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PHASEX-0.12.0:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[P]hase [H]armonic [A]dvanced [S]ynthesis [EX]periment
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the latest incarnation of PHASEX!
What is PHASEX? It's a software synthesizer designed to incorporate
some experimental features not found in many other synths (like phase
offset modulation) along with a good implementation of a lot of the
features seen on most modern synthesizers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURES:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* GTK Interface:
PHASEX has a GUI, complete with knobs and buttons for all 145
patch parameters and switchable color themes. True fullscreen
mode, notebook and one-page layouts, and selectable fonts allow
PHASEX to fit into any amount of screen real-estate comfortably
(now able to fit in sizes smaller than 800x600).
* Polyphonic:
PHASEX is polyphonic. In poly mode, voices are allocated
dynamically up to the voice limit set at compile time.
Oscillators and filters function independently per-voice. LFOs,
however, function on a per-part basis. In addition to Poly mode,
the three legacy Mono modes are still supported: Mono Smooth mode
puts new notes back into sustain if playing legato. Mono Multikey
mode maps the keys played, in order, round-robin style to all
oscillators based on MIDI note frequencies in use. In Mono
Retrigger mode, envelopes and oscillator init phases are
retriggered every time a note is played.
* JACK Output:
JACK is used for the audio output. PHASEX supports any sample
rate or buffer size used by jackd. Future plans include
supporting the JACK sequencer for MIDI input. If there's enough
interest, support for other audio systems such as ALSA (w/o JACK)
or portaudio may be added as well.
* ALSA MIDI Control:
PHASEX receives its MIDI input via standard ALSA sequencer ports
for full realtime control over any parameter. Parameter names are
right clickable for quick and easy MIDI controller assignments.
Each MIDI controller can be mapped to up to 15 parameters. PHASEX
now supports velocity sensitivity and key aftertouch.
* Multithreaded:
PHASEX uses separate threads using realtime scheduling for JACK
output, MIDI input, and the synth engine. The GTK UI runs in its
own thread at normal scheduling priority.
* Oscillators:
Each oscillator features wave shape selection (including sampled
and generated waveforms), bipolar or unipolar output, frequency
source selection (midi note, tempo based, tempo based w/ phase
trigger, audio input, or velocity/aftertouch), mix modulation
supporting standard or AM mixing, per-osc transpose and
pitchbender amounts, and selectable modulation sources for AM, FM,
phase offset, and waveshape modulation. For all but waveshape
modulation, both oscillators and LFOs are available as modulation
sources.
* LFOs:
The dedicated per-osc LFOs have been replaced with generic
per-part LFOs. The LFOs are identical to the oscillators with the
following exceptions: They are per-part instead of per-voice,
they do not accept other modulation sources (yet), they are not
transposed by the master transpose parameter, and when sourced to
velocity, aftertouch data is ignored.
* ADSR Envelope:
PHASEX comes equipped with standard ADSR envelopes for the
amplifier and filter. Duration times follow a parabolic curve.
The amplitude of the amplifier envelope follows a logarathmic
curve. The filter envelope is linear with respect to the musical
scale. Both can also be used as oscillator and LFO sources.
* Filter:
The filter is a Chamberlin filter (2-pole 12db/octave) hacked up
so it doesn't destasblize at high cutoff or resonance values. Low
pass, high pass, band pass, and band stop modes are available, as
well as four combo modes. The filter has it's own ADSR envelope
(identical to amplifier envelope with the added option of
switching to negative polarity). One of the LFOs may be mapped to
modulate filter cutoff. Cutoff controller values map directly to
MIDI note numbers. Optional keyfollow mode allows cutoff to
follow the key played for the MIDI note, or the lowest, highest,
or most recent key in play. The filter is per-voice in Poly mode.
* Chorus:
The PHASEX stereo crossover chorus (inspired by the chorus on the
old Akai S-series samplers) adds depth and that extra bit of
fullness, and comes with a builtin phaser for an expansive stereo
soundstage.
* Delay:
The delay sports the normal mix and feedback controls, along with
a channel crossover option. A dedicated LFO allows modulation of
playback position, great for flange-like effects (or really
messing with people's heads at longer delay times). Delay times
are selectable based on tempo, in both 1/64th and 1/48th
increments.
* Input Processing:
Up to two JACK input channels (as mono, dual mono, or stereo) may
be used as frequency sources for both oscillators and LFOs. An
input envelope follower and input boost allow for sources like
guitar or vocals to be processed with ease.
* Stereo Width:
The width of the stereo image is adjustable via a MIDI controller
from pure mono to pure stereo. Can be used during sound design to
help create patches that sound very different when a center
playback channel is present.
COMPILING AND INSTALLING PHASEX:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For most installations, all that should be needed is the following:
cd phasex-0.12.0
./configure --enable-arch=native
make
make install
Other useful configure flags are --enable-debug=, --enable-32bit,
and --enable-cpu-power=.
See INSTALL for full compilation and installation instrucitons.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RUNNING PHASEX:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
usage: phasex [options] [<patch-name>|<program-number>|<patch-file>]
options:
-f, --fullscreen Start in fullscreen mode.
-M, --maximize Start with main window maximized.
-b, --bpm= Override BPM from patch bank and lock BPM parameter.
-t, --tuning= Base tuning frequency for A4 (defualt 440 Hz).
-m, --midi-channel= Global MIDI channel (default 'omni').
-i, --input= Comma separated pair of JACK input substring matches.
-o, --output= Comma separated pair of JACK output substring matches.
-p, --port= Set ALSA MIDI port(s) to connect from.
-O, --oversample Use double the sample rate for internal math.
-U, --undersample Use half the sample rate for internal math.
-d, --debug More noise on the console.
-v, --version Output version and exit.
-h, --help Output usage information and exit.
PHASEX requires JACK, so make sure jackd is running (and configured
for your system) and run phasex. If you use software like qjackctl to
handle your audio and MIDI patchbay, then the command line options
aren't necessary. The -i and -o options accept comma separated
substring pairs to match on JACK audio port names. The -p option
takes a comma separated list of alsa port numbers.
For example:
phasex -i _1,_2 -o _1,_2 -p 16:0,20:0
will match alsa_pcm:capture_1 and alsa_pcm:capture_2 for input,
alsa_pcm:playback_1 and alsa_pcm:playback_2 for output, and the first
two hardware MIDI input ports with relatively recent versions of JACK
and ALSA. (Older ALSA builds might need 64:0,80:0.)
To view a full technical description of any parameter, simply
middle-click on the parameter label. Similarly, a right-click on any
parameter label allows on-the-fly mapping of any MIDI controller to
any parameter (up to 15 parameters may be mapped to a single MIDI
controller). All remaining features are directly visible and
accessible through the GUI and its (very short) menus.
Patch bank storage works like it does on just about any modern
hardware synth, with one exception: Patches themselves are stored by
name, not by program number, in the patch bank. The individual
program slots in the patch bank simply reference the stored patches by
name. In Autosave mode, a patch is automatically saved before a new
patch is loaded during a program change without any user intervention.
Autosave mode is intended for use during sound design sessions. In
Warn mode, warnings will be issued will be issued when unsaved
modifications to the patch will be lost. In Protect mode, program
changes always take effect immediately, so any patch modifications are
quietly discarded and patches never get (re)saved unless they are
saved explicitly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LICENSING:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PHASEX is distributed under the terms of the GNU Public License,
version 2. See LICENSE for details.
Copyright (C) 1999-2009 William Weston <weston@sysex.net>
and others. See AUTHORS for details.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBTAINING PHASEX:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the PHASEX website at http://sysex.net/phasex/ to download the
latest version.
Or alternatively grab the very latest (usually working) code with git:
git clone http://sysex.net/git/phasex.git
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The primary goal of the PHASEX project is to offer a free software
synthesizer for GNU/Linux/ALSA/JACK systems that is useful in a MIDI
production environment. Please send any kind of feedback you will for
PHASEX.
What do you like about it?
What don't you like about it?
What features do you think are missing?
What would you do differently?
What are you looking for in a UI?
Anything you say can only influence me to make PHASEX better.
Kind Regards,
--William Weston <weston@sysex.net>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
