Re: [Csnd-dev] John ffitch has passed away

--Apple-Mail=_4F54373C-6A8A-4980-AE5A-0BFFB05ACA7C
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset=utf-8

Thanks Dr B for sharing the sad news. John had his eye on what was =
happening in the world of computing and music much before he got =
involved in Csound. He was a freshly minted PhD working as a maths tutor =
at the University of Bath, when I first met him at that unforgettable =
computer music conference in Delphi in 1992 with Iannis Xenakis, Paul =
Lansky, Roger Reynolds, Perry Cook, and Gerard Pape in attendance and =
presentations on NeXT workstations and the UPIC machine. Around that =
time John often showed up on the tuning list and was at ICMC in Hong =
Kong in 1996 when John Chalmers gave a special presentation on =
alternative tuning systems. Shortly afterwards some of Csound=E2=80=99s =
first tuning opcodes appeared, written by John ffitch and documented by =
Bill Alves on the Csound Book companion CD. I still use these opcodes to =
this day. His particular area might have been maths but he had no =
trouble communicating and occasionally playing with others in adjacent =
paddocks. It was not beneath him to take part in my phone swinging =
performances like the one at 2008 ICMC Belfast, even though these were =
probably not the most flattering show case of his work. He introduced me =
to Gem Finer, another of his many collaborators who worked on a mobile =
phone project at the Uni of Bath in 2009. John replicates the example of =
Barry Vercoe who created versions of the earliest computer music =
resources that allowed researchers to continue the work Max Mathews =
began at Bell Labs. I=E2=80=99m sure many on this forum would agree the =
reach of Vercoe=E2=80=99s Csound today is due in no small measure to =
John=E2=80=99s generosity and breadth of vision. Vale. Greg S

> On 18 Jun 2026, at 00:40, Gleb Rogozinsky <[email protected]> =
wrote:
>=20
> It is very sad to hear about John's passing. For me, and for so many =
of us, John ffitch was present in the Csound world from the very =
beginning =E2=80=94 a living example of brilliant thinking, =
self-discipline, and deep awareness. I hope that someday, in another =
universe, we will meet again, and I will have more time to talk with =
you, John. Rest in peace.
>=20
> On Tue, 16 Jun 2026 at 19:43, Joel Ross <[email protected] =
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> Thank you Richard. This is terribly sad news.=20
>>=20
>> I fondly remember attending the 2008 Linux Audio Conference in K=C3=B6l=
n at which John presented a talk about work by one of his students. =
John's other contribution to that conference was a panel discussion =
which I believe was called Maths Rocks (pun intended, and appropriate!) =
including Julius Smith, John ffitch and possibly others talking about =
the importance of mathematics for music and audio. It was John's words =
which made the most impression on me at the time, he said "Don't filter =
your inputs", by which I believe he meant to emphasise the importance of =
reading and studying widely in mathematics, since you never know what =
connections you might make and besides such an attitude results in a =
richer and more fulfilling experience.=20
>>=20
>> I honestly believe this was one of the most important encounters in =
my life. I was 18 at the time and I have dedicated much of my life since =
(more than half of it at this point) to trying to live up to John's =
words and studying mathematics, something which I had formerly =
considered myself to be irretrievably bad at. John also recommended a =
book "Mathematics and Its History" by John Stillwell which I have been =
making periodic attempts at reading for many years now.=20
>>=20
>> We met at a couple of events after that, probably the LAC and ICMC =
and he was on each occasion both gracious and encouraging.
>>=20
>> For his work on Csound alone we owe John a great deal but for many of =
us, as others have been saying, John's presence had a deeper =
significance.=20
>>=20
>> Rest in peace.


--Apple-Mail=_4F54373C-6A8A-4980-AE5A-0BFFB05ACA7C
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html;
	charset=utf-8

<html aria-label=3D"message body"><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" =
content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body =
style=3D"overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; =
line-break: after-white-space;"><p style=3D"margin: 0px; font-style: =
normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-width: normal; font-size: 13px; =
line-height: normal; font-family: &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;; =
font-size-adjust: none; font-kerning: auto; font-variant-alternates: =
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; =
font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; =
font-variant-emoji: normal; font-feature-settings: normal; =
font-optical-sizing: auto; font-variation-settings: normal;">Thanks Dr B =
for sharing the sad news. John had his eye on what was happening in the =
world of computing and music much before he got involved in Csound. He =
was a freshly minted PhD working as a maths tutor at the University of =
Bath, when I first met him at that unforgettable computer music =
conference in Delphi in 1992 with Iannis Xenakis, Paul Lansky, Roger =
Reynolds, Perry Cook, and Gerard Pape in attendance and presentations on =
NeXT workstations and the UPIC machine. Around that time John often =
showed up on the tuning list and was at ICMC in Hong Kong in 1996 when =
John Chalmers gave a special presentation on alternative tuning systems. =
Shortly afterwards some of Csound=E2=80=99s first tuning opcodes =
appeared, written by John ffitch and documented by Bill Alves on the =
Csound Book companion CD. I still use these opcodes to this day. His =
particular area might have been maths but he had no trouble =
communicating and occasionally playing with others in adjacent paddocks. =
It was not beneath him to take part in my phone swinging performances =
like the one at 2008 ICMC Belfast, even though these were probably not =
the most flattering show case of his work. He introduced me to Gem =
Finer, another of his many collaborators who worked on a mobile phone =
project at the Uni of Bath in 2009. John replicates the example of Barry =
Vercoe who created versions of the earliest computer music resources =
that allowed researchers to continue the work Max Mathews began at Bell =
Labs. I=E2=80=99m sure many on this forum would agree the reach of =
Vercoe=E2=80=99s Csound today is due in no small measure to John=E2=80=99s=
 generosity and breadth of vision. Vale. Greg S</p><div><br><blockquote =
type=3D"cite"><div>On 18 Jun 2026, at 00:40, Gleb Rogozinsky =
&lt;[email protected]&gt; wrote:</div><br =
class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div dir=3D"ltr">It is very sad =
to hear about John's passing. For me, and for so many of us, John ffitch =
was present in the Csound world from the very beginning =E2=80=94 a =
living example of brilliant thinking, self-discipline, and deep =
awareness. I hope that someday, in another universe, we will meet again, =
and I will have more time to talk with you, John. Rest in =
peace.<br></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote =
gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Tue, 16 =
Jun 2026 at 19:43, Joel Ross &lt;<a =
href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&=
gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px =
0px 0px =
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(=
204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div>Thank you Richard. =
This is terribly sad news.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I fondly =
remember attending the 2008 Linux Audio Conference in&nbsp;K=C3=B6ln at =
which John presented a talk about work by one of his students. John's =
other contribution to that conference was a panel discussion which I =
believe was called Maths Rocks (pun intended, and appropriate!) =
including Julius Smith, John ffitch and possibly others talking about =
the importance of mathematics for music and audio. It was John's words =
which made the most impression on me at the time, he said "Don't filter =
your inputs", by which I believe he meant to emphasise the importance of =
reading and studying widely in mathematics, since you never know what =
connections you might make and besides such an attitude results in a =
richer and more fulfilling experience.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I =
honestly believe this was one of the most important encounters in my =
life. I was 18 at the time and I have dedicated much of my life since =
(more than half of it at this point) to trying to live up to John's =
words and studying mathematics, something which I had formerly =
considered myself to be irretrievably bad at. John also recommended a =
book "Mathematics and Its History" by John Stillwell which I have been =
making periodic attempts at reading for many years =
now.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>We met at a couple of events after =
that, probably the LAC and ICMC and he was on each occasion both =
gracious and encouraging.</div><div><br></div><div>For his work on =
Csound alone we owe John a great deal but for many of us, as others have =
been saying, John's presence had a deeper =
significance.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Rest in peace.</div></div>
</blockquote></div>
</div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>=

--Apple-Mail=_4F54373C-6A8A-4980-AE5A-0BFFB05ACA7C--