0.9b15 Release Notes
2/2/2004 AudioMulch 0.9b15 Release Notes
AudioMulch version 0.9b15 is now available from the download page. This version will expire on May 7th 2004.
This version of AudioMulch provides a substantial increase in stability and usability, incorporating over thirty tweaks and bug fixes. Improvements have been made to Contraptions, Automation, MIDI parameter modulation, and VST hosting. Automation curves now use the same scaling as contraption editor sliders. A new VST crash protection feature has been added which attempts to disable crashing VST plugins rather than crashing AudioMulch. New example files, including four "Mulch Only" synthetic tracks by Michael Upton are included in this release.
Details of all of the changes made for AudioMulch 0.9b15 are listed in the following sections.
Functional Changes and Improvements
- Changed FilePlayer and SoundIn to rewind to start when they reach the end, even if AutoRewind is not set. (AutoRewind rewinds whenever the file is stopped or started).
- Changed default gain to unity on Gain contraptions so that inserting a Gain contraption doesn't cut the level.
- Included new example files: FlangerVsPhaser, GrainMod and TheBells, and four "MulchOnly" examples by Michael Upton.
- Automation loop points are now used when syncing to MIDI.
- Editing automation handles while holding down the control key now gives improved accuracy as with sliders.
- Value and Range automation curves now use non-linear mappings when their corresponding contraption editor sliders do. This gives better editing accuracy near the limits of some ranges.
- Increased MIDI 7 bit Controller Number range to 127.
- Made 7 bit MIDI controllers the default for Quick Map MIDI (formerly 14 bit was the default).
User Interface Tweaks
- When pasting into number editors the text is now checked and not pasted if it's too long or not a number.
- Moved automation tool tips so they aren't obscured by the mouse cursor.
- Fixed space-bar conflict between transport control and normal windows controls (normal Windows contros now use control-space).
- CPU meter turns red if an input or output glitch is detected, like it used to (note that not all drivers support this).
- Switched to using HTML Help, added Overview for New Users and What's New items to Help Menu.
- Trying to use File->Reopen for a file which can't be found now reports a more helpful error message.
VST Related Changes
- VST plugin crashes are now detected where possible (not always possible), which causes the plugin to be disabled rather than crashing AudioMulch.
- Fixed some startup VST crashes (eg Waldorf PPGWave2) due to audioMasterGetSampleRate implementation calling back into plugin with effSetSampleRate (no longer calls back).
- Fixed bug where corrupted VST .dll files could cause a crash (Access Violation) on startup.
- Changed VST hostCanDo implementation to return only 0 and 1 (never -1 like it used to).
- VST stability fixes by minimising the number of effGetProgram and effSetProgram calls.
- Changed VST effSetSampleRate and effSetBlockSize to return the values rather than calling back into the plugin. Thanks to Torben Larsen for help with this.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bug in ParaEq high shelf. The response was incorrect, lowering cutoff could cause higher gain.
- Fixed glitch in LoopPlayer on loop boundary when Stretch was not selected.
- Fixed bug where Drums channel 1 would gate channel 2 even if Gate1&2 was not selected or channel 1 was disabled.
- Fixed bug where sound files were not automatically located if the document and files were moved together to a different location.
- Fixed bug: opening a new document when the current document had a feedback path could crash if audio was active.
- Fixed bug where FilePlayer and SoundIn would loop indefinitely if Active was automated to permanently on, even if Loop was not set.
- Fixed bug: AIFF files were not displayed when soundfile dialog was initially opened.
- Removed the option of automating Location on SoundIn, SoundOut and FilePlayer. It never worked anyway.
- Fixed bug: If a different file name was selected for a missing soundfile, sometimes the old file name was displayed on contraption editors.
- Fixed bugs where exporting to a sound file which was open in another application would crash. Also fixed similar problems with SoundOut. Generally improved sound file handling under error conditions.
- Fixed bug: Boolean (checkbox) automation was in the "checked" state prior to first handle if first handle was checked, now is unchecked prior to first handle as implied by the GUI.
- Fixed bug: "Assertion failed: messages_.Empty()" crash on exit when exiting AudioMulch while samples where still loading.
- Fixed bug which could cause crash with Patcher Insert*, Substitute and Replace if the contraption (eg a VST) could not be created, or crashed during creation.
- Fixed intermittent fault in SouthPole (could make no sound when first opened).
- Fixed installer bug, now correctly creates Desktop and Quick-Launch icons.
- Fixed bug: sample loading progress bar would get stuck at 100%.
CannonLooper and LiveLooper contraptions - Use at your own risk
The CannonLooper and LiveLooper contraptions which appear in the Beta category were included by accident in a previous (0.9b13) release. These contraptions are still under development and may change before they are finished. This is why there is no documentation. They have been included for users who have started using them, however it is important that you do not depend on their behavior as they will certainly change in the future.
Thanks to Helen Thomson who sponsored the development of these contraptions and contributed significantly to their design.
Reporting Bugs
Although this version has been tested it may contain new or as yet undetected bugs. If AudioMulch crashes please report it as a bug to rossb@audiomulch.com. Further details about reporting bugs are contained in the Beta.txt file which is included with the AudioMulch installation.
Previous Release Notes
You can review the release notes for the previous version (0.9b14) here. All previous release notes are archived here.
Thanks
Many thanks to everyone who reported bugs and assisted with testing leading up to this release. Thanks also to those who have kindly purchased a registration, your support is greatly appreciated.
AudioMulch software, documentation and web site copyright ©1997-2006 Ross Bencina,
All Rights Reserved. AudioMulch is a registered trademark.