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145                          </td><td valign=top width="100%">                          </td><td valign=top width="100%">
146                          <div id="contents">                          <div id="contents">
147    
148                          <h2>General</h2>                          <h2>The Project</h2>
149                            <p class="default">
150                            The LinuxSampler project was founded with the
151                            goal to produce a free, streaming capable open source pure
152                            software audio sampler with professional grade features,
153                            comparable to both hardware and commercial Windows/Mac software
154                            samplers and to introduce new features not yet available by any
155                            other sampler in the world.
156                            </p>
157    
158                            <h2>The Engine</h2>
159                            <p class="default">
160                            <u><b>LinuxSampler</b></u> was designed very modular, especially
161                            (and in contrast to other samplers) it was decoupled from any user
162                            interface. LinuxSampler itself usually runs as own process in the
163                            background of the computer and usually does not show up anything on
164                            the screen, or at most it can be launched to show status
165                            informations and debug messages in a console window:<br>
166                            <br>
167                            <a href="screenshots/ls_0_5_1_console.png">
168                                    <img src="screenshots/ls_0_5_1_console_preview.png">
169                            </a><br>
170                            <br>
171                            That means LinuxSampler itself is the "engine" of the sampler, it
172                            is the software component which performs all the heavy and time
173                            critical computational tasks of handling MIDI events, calculating
174                            the audio data and sending the final audio data to your sound
175                            card(s). We call LinuxSampler the <i>sampler backend</i>.
176                            </p>
177    
178                            <h2>The Face(s)</h2>
179                            <p class="default">
180                            Obviously you need some way to control the sampler. That's where a
181                            2nd application comes into game, which we call a
182                            <i>sampler frontend</i> application. A frontend is (usually) a
183                            graphical application, visible on the screen, providing the user
184                            a set of e.g. menus, buttons, sliders, dials, etc. to allow the
185                            user to control the sampler in a convenient way. It merely sends
186                            the user requests to the sampler engine (LinuxSampler) and in turn
187                            shows the engine's status informations on the screen. A frontend
188                            does not perform any signal processing tasks, so you can see it as
189                            a "face" of the sampler.<br>
190                            <br>
191                            For luxury we already provide you two different frontends / "faces"
192                            for LinuxSampler:
193                            </p>
194                            <ul>
195                                    <li>
196                                    <u><b>QSampler</b></u> is a light-weight frontend written in
197                                    C++, using straightforward native graphical controls of the
198                                    underlying operating system. That way the appearance of
199                                    QSampler on the screen is very fast and it only consumes very
200                                    little resources. Due to its utilization of the operating
201                                    system's common GUI controls, it looks slightly different on
202                                    every operating system (also dependent of the user's selected
203                                    theme on his OS):<br>
204                                    <br>
205                                    <a href="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_win.jpg">
206                                            <img src="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_win_preview.jpg">
207                                    </a>&nbsp;
208                                    <a href="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_ubuntu.png">
209                                            <img src="screenshots/qs_0_2_1_ubuntu_preview.png">
210                                    </a><br>
211                                    <br>
212                                    Note however, QSampler does not fully support all features of
213                                    the sampler engine (LinuxSampler) yet. Most notably the
214                                    engine's instruments database feature is not yet covered by
215                                    QSampler. But if you don't need that particular feature,
216                                    you're certainly fine with QSampler as well.<br>
217                                    <br>
218                                    </li>
219    
220                                    <li>
221                                    <u><b>JSampler</b></u> is a full-fledged frontend for
222                                    LinuxSampler, written in Java and currently comes in two
223                                    flavors: <b>JSampler "Classic"</b> offers straightforward GUI
224                                    controls whereas <b>JSampler "Fantasia"</b> provides a modern
225                                    skin based user interface:<br>
226                                    <br>
227                                    <a href="screenshots/fantasia.png"><img src="screenshots/fantasia-preview.png"></a>
228                                    <br>
229                                    JSampler supports all features currently available in the
230                                    sampler engine (LinuxSampler). Also note that even though
231                                    JSampler is written in Java and slightly more hungry
232                                    regarding resources (compared to QSampler), this usually
233                                    does not have any impact on the audio rendering performance
234                                    of the sampler, since the engine runs completely independently
235                                    and with much higher CPU priority than the frontend(s).<br>
236                                    </li>
237                            </ul>
238                            <p class="default">
239                            It's completely up to you which frontend to use. You could even use
240                            both parallel at the same time for the same sampler engine
241                            instance, really! ;-) You're concerned that your sampler frontend
242                            might waste precious resources of your computer? No problem, just
243                            setup the sampler session for your needs and then quit the
244                            frontend application. The sampler engine doesn't care! It continues
245                            to do its job. You need to change something? Start the frontend
246                            again (or another frontend) and you see what you expect to see: the
247                            current setup and state of the running sampler engine.
248                            </p>
249    
250                            <h2>The Format</h2>
251                            <p class="default">
252                            It is planned to support all common sampler formats in
253                            LinuxSampler, but at the moment we chose to concentrate on the
254                            Gigasampler format, because when we started this project, the
255                            Gigasampler format was (in our opinion) the most popular
256                            and "best" sampler format in regards of quality and power,
257                            especially      for the synthesis of natural instruments like pianos,
258                            brass and bowed instruments. But we already made good advance in
259                            implementing this format, so we are optimistic to start with
260                            adding other formats soon. Beside that we also planned to
261                            design our own, sophisticated sampler format to introduce a more
262                            powerful and more flexible sampler format compared to
263                            any sampler format currently available in the world. Be encouraged
264                            to share your ideas about such a new format with us!
265                            </p>
266    
267                            <h2>The Editor</h2>
268                            <p class="default">
269                            <u><b>gigedit</b></u> allows you to edit and create instruments
270                            for the Gigasampler format, which can be used with LinuxSampler
271                            as well as with Tascam's Gigastudio. Following our line of
272                            modularity we also made the instrument editors independent
273                            applications. Because let's face it: every sampler format is
274                            different, so in our opinion it is better to honor the specific
275                            features of one format with its own instrument editor application
276                            instead of trying to fiddle everything into one single bloated
277                            application. So gigedit is our first editor, dedicated to the .gig
278                            format:<br>
279                            <br>
280                            <a href="screenshots/gigedit_0_0_3.png"><img src="screenshots/gigedit_0_0_3_preview.jpg"></a>
281                            <br>
282                            You can use gigedit as stand-alone application or in conjunction
283                            with LinuxSampler. For the latter case gigedit installs a plugin
284                            into the sampler engine, so the engine (and with it the frontends)
285                            knows that gigedit actually exists and can handle the .gig format.
286                            So even though we decoupled the sampler's components into
287                            independent applications, they all work seamlessly together.
288                            <a href="http://download.linuxsampler.org/doc/gigedit/quickstart/gigedit_quickstart.html#live_editing">
289                                    Just press the "Edit" button
290                            </a> on a channel strip of a frontend and
291                            gigedit will automatically popup on the screen and you're
292                            immediately ready to edit your selected instrument, making all your
293                            modifications audible in realtime. Even when editing huge
294                            instruments of 1GB or more, tweak the instrument with gigedit and
295                            immediately hear it while playing on the keyboard at the same time.
296                            And the good thing: even with new sampler formats we're going to
297                            add soon (and with it new editors), you don't have to remember
298                            which instrument you loaded uses which format. Simply click on
299                            "Edit" in a frontend and the sampler engine will choose the right
300                            instrument editor application for the respective instrument for
301                            you.
302                            </p>
303    
304                            <h2>The Technical Interface</h2>
305                          <p class="default">                          <p class="default">
306                          LinuxSampler is a work in progress. The goal is to produce a free, open source pure software audio sampler                          As the components of the sampler are independent applications,
307                          with professional grade features, comparable to both hardware and commercial Windows/Mac software samplers                          there must be a way to let the applications communicate with each
308                          and to introduce new features not yet available by any other sampler in the world.<br>                          other. For this LinuxSampler provides a native C++
309                          <br>                          <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface">API</a>
310                          LinuxSampler was designed as a sampler backend, decoupled from any user interface. It provides a network interface                          as well as a network interface using an ASCII based protocol which
311                          using an ASCII based protocol called <a href="http://www.linuxsampler.org/api/draft-linuxsampler-protocol.html">LSCP</a>                          we call "<a href="http://www.linuxsampler.org/api/draft-linuxsampler-protocol.html" title="LinuxSampler Control Protocol">LSCP</a>"
312                          for controlling the sampler and managing sampler sessions. But don't be afraid, with QSampler we                          for controlling the sampler engine and managing sampler sessions.
313                          already have a convenient GUI frontend (based on the cross-platform GUI library Qt) for LinuxSampler and due to the                          Our frontends support that network interface, which also allows to
314                          decoupled design you can even control the sampler with the GUI frontend from another computer, probably even running                          control the sampler engine with the GUI frontend(s) remotely from
315                          another OS like Windows or OS X. Beside our own custom network control layer we planned to add existing ones as well                          another computer, probably even running a completely different
316                          (e.g. <a href="http://www.cnmat.berkeley.edu/OpenSoundControl/">OSC</a>). With the planned SMP and cluster support                          Operating System. And compared to other remote control solutions,
317                          LinuxSampler might become a very interesting tool for high-end studios and concerts in future.<br>                          the frontend won't feel sluggish, as the frontend is running on
318                          <br>                          your local machine.<br>
319                          It is planned to support all common sampler formats in LinuxSampler, but at the moment we chose to concentrate on the                          <br>
320                          Gigasampler format, because we think it's currently the best sampler format in regards of quality and power, especially                          You can also configure your computer to automatically start the
321                          for the synthesis of natural instruments like pianos, brass and bowed instruments. But we already made good advance in                          sampler engine and loading your prefered sampler session without
322                          implementing this format, so we are optimistic to start with adding other formats soon. Beside that we also planned to                          any frontend, simply by using a <i>LSCP session file</i>. How do
323                          design our own, sophisticated sampler format to introduce a more powerful and more flexible sampler format compared to                          you get such a "LSCP session file"? Both frontends write LSCP
324                          any sampler format currently available in the world. Be encouraged to share your ideas about such a new format with us!<br>                          session files for you when you request them to save your current
325                            sampler session. And as those LSCP session files are ordinary
326                            human readable text files, you can adjust them with any text
327                            editor if you want.
328                            </p>
329    
330                            <h2>The Compatibility</h2>
331                            <p class="default">
332                            LinuxSampler is available for the most popular operating
333                            systems and already supports a variety of audio and MIDI driver
334                            systems on each OS. It does not require any special dedicated
335                            device drivers from the sound card manufacturers, so you can
336                            also use it with cheap consumer cards. Due to its clean design
337                            the sampler can be ported to other operating systems and
338                            extended for further driver systems with a minimum of effort.
339                            So we're prepared for the future!
340                            </p>
341    
342                            <h2>The Community</h2>
343                            <p class="default">
344                            You need a helping hand? You certainly get the answers on your
345                            personal questions on our
346                            <a href="http://bb.linuxsampler.org/">web forum</a>.<br>
347                            <br>
348                            All applications are under active development. However we all work
349                            on this project for fun in our spare time. There are still so many
350                            things to do and our hands are limited. So don't hesitate on
351                            participating to the project! You don't necessarily need to be a
352                            skilled programmer to help the project. Testing the applications,
353                            <a href="http://bugs.linuxsampler.org.">reporting bugs</a>, writing
354                            documentation, providing artwork, themes for frontends, etc. helps
355                            us and all users a lot! Simply subscribe to our
356                            <a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linuxsampler-devel">
357                                    developers mailing list
358                            </a> and we'll of course take you by the hand in case you want to
359                            participate with active source code development. Don't be afraid!
360                            You have your own ideas and concepts for making the sampler better?
361                            Great, share them with us!<br>
362                          <br>                          <br>
                         Anyway, there are so many things to do and our hands are limited. So don't hesitate on participating to the project!  
363                          </p>                          </p>
364    
365                  </div>                  </div>

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