Architecture

Components

Currently the project consists of these source modules:

• buzztard - the applications and their shared libraries
• bml - the buzz machine loader (wrapper), also provides a sanitized API to the buzz-machines
• bsl - the buzz song loader
• gst-buzztard - experimental code, that might go into [gstreamer]
  (API docs) and plugins like gstbml, simsynth, ...

This reflects the goal, to have a stand-alone application and sub-modules for buzz migration. The buzztard applications will not require the bml, gstbml and bsl components.

Buzztard modules

The buzztard module has several components as well:

• libbuzztard-core - all the gobjects to model a song, to construct the gstreamer network, to interact with the sequencer in gstreamer, to handle configuration data and to use song im/export
  (API docs)
• libbuzztard-ic - interaction controller support (joysticks, midi input, ...)
  (API docs)
• buzztard-cmd - a commandline tool for playing, showing song info, etc.
  (API docs)
• buzztard-edit - the graphical editor application
  (API docs)

In the future we might have more apps based on the framework. On our list currently are

• buzztard-live - a live playback application
• buzztard-session - a live sequencing / composing application
• buzztard-bin - a gstreamer bin element + a typefinder, so that buzztard songs can be played in playbin based applications

We might also add more libs. Once we have more GUI apps, we should move alls gtk-widgets to a separate lib (libbt-ui).

Technology

Buzztard is using the glib GObject framework (a good introduction to GObject). GStreamer is the media framework we use.

The graphical editor application is using the gtk+ toolkit only, and GnomeCanvas (no gnome dependencies), so that porting to other platforms is easier (see Portability). We use some custom widgets like GtkVUMeter, the patterneditor and waveform view.