ANNOUNCE: BEAST/BSE v0.6.3

[Tim Janik <timj gtk org>]

BEAST/BSE version 0.6.3 and BSE-ALSA version 0.6.3 are available
for download at:

  ftp://beast.gtk.org/pub/beast/v0.6/
or
  http://beast.gtk.org/beast-ftp/v0.6/

This is a development version of BEAST/BSE, the BEdevilled Audio SysTem
and the Bedevilled Sound Engine. BEAST is a powerful music composition
and modular synthesis application released as free software under the
GNU GPL and GNU LGPL, that runs under unix. BSE-ALSA is an ALSA driver
for BSE. The project is hosted at:

  http://beast.gtk.org

A mailing list is available at:

  http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/beast/

GUI skins, example sounds and instrumets for BEAST/BSE as well as
screenshots can be found at:

  http://beast.gtk.org/browse-bse-files.html
  http://beast.gtk.org/screenshots/index.html

This new development series of BEAST comes with a lot of the internals
redone, many new GUI features and a sound generation back-end separated
from all GUI activities.

Outstanding new features include support for skins, many sample
file formats, MIDI file import abilities, an improved piano roll
widget, the track editor which allows for easy selection of
synthesisers or samples as track sources, loop support in songs,
mixer support, unlimited Undo/Redo capabilities and MIDI automation.


Overview of Changes in BEAST/BSE 0.6.3:

* The package now depends on GLib-2.4 and Gtk+-2.4
* New/ported/improved Effects:
  BseContribSampleAndHold - a sample and hold module by Artem Popov
  BseSummation            - a replacement for multiple BseAdder effects
  DavBassFilter           - added trigger input for use in instruments and
                            implemented MIDI automation for all parameters
  BseNoise                - ported to IDL/C++ [Stefan Westerfeld]
  ArtsCompressor          - cleanups, major usability improvements
                            [Stefan Westerfeld]
* Added song mixer with freely connectable busses
* Added spline-scale-based DB meters
* Added MIDI event automation framework
* Added null PCM driver and command line options for driver selection
* Added plugin development guide
* Added audio-feature extractor for automated test suit [Stefan Westerfeld]
* Fixed dangling part handling by adding them to an extra track
* Fixed parsing of negative control events and note fine tune
* Fixed stereo playback in sample editor
* Fixed undo/redo handling across playback activation
* Fixed error handling when users form cyclic connections
* Lots of icon updates [Artem Popov]
* Mime type fixes [Artem Popov, Tim Janik]
* Improved GUI responsiveness
* Made message dialog appearance configurable
* Consistent support for dialog closing with Escape 
* Dialog size and resizing adaptions for 800x600 screens
* Lots of miscellaneous bug fixes and refactoring
* Updated Brazilian Portuguese translation [Raphael Higino]
* Updated Czech translation [Miloslav Trmac]
* Updated Dutch translation [Tino Meinen]
* Updated British English translation [David Lodge]
* Updated Canadian English translation [Adam Weinberger]
* Updated Albanian translation [Laurent Dhima]
* Updated Spanish translation [Francisco Javier F. Serrador, Jorge Gonzalez]
* Updated German translation [Dirk Janik, Moritz Mekelburger]
* Updated Russian translation [Artem Popov]
* Added Punjabi translation [Amanpreet Singh Alam]
* Added Japanese translation [Satoru SATOH]
* Added Esperanto translation [Artem Popov]
* Added Italian translation [Petrecca Michele]

Initial Release of BSE-ALSA 0.6.3:

* Provide an ALSA PCM driver for BSE
* Provide an ALSA MIDI driver for BSE

---
ciaoTJ