Psycle
| Original author(s) | Juan Antonio Arguelles Rius (Arguru) |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Various (Open Source) |
| Stable release | 1.12.0 / Oct 6 2014, 00:11:0 |
| Written in | C++ |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Type | Tracker |
| License | GPL, Public domain |
| Website | http://psycle.pastnotecut.org |
Psycle is a modular music production application to make music on Windows. It is based on the tracker interface (the vertical timeline sequencer) but also includes up-to-date features like VST compatibility and 96 kHz / 32bit wav rendering.
Psycle is an open source program, and is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The Psycledelics website is a community driven portal that contains program development status, Questions and Answers, links to current file versions, source code and a discussion board.
History
Psycle
Psycle was created by Juan Antonio Arguelles Rius (Arguru), coding the program in May 2000 until version 1.0, which he then released into the public domain. Early versions focused on the Jeskola Buzz-influenced modular 'machine' paradigm: each pattern was linked to a machine, and the individual patterns were then arranged in the sequencer to make a song. Subsequent versions made Psycle into a more classical-style tracker, only keeping the Machine View. Each song position defined in the sequencer was linked to one pattern used to enter notes and data for all machines at the same time. The Psycledelics community took the source code from the public domain version and forked development to Open Source. Psycle has matured and is currently at version 1.10. Since the program supports the VST 2.0 standard, all stages of production can be accomplished - from mixing to mastering. The upcoming version 1.12 will fulfill one goal of psycle 2 to empower psycle with a lua scripting engine, that enables psycle to offer a set of platform independent generators and effects.
Psycle 2 and Psycle II
There have been multiple Psycle 2 projects in the history of the project, none of them have seen the light of day. There have been a few developments regarding big plans and setups, of which most information has been lost over the years, only small bits of information are found around the forums and archive sites of the internet. Most projects have the goal of being truly multiplatform software, and being built on only free and open source software. Psycle II also focused on more technical features like a full featured scripting engine and full modularity everywhere. This made the project look very promising and cutting edge.
QPsycle
Of all the spin-offs from the Psycle project, QPsycle is the one that is currently in development. Since this is a big project, there is still a lot of work to be done and currently this application is not in a usable state. QPsycle is using the libraries from Psycle, making the audio engine mostly complete. The software is being built using Qt, a crossplatform GUI toolkit. Using Qt and different sound engines enables the software to run on a variety of operating systems. When starting this project, sharing code with the main Psycle application has been one of the most important steps to guarantee the future of both projects, and thus preventing fates similar to the Psycle 2 and Psycle II development cycles. However, the project still is very low on developers, so progress is slow.