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Qtractor 0.7.9 - A Snobbier Graviton release
21 September, 2016 - 17:00 — rncbc
Qtractor 0.7.9 (snobbier graviton) is now released!
http://qtractor.sourceforge.net
http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtractor
http://sourceforge.net/projects/qtractor/files
http://git.code.sf.net/p/qtractor/code
https://github.com/rncbc/qtractor.git
https://gitlab.com/rncbc/qtractor.git
https://bitbucket.org/rncbc/qtractor.git
http://sourceforge.net/p/qtractor/wiki/
Qtractor is free, open-source Linux Audio software, distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later.
So it's last equinox'16...
And the ultimate last of the Qstuff* End of Summer'16 release parties.
Release highlights:
- Audio/MIDI metronome anticipatory offset (NEW)
- Current clip highlighting (NEW)
- SFZ sample file archive/zip bundling (NEW)
- MIDI transpose Reverse tool (NEW)
- MIDI (N)RPN running status and NULL support (NEW)
- MIDI Controllers catch-up algorithm (FIX)
- MIDI track Instrument menu (FIX)
- JACK shutdown and buffer-size changes (FIX)
Enjoy && Have (lots of) fun.
Qtractor is an audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer application written in C++ with the Qt framework. Target platform is Linux, where the Jack Audio Connection Kit (JACK) for audio and the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) for MIDI are the main infrastructures to evolve as a fairly-featured Linux desktop audio workstation GUI, specially dedicated to the personal home-studio.
Website:
Project page:
Downloads:
- source tarball:
qtractor-0.7.9.tar.gz - source package:
qtractor-0.7.9-27.rncbc.suse.src.rpm - binary packages:
qtractor-0.7.9-27.rncbc.suse.i586.rpm
qtractor-0.7.9-27.rncbc.suse.x86_84.rpm
Git repos:
https://github.com/rncbc/qtractor.git
https://gitlab.com/rncbc/qtractor.git
https://bitbucket.org/rncbc/qtractor.git
Wiki (help wanted!):
License:
And the boring complete change-log follows:
- JACK buffer-size change handling has been deeply improved, now doing an immediate session restart, while preserving all external connections as much as possible.
- Introducing an audio and MIDI metronome anticipatory offset, kind of latency compensation, to respective option settings cf. View/Options.../Audio, MIDI/Metronome/Offset (latency).
- Fixed LADSPA plug-in preset switching, incidentally broken as NOP, ever since late Haziest Photon's crash-landed.
- MIDI Track/Instrument cascading menus have been found empty broken on Qt5 builds, now fixed.
- MIDI RPN/NRPN running status and RPN NULL reset command are now supported (input only).
- Fixed a sure immediate crash on removing audio buses that are current targets of any active Aux-send inserts.
- Fixed yet another old bummer that was reaping off assigned MIDI controllers on existing track's gain/volume or panning controls, when adding any single new track.
- Fixed missing feedback on MIDI controllers assigned to any of monitor, record, mute and solo track/bus state buttons.
- Eye-candy warning: the current clip, not necessarily the one currently selected, is now highlighted with a solid outline; linked MIDI clips are also highlighted with an alternate dashed outline.
- SFZ file conversion, and bundling of the respective sample files, is now supported when saving as zip/archive (*.qtz).
- Fixed track monitor, record, mute and solo dangling states, on Track/Duplicate command.
- Slight regression on the LV2 State Files abstract/relative file-path mapping, trading QFileInfo::canonicalFilePath() for QFileInfo::absoluteFilePath(), and thus skipping all symlink dereferences in the process.
- Fixed a one first linking/ref-counting glitch, affecting recently recorded MIDI clips which might have their initial clip length still un-quantized to MIDI resolution (BBT).
- A brand new and discrete MIDI clip editor command tool has been added: MIDI Tools/Transpose/Reverse.
- Discretely fixed MIDI Controllers catch-up algorithm.
- Fixed a borderline mistake on plug-in parameter port index mapping to its corresponding symbolic name, especially if newer plug-in versions are loaded on older saved sessions.
Enjoy && Have (lots of) fun.
Comments
> Eye-candy warning: the
> Eye-candy warning: the current clip, not necessarily the one currently selected, is now highlighted with a solid outline; linked MIDI clips are also highlighted with an alternate dashed outline.
This is fantastic. It's already working really good for me. Gosh, this is a noticeable boost in my workflow ; I spent my share of time guessing what MIDI clip was linked or not in my tracks. Thank you soo much. Better music is bound to ensue :)
Oh, and I guess the first part of your item ("the current clip, not necessarily the one currently selected, is now highlighted with a solid outline") will address the small visual inconvenience that sometimes occurs when browsing "takes" with the keyboard (first/previous/next/last) after recording a "looped" take - I hope I make sense - This "second level" of selection was implicit, it is now explicit. I'm pretty confident this too will work wonders for me too.
I love Qtractor.
EDIT: It would be really neat if the status could be reflected as soon as the "Unlink" option is selected, as opposed to at the next click on the clip. Both inside the timeline, and when you select it in in the MIDI clip editor.
PS - Remember when you said that 2016 would be TYOQMPNH (The Year Of Qtractor MIDI Pianoroll Note Highlight) ? Looks like we gona miss it ;)
re. status could reflect the "Unlink" option...
re. It would be really neat if the status could be reflected as soon as the "Unlink" option is selected, as opposed to at the next click on the clip.
i'm under the impression that the Clip / Unlink command reflects its visual effect quite, say, immediately!
how is it not doing it for you?
byee
Well, when I select a "linked
Well, when I select a "linked" clip, all other clips have the outline ; when I use my keyboard shortcut (U) to unlink, nothing happens visually before the next click. The same happens when I do this inside the MIDI clip editor (that has its own set of KB shortcuts) it's a bit unsettling, ergonomics-wise.
And about TYOQMPNH? Sir, the people hath spoken ;)
re. status could reflect the "Unlink" option...
ok. I see your point now. i was just follwing over the left-click menu Clip > Unlink action and that do reflect the new "unlinked" state immediately. i'll see whether it can also apply to other indirect menu actions.
re. TYOQMPNH: i have nothing to say now. maybe this year is not TY? :)
byee
ps. the "unlink" reflection issue is now fixed on git head master [228c89] aka. qtractor v0.7.9.10+
No MIDI instrument output on new track
I must have done something (really) stupid. Every new MIDI track that I create, in every new or existing session, is now silent. The Signal VUs move, even inside the instrument's GUI, but nothing enters the audio out bus..? The other MIDI tracks are fine... Help!
re. No MIDI instrument output on new track
are you serious?
check what options you changed since last time it was working.
maybe you turned instruments plugin dedicated output ports on?
byee
> maybe you turned
> maybe you turned instruments plugin dedicated output ports on?
YES, THAT's what I did, thank you. I forgot about that ; The other day I was (lost another half a night on it) unsuccessfully trying again to get a vocoder working inside Qtractor (ie not using any external instrument) and fiddled around. Thank you very much!
Highlight
Vaguely related to that clip highlighting thing, just a quick note : Sometimes, when closing the MIDI clip editor, the clip I was editing is no longer selected/secondary selected/highlighted, and that can break my workflow for a second (ooh) it's just a little detail, but they say that's where the devil is.
By the way, speaking about micro ergonomics details, about "auto backwards" : quite often (like a third of the time) when I start playing from a location where no marker is positioned - typically when I shift-clicked to put the playhead (I do that a lot now) - when I pause, the playhead stays put instead of springing back to this unmarked playstart position.
And you know what? Thinking out loud, the playhead could be "warped" at the start of the clip at the opening of the MIDI clip editor. When it's not already playing, that is. That could the in the Main options, like follow playhead and continue past end. Wait, no, those are transport options. Anyway, I know (hum, let's say I think) it would fit MY (and my buddies) workflow :) but hey, I just click in the ruler 1st thing at opening, it's a reflex now.
And while I'm on it, and also as a note to self, here is my current whishlist :
- Current, selected track as a "panel" displayable on the right, like the file list ;
- Small, unlabeled Vu-meters on all the tracks, next to the R/M/S controls (could be a column)
- Mixer embeddable as a bottom panel (single view)
- Pianoroll key highlight on MIDI keyboard key press
re. Highlight
current clip highlighting/selection persistence--across MIDI clip editor on and off, among other things--have been already fixed on git head, for quite some time now.
you see, the possible is already done, immediately, while other, say impossible, requests will have to wait a litle longer ;)
now, re. the Transport/Auto Backward behavior, fact is that it's just an automatic Transport/Backward [|<] action taken whenever playback stops. you must reckon that regular Backward function makes the play-head skip, yes, backward, to the nearest stop, be that of a) the end of the last clip in the session timeline, b) the edit-tail (right blue marker), c) the edit-head (left blue marker), d) the start of the first clip in session, or e) the place last time playback got started, whichever comes first in the backward direction, that is.
ah. add to the above f) any location marker that is around (again, on the backward direction, of course;)).
nb. everytime and once the automatic action gets done, a new starting playback location overides the previous one, i guess, maybe, that's the case you report. you tell me.
though, there follows some comments, all in the IMHO stance:
- Current, selected track as a "panel" displayable on the right, like the file list ;
this adds bloat and clutter--current track is already highlighted on the left track pane and on the mixer; why have an alternative third pane, just to show what is already shown in two other already?
- Small, unlabeled Vu-meters on all the tracks, next to the R/M/S controls (could be a column)
perhaps utterly redundant; the ppm meters, which are the correct name for the those meters, are shown in all mixer strips and they will stay there for the sake of it. while i see your point here, i find it rather superfluous, and again, plain redundant. sorry.
- Mixer embeddable as a bottom panel (single view)
back in the the early days, while qtractor was still in heavy development on top of qt3 (!), yes, the mixer was a dockable widget alright, just like any of the toolbars or the messages and files pane. now, a few years later, the whole mixer widget (or window if you wish) became a top-level docking widget of its own, where the input buses, tracks and output buses panes are in turn the dockable sub-widgets. i must also say there are some power-users ou there that in fact praise this very functionality, which is the most welcome for sessions with a massive count of tracks and buses and even more when having more than one screen monitor or virtual desktops at your disposal, you name it--the multi-row layout option for this, is actually, one of the dearest of them all :)
- Pianoroll key highlight on MIDI keyboard key press
yeah, i've been promising on this one but still short on delivering. have i ever said it isn't really a top priority on my list? sorry again.
no hard feelings, though. i'm sure you can live without any of the above. ;)
in the mean time, keep on rocking the free world ;)
cheers
you see, the possible is
you see, the possible is already done, immediately, while other, say impossible, requests will have to wait a litle longer ;)
That's exactly how I see it. And sometimes I'm not even sure to want what I wish ;) Like the mixer, don't get me wrong, I love the separate pane, of course it's invaluable for big sessions and has got to stay that way. Anytime I mention such a big thing, it's obviously an option. Bottom-line being : Qtractor is perfect for me as it is. I mean, the default options, everything makes sense.
yeah, i've been promising on this one but still short on delivering. have i ever said it isn't really a top priority on my list? sorry again.
No, you said "maybe next year (with a smiley IIRC) in December 2015 :) A friend of mine, who wrote a book on Qt dev, pulled the source from git and built it recently, and even bought a MIDI keyboard for that ; Any pointers on where to start looking?
Master bus in the timeline
While we're at it, is it okay to dream of the master bus in the timeline, to be able to automate effects in it? I seem to remember a discussion about it some time ago (the OP wanted to automate tempo changes, IIRC ; us mere mortals just want to control the params of the effects that are currently in this bus) and you saying something like ; It would be hard to do, like it conflicted with the internal routing ; You could see the use and ; You'd think about it. Am I right about that, or did I dream it too? ;p Cheers, have a nice day
re. Master bus in the timeline
yes, i probably said all that, you're not dreaming, and some are there taken out of context. for one time, a) tempo changes are not automatable and will never be; b) buses, all buses, any buses not only Master buses, are fundamentally mixdown signal processing devices, they have no sequenced media content (clips) so there is no support for them on the timeline and that is why there's no automation for buses, period.
if i have ever said that any of the above will be possible to implement, that was certainly for the long term future. mostly i kinda joke about it, saying it all will be there for v2.x, despite v1.x is still far beyond the horizon :)
cheers
re. Master bus in the timeline
b) buses, all buses, any buses not only Master buses, are fundamentally mixdown signal processing devices, they have no sequenced media content (clips) so there is no support for them on the timeline and that is why there's no automation for buses, period.
Yes, we all get that, Qtractor is very unambiguous about it : There is no master bus, just a bus called master (in fact mine is called QRT because it's shorter) but hey, clips are not the only thing happening in the timeline! Automation can happen... Wait, no, automation cannot happen without clips, but anyway, I'm talking about a new object in the timeline : Busses :) It surely sounds like 1.0, you're right about that :)
So it wouldn't be a "track" but a "bus" in said timeline. Visually identified as such - icon, color, etc. - with its own idiosyncrasies - different/no selection modes, no clips, maybe it would only stick to the bottom of the timeline, etc. - with only the possibility of acting upon the parameters exposed by the plugins contained in it, for automation. And maybe the gain & pan controls of the bus itself, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't use it, but just for consistency's sake it would only be logical. It would be a nice "Show in the Timeline" checkbox hidden in the Busses dialog, in the "Bus" box, next to the "Mode" dropdown menu.
mostly i kinda joke about it, saying it all will be there for v2.x, despite v1.x is still far beyond the horizon :)
Yes, one major version / decade ;p nice, mathematical progression, that's where you're an engineer and not me :) if it were for me, we would have hit 1.0 years ago, like when automation arrived, it already felt like 1.5 :) Thank you so much for you work, Rui.
automation cannot happen without tracks
automation cannot happen without clips
wrong. think about clips, which can only be layered on tracks. yes again. on this rough and evil qtractor model of things and the whole universe, tracks are, you guess it right, timeline conveyors, sort of (content) transport belts.
so one maybe rather better say: **automation cannot happen without tracks** :)
cheers
Coming from Windows and
Coming from Windows and FLStudio world, I've spent years waiting for a complete simple MIDI/Audio solution like this one.
Now I can say that the latest UbuntuStudio version embeds this one with Jack, all LV2 plugins needed, CALF, V1 works out of the box perfectly and is a wonderful versatile tool for anything I use to do on windows, totally free, almost no need to know anything about Linux.
With Hydrogen those are the two software that saved me from Windows.
Maybe it lacks the import of a complete Midi Multitrack file, maybe it has but I haven't found it yet, but it doesn't matter.
Great great piece of work, finally, thanks.
re. import of a complete Midi Multitrack file
indeed it has: main menu Track > Import Tracks > MIDI...
hth.
cheers && thanks
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