Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Google Summer of Code 2013 Projects!



The Summer of Code is upon us! Google has just announced which students Mixxx has accepted into the Google Summer of Code 2013 program. Students were competing for one of four slots awarded to Mixxx by Google. This year we received a high volume of applications from many skilled students which made the decision-making process very difficult.

After over two weeks of deliberation, we're pleased to introduce our Google Summer of Code students for 2013:
  • Wei Xin from Dalian University of Technology in Liaoning, China
  • Carl Pillot from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, USA
  • Nazar Gerasymchuk from Taras Shevchenko University in Kiev, Ukraine
  • Chris Johnson-Roberson from Brown University in Rhode Island, USA 
Wei Xin will build a community-powered controller mapping portal. This will allow Mixxx users to download the latest controller presets for their devices, rate and comment on presets, and share their own presets with the community. All of this will be possible from within Mixxx!

Carl Pillot will build a loop recorder for live remixing. This will allow DJs to record samples from their live mix and play them back live, providing them with yet another opportunity to get creative with their performances.

Nazar Gerasymchuk will re-design Mixxx's database concurrency model to fix a long-standing issue Mixxx has with locking the GUI for database queries. This should make the Mixxx interface smoother than ever!

Last but not least, Chris Johnson-Roberson will build an intelligent track suggestions feature which aims to helps DJs with the most important choice there is in DJing: what to play next.

This summer's Google Summer of Code projects will be a huge step forward for Mixxx both in functionality and polish. We can't wait to get these students integrated into the Mixxx community and get their work into a release. The 4 will be mentored by our mentoring team: RJ Ryan, Max Linke, Daniel Schürmann, Owen Williams, Sean Pappalardo, and Albert Santoni. As always, we're very grateful for Google's generosity in enabling this work.

Meanwhile, the Mixxx team is working full-speed ahead on Mixxx 1.12, which we hope to release by Christmas 2013. Look for an alpha release in the near future!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Mixxx 1.11.0 Is Here!


The wait is finally over. After over a year of hard work, the Mixxx development team is pleased to present Mixxx 1.11.0!
Available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Here's the skinny on all the new features in Mixxx 1.11.0:
  • Colored, 3-band Waveforms
    • Don't miss a beat. These waveforms make every kick, snare, and thumping beat stand out.
  • Brand New Beat Detector
    • With a brand new beat detection system based on the latest academic research at Queen Mary University, Mixxx's beat detection is now deadly accurate. This means your loops, hotcues, and beatsyncing will be spot-on.
  • HID and Bulk Controller Support
    • Mixxx now supports non-MIDI devices using its powerful scripting system. 
    • Mixxx 1.11.0 comes with HID presets for the following devices:
      • EKS Otus
      • Traktor Kontrol F1
      • Hercules DJ Console Mk1
      • Hercules DJ Console Mk2
      • Hercules DJ Control MP3 e2 (driver no longer necessary on Linux)
      • Nintendo Wiimote
      • Pioneer CDJ 850/900/2000
      • Sony SixxAxis
  • Session History
    • Whether you need to report your setlists to ASCAP or just remember the tracks you played last night, the new Session History feature keeps track of every tune you drop so that you don't have to.
  • Beatloop Rolls
    • This stunning new effect works just like a beatloop except when you release the button the deck jumps to where it would have been if you hadn't started the loop. Try it out by right-clicking on a beat-loop button.
  • Preview Deck
    • A highly-requested feature, the new preview deck allows you to preview tracks in your headphones without having to load them into a main deck. Just click preview on any track in the library and it will start to play in your headphones.
  • Advanced Search
    • The library search box received some much-needed love. Try out these example queries:
      • bpm:100-120 rating:>4
        • All tracks between 100 and 120BPM with rating greater than 4.
      • artist:"Aphex Twin"
        • All tracks with "Aphex Twin" in the artist column.
      • genre:electro bpm:>115
        • All Electro tracks with BPM greater than 115.
    • For full details, see the Mixxx manual.
  • Improved AutoDJ
    • Now you can customize the crossfade period, re-queue tracks instead of removing, and more.
  • Point-and-Click MIDI Mapping
    • Getting your controller mapped is now easier than ever. Just click on the button or knob you want to map in Mixxx and then wiggle the control on your MIDI controller to wire it up. 
  • New Sample Grid skin
    • With 16 sample decks, this skin is perfect for radio DJs and advanced beat-jugglers alike.
  • Time Widgets
    • Skins now show the time so you can keep your eye on the clock while in full-screen.
  • Sample Deck Improvements
    • Sample decks now have sync buttons.
    • When there is room skins now include more sample decks.
  • New and Improved User Manual
  • New Controller Support
    • Mixxx Certified Support
      • Allen & Heath Xone K2
      • EKS Otus
      • Keith McMillen Instruments QuNeo
      • Vestax VCI-400
    • Mixxx Community Support
      • Akai LPD8
      • American Audio VMS2
      • Behringer BCD2000
      • DJ-Tech CDJ-101
      • DJ-Tech DJM-101
      • DJ-Tech Mixer One
      • DJ-Tech Kontrol One
      • Gemini FirstMix
      • Hercules DJ Console Mk1
      • Hercules DJ Console 4-Mx
      • Hercules DJ Control AIR
      • Hercules DJ Control Instinct
      • Kontrol Dj KDJ500
      • Korg nanoKONTROL
      • Korg nanoKONTROL 2
      • Korg nanoPAD2
      • MixVibes U-Mix Control 2
      • MixVibes U-Mix Control Pro 2
      • Nintendo Wiimote
      • Novation Dicer
      • Novation Launchpad
      • Numark DJ2Go
      • Numark MIXTRACK Pro
      • Numark N4
      • Numark Omni Control
      • Numark V7
      • Reloop Terminal Mix 4
      • Sony Sixxaxis
      • Traktor Kontrol F1
      • Vestax VCI-100 3DEX Edition
      • Vestax VCI-300
  • Other Highlights
    • Hamster / Reverse mode for the crossfader now supported.
    • Track analyzer has better prioritization of work and feedback.
    • Controller presets now include wiki/forum links, authorship info and a description.
    • The View menu toggles for skin elements (Vinyl Control, Microphone, Samplers, etc.)
    • View settings are now saved across restarts.
    • New latch mode for microphone talk-over button and kill switches.
    • Removed tracks now appear in the "Hidden Tracks" section of the library.
    • Locale selectable via preferences.
    • MixVibes support for Vinyl Control.
    • Quick Links section in Browse mode allows you to save favorite browse locations.
    • The --controllerDebug command-line option auto-reloads controller scripts when they change.
  • Hundreds of bug fixes and performance improvements!

Mixxx 1.11.0 - LateNightBlues skin
Mixxx 1.11.0 - LateNightBlues skin


Mixxx 1.11.0 - Shade skin
Mixxx 1.11.0 - Shade skin

Mixxx 1.11.0 - Deere SampleGrid skin
Mixxx 1.11.0 - Deere SampleGrid skin

Bugs and Feedback
You can help improve Mixxx by reporting any bugs you find. Your feedback plays a crucial role in Mixxx's development cycle, and even filing a quick bug report makes an important contribution to the project. We want to hear from you! Please send us feedbackfile a bugwrite us an emailpost to the forums, or chat with us.

Join Mixxx!
We're always looking for new contributors who are interested in working on Mixxx. If you're a hacker or artist and want to work with a creative, enthusiastic team, hop on our IRC channel (#mixxx on Freenode) or sign up for our developer mailing list.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Calling all Students: Hack on Mixxx in Google Summer of Code 2013!




Google has just announced the participating mentoring organizations for Google Summer of Code 2013 and Mixxx has been accepted into the program!

Google Summer of Code is a global program that allows students to receive a $5000 USD stipend for writing code for an open source software project over the summer. Students can apply by submitting an application to a mentoring organization (like us) via the GSoC 2013 website. For more information about how GSoC works, please see the program FAQ.

To get prospective students started, we've put up a list of GSoC 2013 Project Ideas for Mixxx on our wiki, but we're always interested in new ideas. We also recommend taking a peek at our page of general advice for students interested in applying. The application period for students begins on April 22nd and ends May 3rd at 19:00 UTC. 

Our past summer projects have included rewriting our scrolling waveform widgets, adding Shoutcast broadcasting support to Mixxx, and improving our audio mixer routing code. A full list of our past GSoC projects is available on the front page of our wiki.


Interested? Apply starting April 22nd and come hack on the best free MP3 DJ mixing software for the Summer!