JACK-KEYBOARD(1)JACK-KEYBOARD(1)NAMEjack-keyboard - A virtual keyboard for JACK MIDI
SYNOPSISjack-keyboard [ -C ] [ -G ] [ -K ] [ -T ] [ -V ] [ -a input port ] [ -k
] [ -r rate ] [ -t ] [ -u ] [ -c channel ] [ -b bank ] [ -p program ] [
-l layout ]
OPTIONS-C Enable "keyboard cue" - two horizontal lines over a part of key‐
board; keys under the lower line are mapped to the lower row of
your PC keyboard; keys under the upper line are mapped to the
upper row.
-G Disable GUI. It makes jack-keyboard look like it did before
version 2.0.
-K Grab the keyboard. This makes jack-keyboard receive keyboard
events even when it does not have focus. In other words, you
can play while mousing in a different window.
Note: It's not reliable yet. It does not work when some other
application keeps the keyboard grabbed. It does not work with
GNOME. Even when it seems to work, some keyboard events may get
lost.
-T Toggle titlebar, on which channel/bank/program information is
shown. With -G option, it disables titlebar; otherwise it
enables it.
-V Print version number to standard output and exit.
-a input port
Automatically connect to the named input port. Note that this
may cause problems with LASH.
-k Allow connecting to other instances of jack-keyboard (see
PIANOLA MODE below). Without this option, jack-keyboard will
refuse to connect to any JACK client whose name starts in "jack-
keyboard"; this is to prevent loops. Note that it's impossible
to connect instance of jack-keyboard to itself, even with this
option set.
-r rate
Set rate limit to rate, in Kbaud. Limit defined by the MIDI
specification is 31.25. By default this parameter is zero, that
is, rate limiting is disabled.
-t Send all MIDI messages with zero time offset, making them play
as soon as they reach the synth. This was the default behavior
before version 1.6.
-u By default, jack-keyboard does not send program/bank change mes‐
sages after reconnecting, so the newly connected instrument
remains at previous settings. This option changes that behav‐
iour.
-c channel
Set initial MIDI channel to channel; by default it's 1.
-b bank
Set initial MIDI bank to bank. With this option, jack-keyboard
will send the bank/program change once, when it connects.
-p program
Set initial MIDI program to program. With this option, jack-
keyboard will send the bank/program change once, when it con‐
nects.
-l layout
Specify the layout of computer keyboard being used. Valid argu‐
ments are QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, and DVORAK. Default is
QWERTY.
DESCRIPTIONjack-keyboard is a virtual MIDI keyboard - a program that allows you to
send JACK MIDI events (play ;-) using your PC keyboard. It's somewhat
similar to vkeybd, except it uses JACK MIDI instead of ALSA, and the
keyboard mapping is much better - it uses the same layout as trackers
(like Impulse Tracker) did, so you have two and half octaves under your
fingers.
KEY BINDINGS
Keyboard mapping is the same as in Impulse Tracker. This is your
QWERTY keyboard:
+----+----+ +----+----+----+ +----+----+
| 2 | 3 | | 5 | 6 | 7 | | 9 | 0 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| Q | W | E | R | T | Y | U | I | O | P |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| S | D | | G | H | J |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| Z | X | C | V | B | N | M |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
And this is MIDI mapping:
+----+----+ +----+----+----+ +----+----+
|C#5 |D#5 | |F#5 |G#5 |A#5 | |C#6 |D#6 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| C5 | D5 | E5 | F5 | G5 | A5 | B5 | C6 | D6 | E6 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
|C#4 |D#4 | |F#4 |G#4 |A#4 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
| C4 | D4 | E4 | F4 | G4 | A4 | B4 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
Spacebar is a sustain key. Holding it when pressing or releasing key
will make that key sustained, i.e. Note Off MIDI event won't be sent
after releasing the key. To release (stop) all the sustained notes,
press and release spacebar.
Holding Shift when pressing note will make it louder (it increases
velocity). Holding Ctrl will do the opposite. You can change the
default velocity by moving the Velocity slider. You can change the
"high" and "low" velocity values by moving the slider while holding
Shift or Ctrl keys.
Pressing "-" and "+" keys on numeric keypad changes the octave your
keyboard is mapped to. Pressing "*" and "/" on numeric keypad changes
MIDI program (instrument). Pressing Insert or Delete keys will connect
jack-keyboard to the next/previous MIDI input port (it will cycle
between running instances of ghostess, for example). Home and End keys
change the MIDI channel. Page Up and Page Down keys switch the MIDI
bank.
Esc works as a panic key - when you press it, all sound stops.
SETTING CHANNEL/BANK/PROGRAM NUMBER DIRECTLY
To switch directly to a channel, bank or program, enter its number on
the numeric keypad (it won't be shown in any way) and press Home or End
(to change channel), Page Up or Page Down (to change bank) or "/" or
"*" (to change program). For example, to change to program number 123,
type, on the numeric keypad, "123/", without quotes.
TITLEBAR
When -G xor -T is given, some informational messages in the title bar
appear. They are supposed to be self explanatory. If you see
"bank/program change not sent", it means that the bank/program numbers
as seen in the title bar were not sent. In other words, synth the
jack-keyboard is connected to may use different values. This happens
at startup and after switching between synths (using Insert/Delete
keys). To send bank/program change at startup, use -b and -p parame‐
ters. To automatically send bank/program change after reconnect, use
the -u option.
PIANOLA MODE
In addition to the MIDI output port, jack-keyboard also opens MIDI
input (listening) port. MIDI events going into this port will be
passed to the output port unmodified, except for channel number, which
will be set to the one jack-keyboard is configured to use. Note On and
Note Off MIDI events will cause visible effect (pressing and releasing)
on keys, just like if they were being pressed using keyboard or mouse.
jack-keyboard will never connect to it's own MIDI input port. It will
also refuse to connect to any other client whose name begins in "jack-
keyboard", unless the "-k" option is given. It is, however, possible
to connect these ports manually, using jack_connect or qjackctl; this
may create feedback loop.
SEE ALSOjackd(1), ghostess(1), qjackctl(1)BUGS
Key grabbing is unreliable.
Many PC keyboards have problems with polyphony. For example, with the
one I'm using right now, it's impossible to press "c", "v" and "b" at
the same time. It's a hardware problem, not the software one.
The spin widgets used to set channel/bank/program number don't take
focus, so the value cannot be entered into them in the usual way. It's
because jack-keyboard already uses numeric keys for different purposes.
You can still directly enter channel/bank/program in a way described
above.
jack-keyboard 2.4 20 April 2008 JACK-KEYBOARD(1)
