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<body> |
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<div id="mainwindow"><div class="lsbackground"><img name="LinuxSampler" src="gfx/lsbackground.jpg" alt="LinuxSampler"></div> |
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<h1><span class="hidden">The LinuxSampler Project</span></h1> |
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<table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><th colspan=2 align=left> |
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<table><tr> |
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<td><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin"><img src="gfx/logos/bitcoin32.png" alt="Bitcoins"></a></td> |
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<td>Or donate Bitcoins at:</td> |
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</tr></table> |
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<pre class="btcaddr">1Q9CK7xUhMNWryqYTZLbUTXbrjpYYtwvng</pre> |
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<hr> |
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<a href="donations.html">Why donate?</a> |
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</div> |
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</td><td valign=top width="100%"> |
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<div id="contents"> |
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<h2>The Project</h2> |
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<p class="default"> |
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The LinuxSampler project was founded in 2002 with the |
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goal to produce a free, streaming capable open source pure |
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software audio sampler with high stability, efficiency and very |
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low latency, providing professional grade features, |
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comparable to both hardware and commercial Windows/Mac software |
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samplers and to introduce new features not yet available by any |
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other sampler in the world. |
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</p> |
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<h2>The Engine</h2> |
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<p class="default"> |
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<u><b>LinuxSampler</b></u> was designed very modular, especially |
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(and in contrast to other samplers) it was decoupled from any user |
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interface. LinuxSampler itself usually runs as own process in the |
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background of the computer and usually does not show up anything on |
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the screen, or at most it can be launched to show status |
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informations and debug messages in a console window:<br> |
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<br> |
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<a href="screenshots/ls_0_5_1_console.png"> |
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<img src="screenshots/ls_0_5_1_console_preview.png"> |
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</a><br> |
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<br> |
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That means LinuxSampler itself is the "engine" of the sampler, it |
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is the software component which performs all the heavy and time |
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critical computational tasks of handling MIDI events, calculating |
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the audio data and sending the final audio data to your sound |
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card(s). We call LinuxSampler the <i>sampler backend</i>. |
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</p> |
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<h2>The Face(s)</h2> |
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<p class="default"> |
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Obviously you need some way to control the sampler. That's where a |
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2nd application comes into game, which we call a |
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<i>sampler frontend</i> application. A frontend is (usually) a |
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graphical application, visible on the screen, providing the user |
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a set of e.g. menus, buttons, sliders, dials, etc. to allow the |
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user to control the sampler in a convenient way. It merely sends |
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the user requests to the sampler engine (LinuxSampler) and in turn |
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shows the engine's status informations on the screen. A frontend |
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does not perform any signal processing tasks, so you can see it as |
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a "face" of the sampler.<br> |
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<br> |
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For luxury we already provide you two different frontends / "faces" |
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for LinuxSampler: |
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</p> |
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<ul> |
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<li> |
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<u><b>QSampler</b></u> is a light-weight frontend written in |
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C++, using straightforward native graphical controls of the |
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underlying operating system. That way the appearance of |
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QSampler on the screen is very fast and it only consumes very |
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little resources. Due to its utilization of the operating |
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system's common GUI controls, it looks slightly different on |
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every operating system (also dependent of the user's selected |
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theme on his OS):<br> |
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<br> |
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<a href="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_win.jpg"> |
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<img src="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_win_preview.jpg"> |
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</a> |
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<a href="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_ubuntu.png"> |
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<img src="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_ubuntu_preview.png"> |
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</a><br> |
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<br> |
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Note however, QSampler does not fully support all features of |
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the sampler engine (LinuxSampler) yet. Most notably the |
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engine's instruments database feature is not yet covered by |
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QSampler. But if you don't need that particular feature, |
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you're certainly fine with QSampler as well.<br> |
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<br> |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<u><b>JSampler</b></u> is a full-fledged frontend for |
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LinuxSampler, written in Java and currently comes in two |
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flavors: <b>JSampler "Classic"</b> offers straightforward GUI |
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controls whereas <b>JSampler "Fantasia"</b> provides a modern |
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skin based user interface:<br> |
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<br> |
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<a href="screenshots/fantasia.png"><img src="screenshots/fantasia-preview.png"></a> |
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<br> |
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JSampler supports all features currently available in the |
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sampler engine (LinuxSampler). Also note that even though |
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JSampler is written in Java and slightly more hungry |
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regarding resources (compared to QSampler), this usually |
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does not have any impact on the audio rendering performance |
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of the sampler, since the engine runs completely independently |
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and with much higher CPU priority than the frontend(s).<br> |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p class="default"> |
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It's completely up to you which frontend to use. You could even use |
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both parallel at the same time for the same sampler engine |
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instance, really! ;-) You're concerned that your sampler frontend |
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might waste precious resources of your computer? No problem, just |
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setup the sampler session for your needs and then quit the |
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frontend application. The sampler engine doesn't care! It continues |
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to do its job. You need to change something? Start the frontend |
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again (or another frontend) and you see what you expect to see: the |
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current setup and state of the running sampler engine. |
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</p> |
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<h2>Sampler Formats</h2> |
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<p class="default"> |
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Virtual instruments (i.e. pianos, drums, orchestra ensembles) based |
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on sampler software are created and distributed as files, which |
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essentially contain recorded audio samples plus so called |
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<i>articulation informations</i>. The latter are a very important |
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factor to make audio samples assemble a realistic sound of i.e. |
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natural instruments. The are defining when and how exactly |
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the individual audio samples shall be played back and modified by |
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the sampler. So a <i>sampler format</i> is made up of two things: |
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</p> |
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<ol class="default"> |
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<li> |
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<b>File format:</b> which defines how audio samples and |
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articulation informations are stored in files exactly. |
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</li> |
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<li><b>Synthesis model:</b> which defines what the sampler sampler |
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can do with audio samples, and how the sampler should interpret |
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the articulation informations stored in files. |
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</i> |
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</ol> |
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<p class="default"> |
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It is planned to support all common sampler formats in |
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LinuxSampler. At the moment the sampler supports the following |
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three: |
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</p> |
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<ol class="default"> |
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<li> |
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<b>GigaStudio/GigaSampler Format:</b> |
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First format ever supported by LinuxSampler and hence probably |
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the most mature option in LinuxSampler right now. When we |
| 296 |
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started to develop LinuxSampler back in 2002, we chose to |
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concentrate on this commercial sampler format first, because at |
| 298 |
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that point it was (in our opinion) the most popular and "best" |
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sampler format in regards of quality and features, especially |
| 300 |
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for the synthesis of natural instruments like pianos, brass and |
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bowed instruments. Some of the best sounding orchestra |
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libraries were made in this format at that time.<br> |
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<br> |
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In contrast to all those commercial samplers |
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out there who claim to support the GigaStudio/GigaSampler format, |
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we invested many years and a lot of effort to reassemble the original |
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sound of this format as exactly as possible, as it was with the |
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original GigaStudio PC software. Other samplers usually provide |
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only raw sample playback for this format and - if at all - only |
| 310 |
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limited support for its articulations and synthesis model. |
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LinuxSampler however is providing i.e. envelopes and filters |
| 312 |
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with very precise characteristics and accuracy of the original |
| 313 |
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ones used in the original GigaStudio software. We even |
| 314 |
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reassembled the "warty" parts of the format, that is strange |
| 315 |
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aspects of the format. All this just to fulfill one goal: |
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playing back your huge collection of high class .gig instruments with |
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LinuxSampler exactly as they sounded like with GigaStudio! |
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And as of to date there is probably no other sampler out there |
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which does that job better. |
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<br><br> |
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</li> |
| 322 |
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<li> |
| 323 |
|
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<b>SoundFont Format:</b> |
| 324 |
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|
Being a very popular sampler format, supported by numerous |
| 325 |
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hardware devices and sampler software products for many years, |
| 326 |
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|
we also added support for the SoundFont format. However, since |
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this format is fairly old and limited we did not spend as much |
| 328 |
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|
effort on it than on the other formats. So there is currently |
| 329 |
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not full support for all aspects of this format yet. Be invited |
| 330 |
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to help us on finishing support for this format! |
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|
<br><br> |
| 332 |
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|
</li> |
| 333 |
|
|
<li> |
| 334 |
|
|
<b>SFZ Format:</b> Not to be interchanged with the |
| 335 |
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<i>SoundFont</i> format! Even though their names suggest them to |
| 336 |
|
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be similar, and also being initiated by the same company, the SFZ |
| 337 |
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|
format does not have much in common with the SoundFont format! |
| 338 |
|
|
The SFZ format is a quite new one, an open format that is also |
| 339 |
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used as basis in many commercial sampler products. It has the |
| 340 |
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potential to become a broad standard format among sampler |
| 341 |
|
|
products. It is extensible for custom features, provides |
| 342 |
|
|
articulation information in human-readable text form and samples |
| 343 |
|
|
are usually stored as separate files along to the articulation |
| 344 |
|
|
files. The latter also allows a variety of audio formats to be |
| 345 |
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used and gives sound designers and their customers various |
| 346 |
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|
advantages to work with. |
| 347 |
|
|
<br><br> |
| 348 |
|
|
Due to its high potential we recently spent a lot of time in |
| 349 |
|
|
supporting this format in LinuxSampler. A lot of this format is |
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|
<a href="/sfz/">already supported</a> (v1 and v2) in |
| 351 |
|
|
LinuxSampler, also extensions of commercial samplers, and we |
| 352 |
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continue to evolve support for this format. |
| 353 |
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|
</li> |
| 354 |
|
|
</ol> |
| 355 |
|
|
<p class="default"> |
| 356 |
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Along to these formats, we have been thinking about creating our |
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|
own, new sampler format from scratch, for providing new sampler |
| 358 |
|
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features currently not available in any sampler yet. However when |
| 359 |
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|
we started adding support for SFZ, we realized such features should |
| 360 |
|
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rather be implemented as extension to the SFZ format. |
| 361 |
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|
</p> |
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|
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<h2>Instrument Editors</h2> |
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<p class="default"> |
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For creating new virtual instruments and for adjusting your |
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|
existing ones, you may want to use an instrument editor. |
| 367 |
|
|
LinuxSampler was designed decoupled from instrument editors, but |
| 368 |
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|
provides extensive support for cooperation with instrument editor |
| 369 |
|
|
applications. Especially for the aspect of being able to edit an |
| 370 |
|
|
instrument while playing it in the sampler, and for making all |
| 371 |
|
|
changes audible immediately and without reloading the sounds into |
| 372 |
|
|
sampler.<br> |
| 373 |
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|
<br> |
| 374 |
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|
Currently we implemented the following instrument editor |
| 375 |
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|
application:<br> |
| 376 |
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|
<br> |
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<u><b>gigedit</b></u> allows you to edit and create instruments |
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for the GigaStudio/Gigasampler format, which can be used with LinuxSampler |
| 379 |
|
|
as well as with Tascam's original Gigastudio software. Following our line of |
| 380 |
|
|
modularity we also made this instrument editor an independent |
| 381 |
|
|
application. Because let's face it: every sampler format is |
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different, so in our opinion it is better to honor the specific |
| 383 |
|
|
features of one format with its own instrument editor application |
| 384 |
|
|
instead of trying to fiddle everything into one single bloated |
| 385 |
|
|
application. So gigedit is our first editor, dedicated to the .gig |
| 386 |
|
|
format:<br> |
| 387 |
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<br> |
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<a href="screenshots/gigedit_0_0_3.png"><img src="screenshots/gigedit_0_0_3_preview.jpg"></a> |
| 389 |
|
|
<br> |
| 390 |
|
|
You can use gigedit as stand-alone application or in conjunction |
| 391 |
|
|
with LinuxSampler. For the latter case gigedit installs a plugin |
| 392 |
|
|
into the sampler engine, so the engine (and with it the frontends) |
| 393 |
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|
knows that gigedit actually exists and can handle the .gig format. |
| 394 |
|
|
So even though we decoupled the sampler's components into |
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independent applications, they all work seamlessly together. |
| 396 |
|
|
<a href="http://download.linuxsampler.org/doc/gigedit/quickstart/gigedit_quickstart.html#live_editing"> |
| 397 |
|
|
Just press the "Edit" button |
| 398 |
|
|
</a> on a channel strip of a frontend and |
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gigedit will automatically popup on the screen and you're |
| 400 |
|
|
immediately ready to edit your selected instrument, making all your |
| 401 |
|
|
modifications audible in realtime. Even when editing huge |
| 402 |
|
|
instruments of 1GB or more, tweak the instrument with gigedit and |
| 403 |
|
|
immediately hear it while playing on the keyboard at the same time. |
| 404 |
|
|
And the good thing: even with new sampler formats we're going to |
| 405 |
|
|
add soon (and with it new editors), you don't have to remember |
| 406 |
|
|
which instrument you loaded uses which format. Simply click on |
| 407 |
|
|
"Edit" in a frontend and the sampler engine will choose the right |
| 408 |
|
|
instrument editor application for the respective instrument for |
| 409 |
|
|
you. |
| 410 |
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</p> |
| 411 |
|
|
|
| 412 |
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<h2>Technical Interfaces</h2> |
| 413 |
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<p class="default"> |
| 414 |
|
|
As the components of the sampler are independent applications, |
| 415 |
|
|
there must be a way to let the applications communicate with each |
| 416 |
|
|
other. For this LinuxSampler provides a native C++ |
| 417 |
|
|
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface">API</a> |
| 418 |
|
|
as well as a network interface using an ASCII based protocol which |
| 419 |
|
|
we call "<a href="http://www.linuxsampler.org/api/draft-linuxsampler-protocol.html" title="LinuxSampler Control Protocol">LSCP</a>" |
| 420 |
|
|
for controlling the sampler engine and managing sampler sessions. |
| 421 |
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Our frontends support that network interface, which also allows to |
| 422 |
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control the sampler engine with the GUI frontend(s) remotely from |
| 423 |
|
|
another computer, probably even running a completely different |
| 424 |
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Operating System. And compared to other remote control solutions, |
| 425 |
|
|
the frontend won't feel sluggish, as the frontend is running on |
| 426 |
|
|
your local machine.<br> |
| 427 |
|
|
<br> |
| 428 |
|
|
You can also configure your computer to automatically start the |
| 429 |
|
|
sampler engine and loading your prefered sampler session without |
| 430 |
|
|
any frontend, simply by using a <i>LSCP session file</i>. How do |
| 431 |
|
|
you get such a "LSCP session file"? Both frontends write LSCP |
| 432 |
|
|
session files for you when you request them to save your current |
| 433 |
|
|
sampler session. And as those LSCP session files are ordinary |
| 434 |
|
|
human readable text files, you can adjust them with any text |
| 435 |
|
|
editor if you want. |
| 436 |
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</p> |
| 437 |
|
|
|
| 438 |
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<h2>Compatibility & Cross Platform</h2> |
| 439 |
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<p class="default"> |
| 440 |
|
|
LinuxSampler is available for the most popular operating |
| 441 |
|
|
systems and already supports a variety of audio and MIDI driver |
| 442 |
|
|
systems on each OS. It does not require any special dedicated |
| 443 |
|
|
device drivers from the sound card manufacturers, so you can |
| 444 |
|
|
also use it with cheap consumer cards. Due to its clean design |
| 445 |
|
|
the sampler can be ported to other operating systems and |
| 446 |
|
|
extended for further driver systems with a minimum of effort. |
| 447 |
|
|
So we're prepared for the future! |
| 448 |
|
|
</p> |
| 449 |
|
|
|
| 450 |
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<h2>Sequencer & DAW Plugin Support</h2> |
| 451 |
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<p class="default"> |
| 452 |
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The sampler can be run stand alone as well as host plugin in popular |
| 453 |
|
|
sequencer or digital audio workstations like Cubase, Logic, Ardour, |
| 454 |
|
|
QTractor, Reaper and many more. At the moment the sampler supports |
| 455 |
|
|
the host plugin formats VSTi (v2), AudiUnit (AU), DSSI and LV2.<br> |
| 456 |
|
|
<br> |
| 457 |
|
|
You can also load effect plugins into the sampler, for them being |
| 458 |
|
|
used on parts or as master effects. Currently only the LADSPA plugin |
| 459 |
|
|
format is supported for sampler internal effects. |
| 460 |
|
|
</p> |
| 461 |
|
|
|
| 462 |
|
|
<h2>Community</h2> |
| 463 |
|
|
<p class="default"> |
| 464 |
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You need a helping hand? You certainly get the answers on your |
| 465 |
|
|
personal questions on our |
| 466 |
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<a href="http://bb.linuxsampler.org/">web forum</a>.<br> |
| 467 |
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<br> |
| 468 |
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All applications are under active development. However we all work |
| 469 |
|
|
on this project for fun in our spare time. There are still so many |
| 470 |
|
|
things to do and our hands are limited. So don't hesitate on |
| 471 |
|
|
participating to the project! You don't necessarily need to be a |
| 472 |
|
|
skilled programmer to help the project. Testing the applications, |
| 473 |
|
|
<a href="http://bugs.linuxsampler.org.">reporting bugs</a>, writing |
| 474 |
|
|
documentation, providing artwork, themes for frontends, etc. helps |
| 475 |
|
|
us and all users a lot! Simply subscribe to our |
| 476 |
|
|
<a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linuxsampler-devel"> |
| 477 |
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developers mailing list |
| 478 |
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</a> and we'll of course take you by the hand in case you want to |
| 479 |
|
|
participate with active source code development. Don't be afraid! |
| 480 |
|
|
You have your own ideas and concepts for making the sampler better? |
| 481 |
|
|
Great, share them with us!<br> |
| 482 |
|
|
<br> |
| 483 |
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<br> |
| 484 |
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</p> |
| 485 |
|
|
|
| 486 |
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</div> |
| 487 |
|
|
</td></tr></table> |
| 488 |
|
|
|
| 489 |
|
|
</div> |
| 490 |
|
|
|
| 491 |
|
|
</body> |
| 492 |
|
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</html> |
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