Pushing the latest Yoshimi 1.3.2 release to Debian Sid repository

[Constantin Teodorescu]

Dear all Debian Yoshimi package maintainers,

we, the happy and enthusiast users of latest Yoshimi 1.3.2 stable release,
are kindly asking you if possible to get in contact with Will Godfrey, the
main developer of Yoshimi, in order to push this latest and greatest
release of Yoshimi into Debian repository, so it can catch the last train
for Ubuntu-Studio 15.04 !!!  :-)

Thank you very much,
Constantin Teodorescu

*[yoshimi-user] yoshimi 1.3.2 is up!*
There has been a lot of work on on this release so here is just about
everything we've done!

The main feature of this release is the revision of root directories and
banks.

In the first place, you no longer have the concept of a default root
directory, but a current one. This can by changed at any time without
requiring a re-start, so there is now no longer a need to display the
(confusing) contents of all roots. Also, roots now have ID numbers
associated with them, but no changes have been made to the actual
directories to achieve this. Instead the IDs are stored in the config file.
The same ID system is used for banks, again without making any file system
changes.

At first run (and whenever new root directories are set) unknown roots
and banks
are given these IDs. Once set they will not change no matter how many more
roots and banks are later added. You can however, manually change root
directory IDs in 'settings'. Bank IDs can be changed via the config file,
and in the near future the GUI will be updated to manage this. With these
IDs, roots and banks can be grouped/ordered by function instead of
alphabetically.
When using the GUI you will always know exactly which root and bank you
fetch an instrument from.

*The significance of all this is that your MIDI sequencer can now reliably
use these ID numbers to select roots, banks and (already available)
instruments. That Rosegarden or Muse file you save today will be just as
valid in the future, unless you make the deliberate choice to change some
IDs. Indeed, you can now start with an 'empty' Yoshimi, and via MIDI, set
roots, banks and load instruments into parts (enabling the parts as you do
so) swapping banks and roots as necessary. While the MIDI file runs it can
silently pull instruments from any root/bank into any non-sounding part
without disturbing the playing ones.*

In Yoshimi->Settings->CC you can enable or disable all these MIDI features,
and can define which CCs you want to use. Bank can be either MSB or
LSB (as before).
Root can be any non-reserved CC but including the one not in use for
Bank. Also, Extended Program Change now has the same restrictions as Root,
and these three are all cross-checked against each other. As an example you
might set Bank to LSB and Root to 0 (MSB), effectively giving you extended
bank control compatible with all sequencers.

Also, different instances have their own config files so that you can
have (say)
the main instance with current root(9), bank(23) while instance 4 has current
root(2), bank(6). You can call up instances by number and thus access
saved settings for that instance. As each instance has its own MIDI and
audio ports, they can behave more-or-less independently.

In doing all of this we have completely changed the way we manage the
structure internally, resulting in much greater efficiency, at the cost of
only a slightly slower startup. Swapping roots performs *no* file
operations. Swapping
banks only fetches the directory list of the newly selected bank. Changing
an instrument doesn't have to search for a file, only load from its already
known location.

Following on from that, we now have a startup splash image that
appears instantly
so you always know Yoshimi has started even if some later error causes it
to abort. The actual image may change - we have requests out for artwork.

So much for the high visibility stuff!




*More work has been done on LV2, including integrating the new root and
bank controls.The main window and the mixer panel are now fully in
sync.Ambiguities in instrument names have been resolved and Yoshimi will no
longer save unnamed or default instruments. If you load a Zyn (or older
Yoshimi) file that has unnamed instruments they will be given the name 'No
Title'.*
You are now prevented (with an explanation) from attempting to change a
bank entry in a non-writeable area. Previously it would seem you had done
so, but the changes would not (of course) have been saved to file - this
goes back very many years!

And... a few bug fixes - where do they come from?


--
Will J Godfrey
http://www.musically.me.uk
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