Intro for Mac OS X
==================

FreeWheeling for Mac OS X is a direct port of the Linux version. 
A Universal binary will be made available for each release, along
with source code if you wish to compile it yourself.

The user interface remains the same across OS X and Linux versions. 
This means that FreeWheeling OS X does not make use of Mac's Aqua interface. 
A few basic commands specific to the Mac version have been provided in a Mac menu. 
The rest of the functionality is built into the app window.

FreeWheeling is designed to be mostly MIDI and keyboard driven.
A few things can be done from a mouse, but while playing music, 
the idea is to keep your hands on your instrument. FreeWheeling is not a music production
or DJing tool. FreeWheeling works for instrumentalists, such as drummers,
guitarists, keyboardists and vocalists. FreeWheeling is like a second
instrument, that you use to reflect back parts of your playing, to build
loops in a spontaneous way. 

You can configure FreeWheeling to work with the PC keyboard, joysticks,
or MIDI-enabled devices. 

Setup for Mac OS X
==================

1. Drag the 'Fweelin' app to the 'Applications' folder.

2. Download and install JACK. http://jackosx.com/

	Jack is an audio connection kit similar to Rewire.

	It allows you to plug FreeWheeling into different audio apps,
	such as soft synths or sequencers.

3. Start 'Jack Pilot', included with your JACK installation.

	Set the lowest possible latency that provides stable performance.
 
	Set 'Jack Pilot' to 'Full Duplex' (recording and playback enabled),
	if you wish to record live instruments in FreeWheeling.

	If you are using the onboard Mac sound, you can get 'Full Duplex'
	recording and playback by creating an 'Aggregate Audio Device'.
	To do this, choose 'Open Audio MIDI Setup' from the JackPilot
        menu, or run 'Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup'. Then,
        select 'Open Aggregate Device Editor...' from the Audio menu.

4. If you wish to debug the console output of FreeWheeling for
   troubleshooting, start 'Applications/Utilities/Console' now.

5. Run 'FreeWheeling'. The main window should appear. If it does not,
   consult the Console log (step 4), or try running from a Terminal.

Using FreeWheeling for Mac OS X
===============================

FreeWheeling can be driven from any one MIDI source. To select
the source, choose 'Preferences' from the 'Fweelin' menu.

By default, FreeWheeling grabs loops with the QWERTY keys as well as
one octave of keys on your MIDI keyboard. This can be configured in
the configuration files. The main one is ~/.fweelin/fweelin.xml.
They are all stored in ~/.fweelin. 

Some keyboard commands (function keys especially) may conflict
with Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts. I suggest using an external USB keyboard, 
or modifying Freewheeling's configuration.

You will have to connect audio to go into and out of FreeWheeling using
Jack Pilot. Most often, you will want to route your system audio inputs
into FreeWheeling, and FreeWheeling's audio outputs back out to the system,
or into a sequencer or effects program. Regular Mac audio apps work with JACK. 
Simply point them to the 'JACK' device.

FreeWheeling can also drive soft-synths and effects. FreeWheeling creates
several MIDI outputs, which appear as virtual MIDI sources. 
You can connect your audio apps to these MIDI sources. 
FreeWheeling has a built-in configurable patch browser that can be used to select 
patches on different MIDI outputs. You can also create combination patches that 
split your MIDI input into a variety of keyboard zones, playing different outputs
together.

For a crash-course in Freewheeling (albeit, an old version), 
please refer to the video tutorials at:
http://freewheeling.sourceforge.net/

If you'd like to configure Freewheeling,
please read the configuration files located 
in your home folder in the hidden subfolder .fweelin/
(once you've run FreeWheeling, this folder appears)

To find this folder through the Finder, 
you must have hidden files enabled in your Finder.
Or, you can access it through the Mac Terminal app.
 
For more help, please browse or sign on to the mailing-list.

Happy Looping!
-JP Mercury.

Compiling FreeWheeling from Source
==================================

FreeWheeling for Mac OS X can be compiled from source.
Download the source package.
You will need Apple's XCode tools.

Load MacOSX/fweelin.xcodeproj
FreeWheeling depends on several frameworks.
Many of these can be installed from third-party sites.

However, some, such as libsndfile, 
require a small amount of tweaking to be compiled as Frameworks. 
A ZIP file of all dependency Frameworks with xcodeproj files is
available. Please contact JP Mercury:

http://home.graffiti.net/swirlee/swirlee.jpg

If you wish to contribute to the development of FreeWheeling, 
please be in touch.

Happy Compiling!
-JP Mercury.
