specimen :: old news

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• 2004-05-28 (0.3.1):

  Minor bugfix, it'll compile now even if you don't have gtk-2.4

  
  
• 2004-05-28 (0.3.0):

  We got LFOs now, and they rule. The next few releases are going to focus on cleanups and bugfixes, and we are going to simultaneously work out a roadmap for the future. If there's anything you want to see in Specimen, let me know. The features which get the most request will have higher priority than others. Once we work it out, the roadmap will be posted on the site so you have an idea of what to expect from future releases.

  
  
• 2004-05-28 I'm Not Dead Yet (0.2.9):

  It figures. You go to make a new release of your Really Cool software, and what happens? Your house gets struck by lightening, frying your motherboard to a crisp. And when the only replacement you can afford at your local CompUSA won't work with your case unless you use IDE cables greater than 18 inches, you wind up pretty much forced to build the release tarball on an ancient 133mhz ThinkPad. Nothing makes you appreciate Moore's law quite the way that waiting over 30 seconds for Mozilla to load does.

  That sucked. The new release of Specimen, on the other hand, doesn't. Sporting a brand new bank building interface (gtk+-2.4 required to enjoy the glory), a graphical piano note assigner, extensive repairs (including, but not limited to, the waveform display, panning model, and filter code), LASH/LADCCA support, and a completely revamped audio rendering system, it's a real thrill the whole family can enjoy!

  I'd also like to welcome a new addition to the team, Loki Davison (ltdav1 at student dot monash dot edu). Say hi to the nice people, Loki!

  *waves*

  Loki is responible for the LADCCA support, the uber-leet bank building system, the piano note assigner, and convicing me that's it's still OK to write software in C (although I think he'd rather do it in Lisp ;-)

  We decided to jump ahead to 0.2.9 because this is really almost ready to be branded 0.3.0, we just want to do some more internal cleanups and fix any bugs that our dear userbase has to report. Expect a new release shortly, with the long-awaited LFO support to boot.

  OH! You know that part below about my new and wonderful vaporware being a possible April Fool's joke? It is, with me as the fool. On the bright side, Specimen's new and superior rendering system is derived from this experiment, and a few other ideas that I toyed with during this detour might be incorporated post 1.0.

  
  
• 2004-04-18 "Status Update" Update:

  No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. The C++ branch of Specimen is actually almost completely unrelated to Specimen, so pretend it doesn't exist for now. And by "simplicity" I don't mean featureless, just easy to use and uncluttered. All the good stuff is still going in.

  
  
• 2004-04-01 Status Update:

  I somehow managed to worm my way into college, where I'm currently getting edumacated on C++/OOP. Considering that it's all the rage, and that I do see the potential for real benefits, I've started working on a C++ branch of Specimen that will strive to be nifty and uber and such. I'm going to keep working on "vanilla" Specimen, but the focus is going to be on simplicity and efficiency more than anything else, since those seem to be it's main selling points.

  I'm not sure if this is an April Fools joke or not.



• 2004-03-11 Bug fix (0.2.4):
  
  
  • The last release would have the boneheaded tendency to create patches with panning and resonance at 100 by default. NO SOUP FOR YOU!!
  
  Torben pointed out that the waveform code I shipped had aliasing (pretty much the ultimate sin in the world of DSP). I wrote a version that didn't do this... and then nuked it by accident. I've been doing too much thinking and too little coding, which is why it's been so long since the last release. The next release will be made this weekend, and will definitely include LFOs, and possibly include portamento. Oh, and an alias-free waveform display.
  


• 2004-02-25 More features (0.2.3):
  
  
  • Waveform display optimized thanks to help from Torben Hohn (be sure to check out the fine jorb he has done with the galan project).
  • Envelopes for panning, cutoff, and resonance have been added.
  • Envelopes can be switched on and off (off by default).


• 2004-02-23 A bugfix release (0.2.2):
  
  
  • 'make DEST=foo install' works properly.
  • Ping-Pong mode works (oops).


• 2004-02-22 Version 0.2.1 released, which, apart from a major source tree reorganization, brings this to the table:
  
  
  • New, flexible play mode configuration system, allowing you to specify direction and duration separately.
  • A simple low pass filter with resonance.
  • Volume ADSR envelopes.
  • Majorly optimized resampling interpolation code, allowing at least quadruple the old amount of polyphony.
  
  Next up will be an ADSR for panning and filter cutoff frequency and an LFO for volume, panning, and cutoff frequency. Stay tuned!
  


• 2004-02-17: Today marks the second major release of Specimen. New to version 0.2.0:
  
  
  • A zoomable sample editor for loop and play start/stop points.
  • Ping-pong and reverse loop modes.
  
  The sample editor is the biggie. It makes the whole experience much more pleasant. Be sure to check out the first pass at documentation that has been created as well.
  


• 2004-02-14: A rather big minor update (v0.1.3):
  
  
  • A waveform display has been added.
  • The patch menu isn't retarded.
  • The innards have been cleaned up a lot.


• 2004-02-06: Another minor update (v0.1.2):
  
  
  • Configure scripts added. There now exists a functional 'make install' target (and 'make uninstall' so don't worry).
  • The mixdown function got a facelift. It will be much easier to extend it henceforth.


• 2004-02-03: A minor update (v0.1.1):
  
  
  • Annoying bug which would switch patches when a sample was loaded has been fixed.
  • When changing a sample you can load the new one into memory without committing the change, allowing you to hear what it would sound like mid-song. You can also preview a sample outright.


• 2004-01-31: The first beta of Specimen, version 0.1.0, is released. Features include:
  
  
  • ALSA sequencer interface support.
  • Audio output via ALSA or JACK.
  • Individual panning and volume controls for each patch.
  • High quality cubically interpolated pitch scaling.
  • Sample start/stop and loop points.
  • Three playback modes; "normal" just plays the sample, "trim" plays the sample and stops early if so instructed, "loop" plays the sample for the requested duration.
  • Patch bank saving and loading in the "beef" file format.


• 2004-01-22: Specimen version 0.0.3 released.

Eric Rzewnicki <eric at zhevny dot com>