THIS IS A FAKE PAGE, KXSTUDIO NEWS USES A DYNAMIC MODULE NOW
> Carla 2.0 beta4 is here!
On 2015-03-12 by falkTX
Hello again everyone, we're glad to bring you the 4th beta of the upcoming Carla 2.0 release.
This release is mostly focused on bug-fixing, so there aren't many splashy new features to show compared to previous ones.
Still, here's the highlights:
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Updated plugin skins
The plugin skins received some updates once again. |
|
New experimental plugins
Some of the best linux-standalone tools are now working as internal Carla plugins. |
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MOD GUI Support
Carla can now show LV2 MOD GUIs, handled like a regular LV2 UI type. |
To download Carla binaries or source code, jump into the KXStudio downloads section.
If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" instead (plus "carla-lv2" and "carla-vst" if you're so inclined).
Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump into the Carla's GitHub project page for those.
> Carla 2.0 beta3 is here!
On 2014-10-24 by falkTX
Hello again everyone, we're glad to bring to you the 3rd beta of the upcoming Carla 2.0 release.
There have been quite a few nice features implemented since beta2; here are the highlights.
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Internal Patchbay
This new engine processing mode is similar to what JACK does for all clients and what other modular applications do. |
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Carla as VST plugin (Linux only)
With the first beta of Carla 2.0 we introduced Carla as a plugin, which worked as both internal and LV2. |
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Carla LMMS Plugin
Carla has an LMMS plugin too, as Carla-Patchbay and Carla-Rack instruments. |
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AU Plugins (MacOS only)
AU plugins are working in Carla now. |
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New and updated skins
There's a new OpenAV-style plugin slot skin. |
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Old non-skin mode
You can now use the old non-skin mode from Carla 1.x series. |
There will still be 1 or 2 more beta releases before going for a release candidate, so expect more cool stuff soon!
To download Carla binaries or source code, jump into the KXStudio downloads section.
If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" instead (plus "carla-lv2" and "carla-vst" if you're so inclined).
Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump into the Carla's Github project page for those.
> DISTRHO: New plugins and minor fixing
On 2014-08-26 by falkTX
In this release we bring 4 new Linux plugin ports:
- EasySSP
- LUFS Meter
- Luftikus
- Stereo Source Separator
(Go to http://distrho.sourceforge.net/ports to see the current list of Linux ports.)
The DPF-based plugins also had some minor fixes:
- 3BandEQ/Splitter had its sliders inverted, now fixed
- ProM now has pre-compiled linux binaries; UI can be resized by using - and + keys
- MVerb knobs order has been fixed
- Allow to open UI in LV2 hosts that don't support options feature (Ingen)
- Workaround for some VST hosts that don't set sample rate during init (Ardour3 and energyXT)
> The 2nd beta of Carla 2.0 is here!
On 2014-08-15 by falkTX
The Carla Plugin Host 2.0 beta2 release is finally here!
This release was slightly delayed in order to ensure plugin bridges were working properly.
If you haven't heard about the Carla 2.x series do so here.
In short, this release makes plugin bridges actually work and it's the first to support MacOS (>= 10.6).
The backend is now completely toolkit agnostic, only depending on the native window system (like X11 on Linux).
This release is much more stable when compared to the previous beta - it will no longer eat your cat! ;)
It should already be good enough for regular usage, if you can ignore some incomplete UI things.
Known issues / Release notes: (all to be fixed in the next beta)
The next beta will change a few things, specially UI-wise.
The discovery mechanism needs to be reworked for AU support and faster LV2 access.
Adding plugins and browsing presets will probably change too.
LMMS and VST plugin versions of Carla-Rack are also planned, but no promises for these.
We'll be posting more news as things are developed.
> DISTRHO New release pack (2014-07-16)
On 2014-07-16 by falkTX
DISTRHO has a new release!
In this release we cleaned up all the plugins, added new ones and removed those that we not considered good enough.
Standalones are no longer available. Highlife was removed as a requested by its authors.
The plugins we added to Ports are:
Additionally we made a new plugin - ProM - a music visualizer as audio plugin based on projectm.
See the plugins and ports sections on
DISTRHO's website for screenshots and downloads.
The complete source code is available at https://github.com/DISTRHO/.
> Introducing JackAss
On 2014-05-16 by falkTX
JackAss is a VST plugin that provides JACK-MIDI support for VST hosts.
Simply load the plugin in your favourite host to get a JACK-MIDI port.
Each new plugin instance creates a new MIDI port.
Here's JackAss loaded in FL Studio:
And an example setup in Carla for it:
JackAss sends the notes from the host to its JACK-MIDI port.
It also exposes 50 parameters, which send a MIDI CC message when changed.
You can use this to easily control external applications that accept JACK-MIDI input and possibly CC for automation (like Carla).
Additionally there's a JackAssFX plugin, which only exposes parameters to send as MIDI CC, in case you don't need MIDI/notes.
JackAss currently has builds for Linux, MacOS and Windows, all 32bit and 64bit. Just follow
this link.
As a bonus, you also get special Wine builds - load it in a Windows application running in Linux via Wine and you get a real, native JACK-MIDI port from it!
You can find JackAss source code and bug tracker in Github: https://github.com/falkTX/JackAss/.
PS: Why JackAss? Because it outputs to JACK. ;)
> The first Carla 2.0 beta is here!
On 2014-04-22 by falkTX
Carla 2.0 is a full rework of the first Carla release.
It's currently under development with a planned release later this year.
Today the first beta is released, and we'll show you what to expect when the final version arrives.
To download binaries or source code, jump into the KXStudio downloads section.
If you're using the KXStudio repositories, you can simply install "carla-git" and "carla-plugins-lv2" instead.
Bug reports and feature requests are welcome! Jump into the Carla's Github project page for those.
DISCLAIMER: This is a beta release! Although all features mentioned here are working right now, they may be incomplete, have bugs or even eat your cat!
You've been warned.
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Canvas Integration
When using the JACK multi-client mode, plugins will be mapped to their respective canvas group. |
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New Look
Each plugin gets its own slot skin. |
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Carla-Rack as a Plugin
Carla itself working as a plugin (rack-mode). |
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Internal plugins as LV2
Carla internal plugins are now exported as LV2. |
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Plugin Bridges
Running plugins in a separate process for crash-protection. |
There's some other things planned, but they might be delayed until 3.0 so that this release doesn't take too long to happen.
You can find the complete TODO list here:
https://raw.github.com/falkTX/Carla/master/doc/Carla-TODO.
> KXStudio repositories now ready for Debian!
On 2014-04-10 by falkTX
The KXStudio repositories are now ready for Debian and its derivatives (including the upcoming Ubuntu 14.04).
They should work for all Debian versions since Wheezy and Ubuntu 12.04 or above.
See the Repositories section for more information and how to enable them.
There's a list of available applications in the repository here
and plugins here.
These 2 lists will quickly grow as more stuff is added in the repositories.
You can request new software to be packaged in this
LinuxMusicians forum topic
(although things seems a bit slow now, we'll eventually get to everyone's requests).
Please report any issues regarding packages here.
If you use the repositories, please donate to help keep packager(s) motivated. See /Donations.
All this month donations will go to ensure falkTX has a good trip to the Linux Audio Conference next month!
PS: AVLinux users wanting to use the KXStudio repositories should be patient.
Something cool might come up when falkTX and GMaq meet in next month's LAC. ;)
> Small Carla notice for JACK1 users (and 1.2.3 release)
On 2013-12-26 by falkTX
While I was doing a Carla video I got into a show-stopper bug in JACK2 (it kept crashing because of complex MIDI mixdown, see
this).
So in the meantime I have to use JACK1, and while doing so I found a pretty nasty bug...
No system connections were shown in the patchbay canvas!
I don't know if others suffered from the bug (I always run JACK2) or though it was how it really worked.
In any case, the Carla patchbay will show all JACK connections now - wherever they are from Carla plugins or system ones.
Updating to version 1.2.3 is recommended, specially if you use JACK1.
For a list of changes you can check the Carla stable git log
here,
which allows to directly see what changed in the code.
> Carla 2.0 development progress report
On 2013-12-17 by falkTX
This is a progress report for the new Carla, version 2.0.
It will take a while to get a release ready, but there are already a few things done and stuff to show.
First, the backend is being rewritten to not use any system toolkit.
In 1.x series I've used Qt4 to handle graphics, but that might be a problem soon with Qt5 (cannot mix Qt4 and Qt5 stuff together).
Plus I want the Carla backend to be toolkit agnostic, so that in the future it may be re-usable for others no matter what their main toolkit is.
The main backend header files are now ANSI C compatible, thus increasing the chances of re-usability (as some Linux developers have a weird aversion to C++...).
Because Qt is no longer used in the backend code, I needed something else to handle graphics and other advanced stuff - Juce was selected for this.
Juce is a C++ framework focused on audio applications and plugins, which suits Carla nicely.
There's a lot of useful things inside it that will make developing new features much easier (like the internal patchbay mode).
Other things like AU and VST3 plugin hosting will be possible too thanks to Juce, although they are not relevant to Linux.
Loading Carla as a plugin is also being worked on.
There target two main targets with this:
If you been following the LinuxMusicians forums you know that internal Carla plugins are already available as LV2 plugins (yes, that includes zynaddsubfx-lv2!).
Once the Carla internal plugin work is complete, you automatically get an LV2 version of it as well! :D
There has been a few changes on the UI side as well.
For example, the plugin edit dialog now looks like this:
As seen the image, the user will be able to use "Stereo Balance" or "Mono Panning".
The new layout also allows for a much smaller window size.
Lastly, there's plans to bring custom skins to plugin "slots", in a similar way to Reason.
This is something I still have to investigate to find the best possible way to do it.
It should be expandable so that random plugins can also use skins, probably via a new LV2 extension.
More on this later.
That's all for now.
Soon there will be a new DISTRHO release, so stay tuned!
> New releases and future plans
On 2013-11-27 by falkTX
Hello everyone, there have been a couple of releases and changes on the KXStudio world.
First of, a new release of the KXStudio Live-DVD is now available.
This is a bug-fix for the 12.04.x series, which current users should already have if their systems are up to date.
Checkout the About or Release Notes to find out more about this release.
Several new versions of Carla have been released since its first announcement, the last one currently being 1.2.2.
For a change-log you can check the git log (stable branch) in github.
This way you can see what actually changed in the code, instead of just seeing a description list.
A new DISTRHO release is planned for release next month, and a few minor plugins.
Hopefully the Plugin Toolkit will be ready by then, which should help the creation of new audio plugins (soon!).
Lastly, after much discussion and consideration, the KXStudio repositories are moving to Debian.
The current 12.04.x release is still fully supported, this is something that will happen slowly through 2014.
Having the KXStudio repos in Debian means any Debian based distribution can make use of KXStudio goods, and not just Ubuntu ones.
Although there are already happy users with Debian + KXStudio, this process is not yet complete.
We'll make a new announcement once the Debian repos are ready for wide use.
Oh, and the KXStudio website is currently being redone a little.
Give it a visit now! /
> Carla Plugin Host 1.0.0 released!
On 2013-07-02 by falkTX
After more than 2 years in development, here it is - the first stable release of Carla is now available!
Carla Plugin Host, or just Carla, is an audio plugin host, with support for many audio drivers and plugin formats.
It has some nice features like automation of parameters via MIDI CC and full OSC control.
Carla currently supports LADSPA (including LRDF), DSSI, LV2, and VST plugin formats, plus GIG, SF2 and SFZ file support.
It uses JACK as the default and preferred audio driver but also supports native drivers like ALSA, DirectSound or CoreAudio.
We currently release source code plus Windows and Linux binaries (focus goes into the Linux version).
Downloads available at the usual place, KXStudio Downloads.
For more information about Carla check its own application page here.
We'll be updating that page in the next few days, with some tutorials and workflow videos as well, so stay tuned!
You can follow the release discussion over at LinuxMusicians forums.
If you find this application useful and/or want to help further development, please consider a donation.
> KXStudio 12.04.1 released!
On 2013-01-05 by falkTX
After much hard work, a new release of KXStudio is ready!
The previous ISO images were getting old, and since Cadence (and KXStudio in general) is now much more stable, it was time for an update.
Existing KXStudio users already have 90% of the changes and fixes as KXStudio uses the repositories for everything.
Still, this is a big milestone for the project. It's a step towards perfection.
Here's a quick list of changes since the previous 12.04 release.
The DVD works properly now (no need to re-login to apply settings anymore) and also has an option to boot to RAM (requires at least 3Gb to work).
You can download the new ISOs at the KXStudio website, /Downloads.
This release is dedicated to Hatsuke Miku, a [virtual] Vocaloid singer that recently has seen original artwork released under a Creative Commons license.
We believe that actions like this one (and others in 2012) indicate that the world embraces open-source culture more and more, every day.
You can find more about Miku
here,
and the its CC artwork
here.
We hope you enjoy KXStudio and the updated Cadence.
Soon enough the website will have full documentation for it and other subjects, so stay tuned!
> Call for Testing - Cadence pre-Beta
On 2012-09-17 by falkTX
Hello everybody!
We're almost in the Beta1 release of Cadence!
For those of you who don't know, Cadence is what KXStudio uses to manage the entire audio ecosystem.
'Cadence' is by itself the main app of a series of tools (call it the "Cadence tools").
There's 'Catia', a simple JACK patchbay; 'Claudia' is a ladish frontend, very similar to Catia (and gladish); 'Carla' is the plugin host.
Then there's the small tools - JackMeter, JackSettings, Logs, Render and XY-Controller (their names give away their funtionality).
Cadence and its tools are currently being documented, and pages will appear here: (incomplete)
/Applications
(There's a topic in the KXStudio forums discussing the documentation here).
If you're running KXStudio now, you either have updates or have recently updated Cadence and sub-packages.
I'll be pushing the latest Cadence code to the KXStudio repositories frequently in the next days while the testing happens.
ArchLinux users can use this AUR package:
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=50747
You can checkout what's going on in the Cadence commits page:
https://github.com/falkTX/Cadence/commits/master
Not everything is fully ready right now, here's a list of things that will still be done before the Beta1 release:
- Cadence audio-bridges, currently disabled
- Carla Windows plugin-bridge support (Linux 32/64bit bridges are already in place though). Note that this will remain an experimental feature even for this release.
- Carla-Control is unfinished, the GUI will do nothing useful right now.
- Catia ALSA-MIDI support is currently disabled, but will still not be activated for this release.
So, what needs testing?
Pretty much everything. :D
Run the apps, click on random stuff and try to make them crash. When that happens, or if notice something weird, please report the bug.
I've done my best to make the tools as stable + crash-free as possible, but we can never be too sure about these things.
You can report bugs directly in the official bug page at
https://github.com/falkTX/Cadence/issues.
(Reporting a bug in that page allows you to receive notifications whenever something is done related to it).
Thanks in advance to everyone that decides to help!
If you love these tools and they are useful to you, please consider making donation by following this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=PDGZL8PKSNHYW.
> KXStudio 12.04 is out!
On 2011-12-21 by falkTX
Hey there everyone, it's that time again!
KXStudio is now ready for the masses, now using Ubuntu 12.04 as the base.
KDE4 remains the officially supported Desktop, with XFCE on 2nd place.
For this release I re-introduced the ISOs, although only 32bit for now. So now installing KXStudio can take 3 forms: Live-DVD, Ubuntu upgrade or NetBoot.
The Live-DVD uses KDE4, if you want XFCE instead please install UbuntuStudio first then follow the upgrade instructions as detailed here.
The Cadence tools are currently being ported to python3 in a new repo - https://github.com/falkTX/Cadence.
Catarina, Catia, Claudia and the minor tools are almost beta state right now. Carla and Claudia-Launcher are still in the works (but already very functional), and the real 'Cadence' app is yet to be ported.
These tools are already available on KXStudio in their latest git state, and will be released as beta for the while world very soon.
The DISTRHO plugin suite is now near completion and it's targeted for a new release this weekend.
The entire collection is already available in the KXStudio repos but yet part of the meta-packages (will be added shortly after the official release).
Generic linux binaries will be made available for non-KXStudio users as before.
Note: Since the KXStudio website has been internally reworked (removed mediawiki, much simpler PHP code now), the old news have been removed.