you, learn from you, hang with you, play with you, publish with you, comp= ose with you, and perform with you!</div> <div> </div> <div>There is a huge empty space in my heart that I will fill every da= y with gratitude for all the blessings that I continue to receive from= you.</div> <div> </div> <div>Do give Barry Vercoe a hug for me, and for all of us csounders, t= oo. </div> <div> </div> <div>I can't begin to imagine the sounds and music that the two of you= are making possible up there. </div> <div> </div> <div>Gsound?</div> <div> </div> <div>- Rick</div> <div> </div> <div><strong style=3D"color: #ff0000; font-family: verdana,sans-serif;">- D= r.B</strong></div> <div> <div class=3D"v1gmail_signature" dir=3D"ltr"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <div dir=3D"ltr"> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><strong><span style=3D"background-color: #ffffff; color: #0b539= 4; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></strong></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><strong><span style=3D"background-color: #ffffff; color: #0b539= 4; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Dr. Richard Boulanger</span></strong>= </p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal; color: #000000;"><span style=3D"font-family: verdana, sans-serif= ; font-size: xx-small;">Professor</span></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal; color: #000000;"><span style=3D"font-family: verdana, sans-serif= ; font-size: xx-small;">Electronic Production and Design<br /></span></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><strong><span style=3D"color: #ff0000; font-family: verdana, sa= ns-serif;">Berklee College of Music</span></strong></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><span style=3D"color: #000000;"><span style=3D"font-family: ver= dana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Professional Writing & Technolo= gy Division</span></span></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><span style=3D"color: #000000;"><span style=3D"font-family: ver= dana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></span></p> <p style=3D"text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-heigh= t: normal;"><span style=3D"color: #000000;"><span style=3D"font-family: ver= dana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><a href=3D"https://richardboulanger= =2Ecom" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer">https://richardboulan= ger.com</a></span></span></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </blockquote> </body></html> --=_e99afdce81dad5fffa77c1923ea84ef5--