John


May I propose that we as a forum send a letter to his family expressing our deep sorrow and our great feeling of loss.

I view this thread as a kind of testimonial to Ba Midi that is great for us but does nothing for those of his family he left behind. I believe they would like to know just how much he meant to us here.

A single letter from all of us noting what his loss to us means.

This is in respect for him and for those that were close to him.

it could be posted here and signed by each of us and forwarded via CW, if CW agrees. Or by some other means if so desired.

If  this forum agrees please let us know here or PM me.

I will write a draft for all to agree with or others can do the same and the forum can pick the one that is most appropriate.

Of course we can decide not to do so if that is the forum's wish.

This is simply a proposal. 

Yesterday when it was confirmed I was in no mood to post anything on this forum. Somehow none of the various threads held any interest for me.

Today I can deal with this thread and this forum as a whole. But it is still a shock. 

That's a great idea, John.  Count me in and thanks for doing this.

Truly sad news. Billy's voice on the forums and his passion will be missed. On behalf of everyone at Cakewalk I would like to express our condolences to his family. Robin

This is a draft of what I had in mind. Please feel free to make suggestions and changes.

Dearest Family of  Mr. William Arnell


The Cakewalk Sonar X1 users forum is deeply grieved to learn of the passing of Mr. Arnell. We know him as BA Midi. We have come together to let his family know just how much he meant to us and to not let his passing go by without letting those that knew him best know that we care, greatly and will miss him greatly.

On this forum, which is all about computer music software, he has been a member for a very long time and one of the most respected.  Often he has helped us with issues with no regard to his time or being reticent in offering his vast knowledge.

With his presence here we were all better for it.  He was a peace maker here without being judgmental. By him posting, many disagreements were concluded because he offered insights that would bring us to understanding.

We know him as a sort of mentor to us all and a gifted musician. We have never written to anyone about a member that is no longer on this forum. It is unprecedented.  However, for Ba Midi it is an honor to speak of his being a member here and to remember him with the greatest love.

We are a very diverse group that comes from all walks of life and from all over the world. We are in full agreement about the awful loss you and we are feeling. Normally this forum is seldom in agreement on much of anything. Here we all feel the loss.

If you come to this forum and read the testimonial written in remembering him you will be our honored guest. 

We wish you to know that you have our deepest sympathy. 

The Cakewalk users forum

Below is a short listing of the members that wish to place their names on this letter.

 

Sounds good, John. Some minor criticisms/corrections from me, for your consideration:

1.) "Cakewalk users' forum" instead of "Cakewalk Sonar X1 forum", perhaps???

2.) "BA Midi" or "B.A. Midi", instead of "Ba ..."?

3.) "... that we care greatly, and will miss..."

4.) "presence" instead of "presents"

Yes,  Keith is correct...I wanted to say the same things,  but John is doing such a great job i did not want to say anything.


Anyways, thank you John and please include me.

Thanks to you, John for taking the time to pen this beautiful and simple letter. It honors the memory of our friend.

Yes, John, You hit the right notes on this for me....

keith


Sounds good, John. Some minor criticisms/corrections from me, for your consideration:

1.) "Cakewalk users' forum" instead of "Cakewalk Sonar X1 forum", perhaps???

2.) "BA Midi" or "B.A. Midi", instead of "Ba ..."?

3.) "... that we care greatly, and will miss..."

4.) "presence" instead of "presents"

Thank you Keith. I have corrected it. I only added the users to the forum identity because I want the family to be able to find this place and read the thread if they wish. I did not want to make it sound to cold with an internet address.  

I think the punctuation is correct for the "greatly" part but will be glad to change it if I am wrong.

I really appreciate you looking it over and making sound suggestions.

I plan to add from the forum membership as a signature.

I do hope it would be agreed that some will allow me to put member's names on it. However, I leave that up to the membership to decide how that should be done or if it should be done.  First names perhaps.  

Also I am thinking I should start a new thread just for this purpose and leave this one as a testimonial.

I do not want to upset anyone or create any issues. This is just an idea only. It is up to the forum as to how to proceed or to proceed at all.

That made me teary, John.

John

I think the punctuation is correct for the "greatly" part but will be glad to change it if I am wrong. 

Oh, not sure if you were going for "that we care greatly, and will miss him greatly" or "that we care, greatly, and will miss him greatly.". Although I think the second one is for emphasis, but may not be technically correct. :) Anyway, nitpicky stuff... an extra or missing comma here or there isn't a big deal either way. Really, there are more important things in life, right? Thanks for putting this together... I think it captures the sentiment very well.