Jackbeat - JACK drummachine

## Introduction ##

Jackbeat is an audio sequencer with the following features :

* drummachine-like interface for fast and easy edition
* realtime operation : while playing, the sequence can be edited and
  resized, the bpm rate modified, and new samples loaded,
* virtually unlimited number of tracks and beats
* easy to use and yet powerful : just JACK it into jack-rack and you
  can apply LADSPA effect plugins on a per track basis, perform 
  mastering with jackeq , etc...
* loads and saves .jab files, Jackbeat's xml+tar file format.

## Requirements ##

- JACK, the Jack Audio Connection Kit (jackit.sf.net) : a running server
  as well as the API header files

- GTK+-2.0 (gtk.org)

- libsndfile (www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile)

- libxml2 (http://xmlsoft.org)

## Installation ##

Jackbeat uses autoconf and automake (1.6), so you should just need to type :

./configure
make 
make install


## Usage ##

Jackbeat is pretty simple to use. You can load samples by pressing the
track buttons (on the left-side of the window), then by toggling some
of the buttons on the drum-machine and clicking Play you shall hear some 
music. Well... hopefully ;)

Some hints :

Options menu : 
  - Auto-connect : 
      wether you wish Jackbeat to automatically connect its outputs to some 
      playback hardware or not.
  - Transport control :
      If set to "Respond and query" (the default), clicking on "Play" will both 
      enable (or disable) the current sequence and tell Jack to start (or stop) 
      playback.
      If set to "Respond", clicling on Play only enables the sequence. It's up to 
      you to start Jack Playback (check the jack_transport or qjackctl tools).

Edit Menu :
  - Clear : 
      empties the current sequence
  - Double : 
      Increase the beats number by a factor of 2, and duplicates the beats data.
      This feature allows you to increase your workspace size, while keeping the 
      output unchanged. 


## Feedback ##

Please give me some feedback. Tell me if Jackbeat inspires you. 

You are invited to use the public and no-questions-asked forum at :

http://xung.org/jackbeat/phorum

It does not require any subscription, login or any other dumb questions about 
the color of your underwear. 

Bugs reports are greatly welcome. If you start Jackbeat from a console, it will
dump a lot of debugging informations, which you can copy and paste into the 
Jackbeat forum along with a small note, in case of krash/problem. It shouldn't
take you more than a minute.

You may also send me links to your musical productions so that I can include 
them on the home page.

## Contact ##

Home page : http://xung.org/jackbeat

Olivier Guilyardi <olivier@xung.org>