+The LinuxSampler development team is happy to announce that
+LinuxSampler, the most advanced free, open source sampler finally runs on
+MS Windows too. More information will be added here soon, so check back frequently.
+
+For now the sampler supports the Windows Multimedia Extensions System (MME)
+for MIDI input and ASIO for audio out. This means it currently runs only
+as a standalone application. A VST interface will follow soon, along with
+a network module to run multiple sampler slaves distributed on Windows or
+Linux machines (Linux provides better performance) all controlled from a
+Windows box i.e. running the VST sequencer.
-the LinuxSampler development team is happy to announce that
-LinuxSampler, the most advanced free, open source sampler now runs on
-MS Windows too (requires at least Windows 2000).
-(see below for the download link)
-More information and documentation will be added here soon, so check
-back frequently.
-
-for the latest LinuxSampler Windowsversion always check LinuxSampler
-Download Page
-
-If you have questions or want to help subscribe to the LinuxSampler
-mailing list
-
-or since I did most of of the porting, you can write me directly (to
-Benno) about Windows related questions.
-you can find my email address here: LinuxSampler
-developers
-
-To report bugs please use our bug tracking system http://bugs.linuxsampler.org/
-
-
-For now it supports Windows Multimedia System (MME) at MIDI in and ASIO
-output out.
-
-This means that currently it runs only as a standalone application.
-A VST interface will follow soon, along with a network module to run
-multiple sampler slaves on
-Windows or Linux machines (Linux provides better performance) all
-controlled from a Windows box running
-the VST sequencer.
LinuxSampler is implemented as a client/server application. This means
-the sampling engine (the server) runs
-independently from the GUI (the client). Sampling engine and client can
-be run on the same box or
-on different machines too, connected over the network.
+the sampling engine (the server / backend) runs
+independently from the GUI (the client / frontend). Sampling engine and
+client can be run on the same box or on different machines too, connected
+over the network.
The MS Windows version provides all the features of the Linux version
-since it is built from the
+(except of the instruments DB feature yet) since it is built from the
same source code base. This means when new features will come out the
-Windows version will always provide
-the same feature set as the Linux version. This was made possible by
-the very modular design of both
-low level, operating system functions and flexible audio/MIDI driver
+Windows version will usually provide the same feature set as the Linux
+version. This was made possible by the very modular design of both
+low level, operating system functions and flexible audio / MIDI driver
system.
The Windows version comes as a self extracting .exe file which will
-install all the necessary modules
-to run both the server ( linuxsampler.exe ) and the GUI client.
-In installs 2 GUI clients. One is QSampler, based on the cross-platform
-Qt4 GUI toolkit, and a java
-GUI client called JSampler Fantasia. At the moment the latter more
-advanced than qsampler as it
-implements all the functionality present in the LinuxSampler engine.
-Due to the Java virtual machine it uses a bit more memory than the
-qsampler GUI (around 30MB or so)
-but on a 1GB+ RAM box the difference should be negligible.
-
-Quickstart:
-start
-LinuxSampler -> LinuxSampler
-then
-LinuxSampler -> Fantasa
-
-
-1) setting up MIDI input:
-once the GUI opens, click on the left round button in the MIDI devices
-tab.
-At this point a window will open where you can create a new MIDI device.
-Press Create. The window will close and the MIDI device will be created.
-(MIDI Device 0 MME).
-Now click on the right arrow which points downwards.
-You can see that a MIDI device with a single Port (Port 0) was created.
+install all the necessary modules to run both the server ( linuxsampler.exe )
+and the GUI client. It installs 2 GUI clients:
+
+
One is QSampler, a light-weight frontend based on the
+ cross-platform Qt4 GUI toolkit with native OS GUI widgets
+
Another is JSampler "Fantasia", a Java based GUI client called,
+ providing a modern skin-based user interface
+
+At the moment JSampler is more advanced than QSampler as it implements all
+the functionality present in the LinuxSampler engine. Due to the Java
+virtual machine however it occupies a bit more RAM than the
+QSsampler GUI (around 30MB or so) and takes a bit longer for startup,
+but on a 1GB+ RAM box the difference should be negligible.
+
+
+
+
+Tip: For consumer audio cards which do not come with their own ASIO
+drivers you can install ASIO4ALL to be
+able to use LinuxSampler with your soundcard.
+We recommend to use version 2.7, perhaps on Vista 2.8beta1 works better but
+we did not perform tests on Vista so we cannot tell it. Please let us know
+about your results so we can share them here!
+
+
+
3.a Installation with Internet Connection
+Simply download the latest version of the LinuxSampler Windows installer
+from the LinuxSampler
+Download Page, execute the installer and follow the instructions. It will
+automatically detect if the required software components are already installed.
+If not, it will download them from the internet and install them on your
+computer.
+
+
+
3.b Installation without Internet
+First download the required components with a machine which has connection to
+the internet:
+
+Transfer the downloaded files to the computer where you want to install
+LinuxSampler and install them in the following order:
+
+
gtk-2.10.11-win32-1.exe
+
gtkmm-win32-runtime-2.10.11-1.exe
+
jre-6u2-windows-i586-p.exe
+
linuxsampler_20071207_setup.exe
+
+The order is important, since the components depend on each other and would
+otherwise try to download the missing component from the internet.
+
+
+
4. Using the Applications
+Now that we installed everything, let's get wet and start the applications:
+
+
First start the LinuxSampler backend: Click on "Start" ->
+ "LinuxSampler" -> "LinuxSampler 0.5.1 (backend)". A black console
+ window should immediately popup. It does what you think it does:
+ nothing ... yet ... because this is "just" the raw sampler, without a
+ user interface.
+
Now start a "frontend" application to actually control the previously
+ started sampler. For beginners and / or unpatient people, we recommend
+ you to use JSampler: Click on "Start" -> "LinuxSampler" ->
+ "JSampler 'Fantasia' 0.8a (frontend)". This usually takes about
+ 20 seconds or so until the application finally appears on the
+ screens.
+
+
+
+
+
4.1 Setting up MIDI Input
+Once the GUI opens, click on the left round button in the MIDI devices
+tab.
+At this point a window will open where you can create a new MIDI device.
+Press Create. The window will close and the MIDI device will be created.
+(MIDI Device 0 MME).
+Now click on the right arrow which points downwards.
+You can see that a MIDI device with a single Port (Port 0) was created.
Under Windows MME LinuxSampler always creates MIDI devices which are
-connected to a single
-MME port.
+connected to a single MME port.
To select the MIDI input port you must click on the field located on
-the left of PORT.
+the left of PORT.
A combobox pops-up where you can select the Windows MIDI port.
You can create an arbitrary number of MIDI input devices by repeating
-the procedure above.
-Each MIDI input device is connected to a single Windows MME MIDI port.
+the procedure above.
+Each MIDI input device is connected to a single Windows MME MIDI port.
This means LinuxSampler has no limitation in terms of number of MIDI
-ports.
-Each MIDI device can be routed to arbitrary sampler channels.
-
-
-2) setting up AUDIO output:
-
-LinuxSampler currently uses the ASIO driver model for audio output.
-ASIO drivers ensure reliable low-latency operation and are virtually
-available
-for any soundcard.
-(For consumer audio cards which do not come with their own ASIO drivers
-you need
-to install ASIO4ALL: http://www.asio4all.com/
-We recommend to use version 2.7 , perhaps on Vista 2.8beta1 works
-better but
-we did not perform tests on Vista so we cannot tell it. Let us know
-about your findings
-so we can share them here)
-
-Click on the left round button in the Audio Devices tab.
-At this point a window will open where you can create a new MIDI device.
-When creating the Audio device you can set several parameters.
-- CARD : the name of the soundcard, in case you have multiple cards
-installed.
-it will show the default value (first card found)
-- CHANNELS: number of audio output channels, can range from 1 to
-maximum number
-of channels your soundcard supports. We recommend to leave the default
-value which
-is maximum number of channels.
-- FRAGMENTSIZE: ASIO buffer size in samples. The card's default value
-is shown.
-If you experience clicks and pops during audio playback then initialize
-the
-audio output device with bigger values.
-(better if it's always a power of 2: eg. 256, 512, 1024)
-
-SAMPLERATE: sets the samplerate. The default value is shown.
-
-Now Press Create. The window will close and the Audio device will be
-created.
-AUDIO DEVICE 0 (ASIO)
-
-3) Loading samples:
-
-In the middle of the screen below the volume slider you see the sampler
-channel strip pane.
-press on the round button located on the left.
-This will create a new sampler channel.
-- click on Load Instrument
-this opens a dialog which allows you to select an instrument to be
-loaded in the sampler channel.
-(For information on how to use orchestras
+
4.2 Setting up Audio Output
+LinuxSampler currently only supports the ASIO driver model for audio output
+on Windows. ASIO drivers ensure reliable low-latency operation and are
+virtually available for any soundcard (see
+ASIO requirements tip).
+
+Click on the left round button in the Audio Devices tab.
+At this point a window will open where you can create a new MIDI device.
+When creating the Audio device you can set several parameters:
+
+
CARD : The name of the soundcard, in case you have multiple cards
+ installed. It will show the default value (first card found).
+
CHANNELS : Number of audio output channels, can range from 1 to
+ maximum number of channels your soundcard supports. We recommend to
+ leave the default value which is the maximum number of channels your
+ soundcard supports.
+
FRAGMENTSIZE : ASIO buffer size in samples. The card's default
+ value is shown. If you experience clicks and pops during audio
+ playback then initialize the audio output device with bigger values.
+ (better if it's always a power of 2: e.g. 256, 512, 1024)
+
SAMPLERATE : Sets the samplerate. The default value is shown.
+
+Now Press "Create". The window will close and the Audio device will be
+created: "AUDIO DEVICE 0 (ASIO)" appears.
+
+
+
4.3 Loading Samples
+In the middle of the screen below the volume slider, you see the sampler
+channel strip pane. press on the round button located on the left.
+This will create a new sampler channel. Click on "Load Instrument".
+This opens a dialog which allows you to select an instrument to be
+loaded in the sampler channel
+
+(for information on how to use "orchestras" click
-here)
+here, but note: orchestras, a.k.a "instruments database" is not yet supported in this
+first Windows version of LinuxSampler, but will certainly be on the next Windows release).
+
On the row "Select instrument from file" click on the orange icon
-located on the right side.
-This opens a file dialog which allows you to select a sample to be
-loaded
-(currently only the GIG format is supported).
-select the sample to be loaded and then click on Open.
-At this point the fields Instrument file shows the filename.
+located on the right side. This opens a file dialog which allows you to
+select a sample to be loaded
+(currently only the GIG format is supported).
+Select the sample to be loaded and then click on "Open".
+At this point the fields Instrument file shows the filename.
You can click on the Instrument index and select the specific
-instrument contained in the
-instrument file.
-Now press OK
-While it loads you see: Loading .. 90% .. 100%
-Once loaded you see the Instrument's name: ie FreePiano
+instrument contained in the instrument file. Now press "OK".
+
+While it loads you see: "Loading" .. "90%" .. "100%"
+
+Once loaded, you see the Instrument's name: i.e. "FreePiano"
On the left side of the sampler channel click on the arrow below
-Options.
+"Options".
This pane permits to set MIDI input device, port and channel and oudio
-output channel.
-Notice that under Windows MME the Port value is always 0.
-So the only values you can change MIDI device (normally 0 if you
-created only a single
-MIDI input device) and the MIDI channel (from 1 to 16).
-
-Saving a sampler session:
-click on the 3rd icon from the left on the row where you see the round
-icon with the S logo.
-
-Now select the directory where you want to save the file to ( extension
-.lscp = Linux Sampler Control Protocol).
-enter the name and press save. (add .lscp at end of file otherwise you
-will not see it when loading it)
+output channel.
+Notice that under Windows MME the Port value is always 0.
+So the only values you can change is "MIDI device" (normally 0 if you
+created only a single
+MIDI input device) and the MIDI channel (from 1 to 16).
+
+
+
4.4 Saving a Sampler Session
+Click on the 3rd icon from the left on the row where you see the round
+icon with the LinuxSampler "S"-shape logo.
+Now select the directory where you want to save the file to (extension
+.lscp = Linux Sampler Control Protocol).
+Enter the name and press save (add .lscp at end of file otherwise you
+will not see it in the file-open dialog later, when you want to load it again).
Next time you can load a sampler session by clicking on the second icon
-from the left
-then select a .lscp file in the file dialog and press Open.
+from the left, then select a .lscp file in the file dialog and press "Open".
This will automatically set up the MIDI devices and audio devices,
-create the sampler channels
-and load all the samples that were loaded.
-
-Installation Troubleshooting:
-it could happen that some previous installation of the Gtk+ , gtkmm
-GUI DLLs even after
-deinstallation leave some stale keys in the windows registry which
-could fool the installer into
+create the sampler channels and load all the samples that were previously
+loaded by you in the saved sampler session.
+
+
+
5. Installation Troubleshooting
+It could happen that due to previous installations of Gtk+ and gtkmm DLLs
+even after deinstallation leave some stale keys in the windows registry which
+could fool the installer into
believing that the needed DLLs are already installed therefore skipping
-its installation which will
-cause the sampler not being able to start due to the missing DLLs.
-We recommend in this case to install gtk+ and gtkmm manually. The links
-to the installers
-are given below in the Manual Installation of Helper Utilities. Just
-install them both and then LinuxSampler should work correctly.
-
-Manual Installation of Helper
-Utilities: (useful for boxes not connected on the Internet)
-
-The LinuxSampler installer needs 3 external components in order to work:
-gtk, gtk++ are needed for the gigedit sample editor
-the Java Runtime Enviroment, needed for the JSampler GUI
-
-If you want to install them manually (for example because you want to
-install LinuxSampler on a box not connected to the internet)
-get the files here:
-
-Gtk+: http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gladewin32/gtk-2.10.11-win32-1.exe?modtime=1175123376&big_mirror=0
-gtkmm: http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/gtkmm/2.10/gtkmm-win32-runtime-2.10.11-1.exe
-
-Java Runtime Enviroment: http://www.java.com/getjava/
-
-So if you want to install LinuxSampler on a machine that does not have
-a connection to the internet download the
-gtk+,gtkmm and the java installers, put them on the target machine and
-install everything before installing LinuxSampler.
-
-
-
-Bugs and Problems:
-since the
-Windows port is very young there could be several bugs which we hope to
-root out soon.
-so be sure to report them using our bug tracking system http://bugs.linuxsampler.org/
-
-some bugs and problems I discovered:
-- when adding a channel there noises could occur while playing on other
-channels
-- if you overload the sampler (CPU overload or disk overload) it
-produces noises
-- then editing an instrument using gigedit, after saving it, it could
-happen that LinuxSampler does not
- accept commands from the GUI anymore. if this happens close the
-GUI and the LinuxSampler console window and restart both.
+its installation which will
+cause the sampler not being able to start due to the missing DLLs.
+We recommend in this case to install gtk+ and gtkmm manually as described
+above in "Installation without Internet".
+Just install those mentioned Gtk+ and gtkmm versions and then LinuxSampler
+should work correctly.
+
+
+
6. Detailed Documentation
+You find more detailed documentation about our software, i.e. about JSampler
+or gigedit on our official
+LinuxSampler documentation site.
+
+
+
7. Bugs, Problems and Feature Requests
+Since the Windows port of LinuxSampler is very young, there could be several
+bugs which we hope to root out soon.
+Please report them using our bug tracking system:
+
+ http://bugs.linuxsampler.org/
+
+Some bugs and problems I discovered so far:
+
+
when adding a channel there noises could occur while playing on other
+ channels
+
if you overload the sampler (CPU overload or disk overload) it
+ produces noises
+
when editing an instrument using gigedit, after saving it, it could
+ happen that LinuxSampler does not accept commands from the GUI anymore.
+ if this happens close the GUI and the LinuxSampler console window and
+ restart both.
+
+
+
+
8. Contact
+If you have questions or want to help us to improve the sampler,
+subscribe to the
+LinuxSampler Developer's mailing list. Alternatively, since I did most
+of of the Windows porting, you can write me (Benno) directly about Windows
+related issues. You can find my email address here:
+
+ http://www.linuxsampler.org/developers.html
+
HOWTO by Benno Senoner