1JACK-KEYBOARD(1)                                              JACK-KEYBOARD(1)
2
3
4

NAME

6       jack-keyboard - A virtual keyboard for JACK MIDI
7

SYNOPSIS

9       jack-keyboard [ -C ] [ -G ] [ -K ] [ -T ] [ -V ] [ -a input port ] [ -k
10       ] [ -r rate ] [ -t ] [ -u ] [ -c channel ] [ -b bank ] [ -p program ] [
11       -l layout ]
12
13

OPTIONS

15       -C     Enable "keyboard cue" - two horizontal lines over a part of key‐
16              board; keys under the lower line are mapped to the lower row  of
17              your  PC  keyboard;  keys under the upper line are mapped to the
18              upper row.
19
20       -G     Disable GUI.  It makes jack-keyboard look  like  it  did  before
21              version 2.0.
22
23       -K     Grab  the  keyboard.   This makes jack-keyboard receive keyboard
24              events even when it does not have focus.  In  other  words,  you
25              can play while mousing in a different window.
26
27              Note:  It's  not reliable yet.  It does not work when some other
28              application keeps the keyboard grabbed.  It does not  work  with
29              GNOME.  Even when it seems to work, some keyboard events may get
30              lost.
31
32       -T     Toggle titlebar, on which  channel/bank/program  information  is
33              shown.   With  -G  option,  it  disables  titlebar; otherwise it
34              enables it.
35
36       -V     Print version number to standard output and exit.
37
38       -a input port
39              Automatically connect to the named input port.  Note  that  this
40              may cause problems with LASH.
41
42       -k     Allow  connecting  to  other  instances  of  jack-keyboard  (see
43              PIANOLA MODE below).  Without this  option,  jack-keyboard  will
44              refuse to connect to any JACK client whose name starts in "jack-
45              keyboard"; this is to prevent loops.  Note that it's  impossible
46              to  connect  instance of jack-keyboard to itself, even with this
47              option set.
48
49       -r rate
50              Set rate limit to rate, in Kbaud.  Limit  defined  by  the  MIDI
51              specification is 31.25.  By default this parameter is zero, that
52              is, rate limiting is disabled.
53
54       -t     Send all MIDI messages with zero time offset, making  them  play
55              as  soon as they reach the synth.  This was the default behavior
56              before version 1.6.
57
58       -u     By default, jack-keyboard does not send program/bank change mes‐
59              sages  after  reconnecting,  so  the  newly connected instrument
60              remains at previous settings.  This option changes  that  behav‐
61              iour.
62
63       -c channel
64              Set initial MIDI channel to channel; by default it's 1.
65
66       -b bank
67              Set  initial MIDI bank to bank.  With this option, jack-keyboard
68              will send the bank/program change once, when it connects.
69
70       -p program
71              Set initial MIDI program to program.  With  this  option,  jack-
72              keyboard  will  send  the bank/program change once, when it con‐
73              nects.
74
75       -l layout
76              Specify the layout of computer keyboard being used.  Valid argu‐
77              ments  are  QWERTY,  QWERTZ,  AZERTY,  and  DVORAK.   Default is
78              QWERTY.
79

DESCRIPTION

81       jack-keyboard is a virtual MIDI keyboard - a program that allows you to
82       send  JACK MIDI events (play ;-) using your PC keyboard.  It's somewhat
83       similar to vkeybd, except it uses JACK MIDI instead of  ALSA,  and  the
84       keyboard  mapping  is much better - it uses the same layout as trackers
85       (like Impulse Tracker) did, so you have two and half octaves under your
86       fingers.
87

KEY BINDINGS

89       Keyboard  mapping  is  the  same  as  in Impulse Tracker.  This is your
90       QWERTY keyboard:
91
92                    +----+----+    +----+----+----+    +----+----+
93                    | 2  | 3  |    | 5  | 6  | 7  |    | 9  | 0  |
94                 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
95                 | Q  | W  | E  | R  | T  | Y  | U  | I  | O  | P  |
96                 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
97                        | S  | D  |    | G  | H  | J  |
98                     +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
99                     | Z  | X  | C  | V  | B  | N  | M  |
100                     +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
101
102       And this is MIDI mapping:
103
104                    +----+----+    +----+----+----+    +----+----+
105                    |C#5 |D#5 |    |F#5 |G#5 |A#5 |    |C#6 |D#6 |
106                 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
107                 | C5 | D5 | E5 | F5 | G5 | A5 | B5 | C6 | D6 | E6 |
108                 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
109                        |C#4 |D#4 |    |F#4 |G#4 |A#4 |
110                     +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
111                     | C4 | D4 | E4 | F4 | G4 | A4 | B4 |
112                     +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
113
114
115       Spacebar is a sustain key.  Holding it when pressing or  releasing  key
116       will  make  that  key sustained, i.e. Note Off MIDI event won't be sent
117       after releasing the key.  To release (stop) all  the  sustained  notes,
118       press and release spacebar.
119
120       Holding  Shift  when  pressing  note  will make it louder (it increases
121       velocity).  Holding Ctrl will do the  opposite.   You  can  change  the
122       default  velocity  by  moving  the Velocity slider.  You can change the
123       "high" and "low" velocity values by moving  the  slider  while  holding
124       Shift or Ctrl keys.
125
126       Pressing  "-"  and  "+"  keys on numeric keypad changes the octave your
127       keyboard is mapped to.  Pressing "*" and "/" on numeric keypad  changes
128       MIDI program (instrument).  Pressing Insert or Delete keys will connect
129       jack-keyboard to the next/previous  MIDI  input  port  (it  will  cycle
130       between running instances of ghostess, for example).  Home and End keys
131       change the MIDI channel.  Page Up and Page Down keys  switch  the  MIDI
132       bank.
133
134       Esc works as a panic key - when you press it, all sound stops.
135

SETTING CHANNEL/BANK/PROGRAM NUMBER DIRECTLY

137       To  switch  directly to a channel, bank or program, enter its number on
138       the numeric keypad (it won't be shown in any way) and press Home or End
139       (to  change  channel),  Page Up or Page Down (to change bank) or "/" or
140       "*" (to change program).  For example, to change to program number 123,
141       type, on the numeric keypad, "123/", without quotes.
142

TITLEBAR

144       When  -G  xor -T is given, some informational messages in the title bar
145       appear.  They  are  supposed  to  be  self  explanatory.   If  you  see
146       "bank/program  change not sent", it means that the bank/program numbers
147       as seen in the title bar were not sent.   In  other  words,  synth  the
148       jack-keyboard  is  connected to may use different values.  This happens
149       at startup and after  switching  between  synths  (using  Insert/Delete
150       keys).   To  send bank/program change at startup, use -b and -p parame‐
151       ters.  To automatically send bank/program change after  reconnect,  use
152       the -u option.
153

PIANOLA MODE

155       In  addition  to  the  MIDI  output port, jack-keyboard also opens MIDI
156       input (listening) port.  MIDI events  going  into  this  port  will  be
157       passed  to the output port unmodified, except for channel number, which
158       will be set to the one jack-keyboard is configured to use.  Note On and
159       Note Off MIDI events will cause visible effect (pressing and releasing)
160       on keys, just like if they were being pressed using keyboard or mouse.
161
162       jack-keyboard will never connect to it's own MIDI input port.  It  will
163       also  refuse to connect to any other client whose name begins in "jack-
164       keyboard", unless the "-k" option is given.  It is,  however,  possible
165       to  connect  these ports manually, using jack_connect or qjackctl; this
166       may create feedback loop.
167

SEE ALSO

169       jackd(1), ghostess(1), qjackctl(1)
170

BUGS

172       Key grabbing is unreliable.
173
174       Many PC keyboards have problems with polyphony.  For example, with  the
175       one  I'm  using right now, it's impossible to press "c", "v" and "b" at
176       the same time.  It's a hardware problem, not the software one.
177
178       The spin widgets used to set  channel/bank/program  number  don't  take
179       focus, so the value cannot be entered into them in the usual way.  It's
180       because jack-keyboard already uses numeric keys for different purposes.
181       You  can  still  directly enter channel/bank/program in a way described
182       above.
183
184
185
186jack-keyboard 2.4                20 April 2008                JACK-KEYBOARD(1)
Impressum