Meet Albert Santoni, Airtime’s new team lead

The Airtime team has been changing, and the most recent addition to the family is our new team leader, Albert Santoni. Albert is based in Toronto and brings with him a rich set of skills in software development for audio production as well as a passion for open source tools. We sat down with him and got him to share a few details about what he sees in the bright future of Airtime.

Albert, you used to work on Mixxx, can you tell me a little about that experience and what that project is all about?

Mixxx is open source software for performing live DJ mixes on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's a community-run project with a dedicated team of developers, artists, and DJs who all volunteer their time to help develop Mixxx. I took over leading the project in 2006 together with Adam Davison, and we helped grow the project to over 2 million downloads annually and created a feature set that now rivals high-end commercial DJ software. We also topped the Mac App Store as the #1 free app worldwide in early 2011.

I was initially interested in working on Mixxx because I wanted to use some of my DJ equipment with Linux. In the process of integrating that hardware with Mixxx, I had to fix some related bugs and in turn develop other features that were necessary to complete my project. These "other features" soon snowballed, and I became the most active and experienced developer, often helping other DJs get started developing their own features for Mixxx.

What got you interested in working with Sourcefabric and Airtime?

I was recently looking for an opportunity to apply my project management and software development skills to a new challenge, and Airtime seemed like a great fit. An increasing number of Mixxx users have been drawn to Airtime as a solution for live broadcasting, and so I had been following the project for a number of years. I was excited to hear about an opening on the team and I'm glad to now be part of it.

Do you have a background in radio or audio production?

I have background in audio production as both a music producer and a software developer. Besides developing DJ software, I have also created several software tools and plug-in instruments for music producers over at Oscillicious Audio Labs. My interest in electronic music production initially led to the creation of Oscillicious, and my experience working with modern DAW-based production workflows greatly influenced the products that I subsequently designed and created. Many of these products are used by GRAMMY Award winning producers today.

What are some of your goals for the team?

Our main focus is improving our current broadcasting solution and adding extra depth to the features that are most in demand. I'd like to see us better organized as an open source project and be better engaged with both developers and users within the community.

What are you going to be focusing on right away?

I am currently working with the team to establish more rigid internal processes for feature design and software development, with the intention of having users see tangible benefits from this very soon.

Where do you see Airtime going?

In the future, I see Airtime continuing to cover more and more radio and broadcast use cases. I think improving our design and development processes will help Airtime become easier to use and offer better coverage to different user groups. We have a few tricks up our sleeve too. So stay tuned!

What is your impression of the team and the history of the project so far?

I have had a great impression so far, and I think Lisa has put together a one-of-a-kind team. I have been constantly impressed with how sharp our team is, all across the board, from our developers to our QA and support teams. I'm confident that we have what it takes to get Airtime powering more stations in new and exciting ways.

How do you like working for an international company in Toronto? You were recently in Prague meeting the whole team for Sourcecamp, what was your experience?

As Toronto is a multi-cultural city, it feels natural to be working for an international company. Meeting the whole team in Prague offered many opportunities for the cross-pollination of ideas as well as the crystallization of our experiences into valuable knowledge that we could share within our organization. I have never worked with such a large number of open source developers before, and I think together we are building a very strong suite of tools for independent media. We all share a common passion for open source, and after meeting the team, I think that gives Sourcefabric tremendous vitality and ultimately makes it a great place to work.

• We released Airtime 2.5 yesterday, introducing a new Playout History feature. Read more about it here!