1JACK-KEYBOARD(1) JACK-KEYBOARD(1)
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6 jack-keyboard - A virtual keyboard for JACK MIDI
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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 ]
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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 -G Disable GUI. It makes jack-keyboard look like it did before
21 version 2.0.
22 -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 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 -T Toggle titlebar, on which channel/bank/program information is
33 shown. With -G option, it disables titlebar; otherwise it
34 enables it.
35 -V Print version number to standard output and exit.
37 -a input port
39 Automatically connect to the named input port. Note that this
40 may cause problems with LASH.
41 -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 -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 -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 -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 -c channel
64 Set initial MIDI channel to channel; by default it's 1.
65 -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 -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 -l layout
76 Specify the layout of computer keyboard being used. Valid argu‐
77 ments are QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY and DVORAK. Default is QWERTY.
78
80 jack-keyboard is a virtual MIDI keyboard - a program that allows you to
81 send JACK MIDI events (play ;-) using your PC keyboard. It's somewhat
82 similar to vkeybd, except it uses JACK MIDI instead of ALSA, and the
83 keyboard mapping is much better - it uses the same layout as trackers
84 (like Impulse Tracker) did, so you have two and half octaves under your
85 fingers.
86
88 Keyboard mapping is the same as in Impulse Tracker. This is your
89 QWERTY keyboard:
90 +----+----+ +----+----+----+ +----+----+
92 | 2 | 3 | | 5 | 6 | 7 | | 9 | 0 |
93 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
94 | Q | W | E | R | T | Y | U | I | O | P |
95 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
96 | S | D | | G | H | J |
97 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
98 | Z | X | C | V | B | N | M |
99 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
100 And this is MIDI mapping:
102 +----+----+ +----+----+----+ +----+----+
104 |C#5 |D#5 | |F#5 |G#5 |A#5 | |C#6 |D#6 |
105 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
106 | C5 | D5 | E5 | F5 | G5 | A5 | B5 | C6 | D6 | E6 |
107 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
108 |C#4 |D#4 | |F#4 |G#4 |A#4 |
109 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
110 | C4 | D4 | E4 | F4 | G4 | A4 | B4 |
111 +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
112 Spacebar is a sustain key. Holding it when pressing or releasing key
115 will make that key sustained, i.e. Note Off MIDI event won't be sent
116 after releasing the key. To release (stop) all the sustained notes,
117 press and release spacebar.
118 Holding Shift when pressing note will make it louder (it increases
120 velocity). Holding Ctrl will do the opposite. You can change the
121 default velocity by moving the Velocity slider. You can change the
122 "high" and "low" velocity values by moving the slider while holding
123 Shift or Ctrl keys.
124 Pressing "-" and "+" keys on numeric keypad changes the octave your
126 keyboard is mapped to. Pressing "*" and "/" on numeric keypad changes
127 MIDI program (instrument). Pressing Insert or Delete keys will connect
128 jack-keyboard to the next/previous MIDI input port (it will cycle
129 between running instances of ghostess, for example). Home and End keys
130 change the MIDI channel. Page Up and Page Down keys switch the MIDI
131 bank.
132 Esc works as a panic key - when you press it, all sound stops.
134
136 To switch directly to a channel, bank or program, enter its number on
137 the numeric keypad (it won't be shown in any way) and press Home or End
138 (to change channel), Page Up or Page Down (to change bank) or "/" or
139 "*" (to change program). For example, to change to program number 123,
140 type, on the numeric keypad, "123/", without quotes.
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143 When -G xor -T is given, some informational messages in the title bar
144 appear. They are supposed to be self explanatory. If you see
145 "bank/program change not sent", it means that the bank/program numbers
146 as seen in the title bar were not sent. In other words, synth the
147 jack-keyboard is connected to may use different values. This happens
148 at startup and after switching between synths (using Insert/Delete
149 keys). To send bank/program change at startup, use -b and -p parame‐
150 ters. To automatically send bank/program change after reconnect, use
151 the -u option.
152
154 In addition to the MIDI output port, jack-keyboard also opens MIDI
155 input (listening) port. MIDI events going into this port will be
156 passed to the output port unmodified, except for channel number, which
157 will be set to the one jack-keyboard is configured to use. Note On and
158 Note Off MIDI events will cause visible effect (pressing and releasing)
159 on keys, just like if they were being pressed using keyboard or mouse.
160 jack-keyboard will never connect to it's own MIDI input port. It will
162 also refuse to connect to any other client whose name begins in "jack-
163 keyboard", unless the "-k" option is given. It is, however, possible
164 to connect these ports manually, using jack_connect or qjackctl; this
165 may create feedback loop.
166
168 jackd(1), ghostess(1), qjackctl(1)
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171 Key grabbing is unreliable.
172 Many PC keyboards have problems with polyphony. For example, with the
174 one I'm using right now, it's impossible to press "c", "v" and "b" at
175 the same time. It's a hardware problem, not the software one.
176 The spin widgets used to set channel/bank/program number don't take
178 focus, so the value cannot be entered into them in the usual way. It's
179 because jack-keyboard already uses numeric keys for different purposes.
180 You can still directly enter channel/bank/program in a way described
181 above.
182jack-keyboard 2.4 20 April 2008 JACK-KEYBOARD(1)