[linux-audio-user] ANN: FreeWheeling 0.5.3 Released - now crossplatform! - Mac OS X / Linux

[JP Mercury]

Folks,

http://freewheeling.sourceforge.net/

I am pleased to present FreeWheeling 0.5.3. This is a new release with
significant new features, and it has been ported to Mac OSX.
FreeWheeling now runs under PC Linux as well as PPC and Intel Macs, all
with the same fluid interface.

I have begun to work with developers to help guide FreeWheeling's
evolution. There are fantastic possibilities and many stones that remain
unturned. Help is needed, in any form you can give.

Where is FreeWheeling going? I see it becoming a tool for communities
working with improv, for solo artists to flesh out material, and for
performance. I hope that, with a new community of Mac users, these
possibilities will become more real.

List of Changes
-------------------------

2006-11-21  v0.5.3

	    Many thanks to Danni Coy, who has contributed very significantly to
	    this release. Actually, he did most of the work!
		
	    New Features
	    ------------

	    * MAC OS X support

	      FreeWheeling is now cross-platform.
	      A universal binary is now available for both Intel & PPC Mac
	      platforms.

	    * Multiple Audio Formats
	      (Contributed by Danni- Thank You!)

	      Save and load loops and live streams in
	      OGG, WAVE, AU, and FLAC.

	    * OGG encoding quality setting in configuration

	    * More flexible MIDI control of external synths.

	      - Combination patches allow you to split one MIDI controller
	        into a range of zones. This allows you to control several
	        different sounds or softsynths from one MIDI control source.
		
		A combipatch defines the zones, as well as the output MIDI
		port and channel that each zone sends to. You can also send
	        MIDI program and bank change messages for each zone, allowing
		you to switch programs on external synths.

		All of this functionality is integrated into the patch browser,
		so you can seamlessly control other synth apps and
		sound modules from within FreeWheeling.
		
		See 'examples/combipatchdemo.xml' for an example
		configuration.
		
	      - Added 'suppressprogramchanges' option for patch banks

	        With suppressprogramchanges=1, no MIDI bank and program change
	        messages are sent when patches are changed within a patch bank.
	        This is useful when you have a softsynth loaded with patches on
  	        different channels and you merely want to switch channels-
	        each patch is mapped to a different channel, but you don't want
	        program change messages being sent to mess up your patches.

	        Use this for banks of Linuxsampler channels.
	
	      - Added 'separatechannels' option for patch banks

	        With separatechannels=0, patches mapped to different channels
		appear in the same patch bank. With this option, you can have a
		collection of several patches on different channels that appear
		together in one list for browsing. This is useful for sampling
		synths where your patches are pre-loaded onto channels.
	
                With separatechannels=1, the old behavior is used.
	        The old behavior splits each channel into a separate bank.
	        This works well for DSSI softsynths, where many synths run on
	        the same port, but each channel accesses a different synth and
	        different set of patches.

	    Fixes
	    -----
	
	    * MIDI thread now runs at high priority FIFO, rather than
	      low priority FIFO-- this may improve MIDI performance,
	      and hopefully will not affect stability.
	
	    * Fixed configuration bug that broke 'CTRL+click' loop renaming.

All the Best, and Happy FreeWheeling,
-JP Mercury