| 1 | =============================== |
|---|
| 2 | Jackbeat - Audio Sequencer |
|---|
| 3 | =============================== |
|---|
| 4 | |
|---|
| 5 | Introduction |
|---|
| 6 | ============ |
|---|
| 7 | |
|---|
| 8 | Jackbeat is an audio sequencer running on Linux and Mac OS X, for musicians |
|---|
| 9 | and sound artists: |
|---|
| 10 | |
|---|
| 11 | * Drummachine interface with animations for easy and playful editing |
|---|
| 12 | * Built for both composition and live setups with high interactivity needs |
|---|
| 13 | * Extremely easy to use but yet powerful by connecting with other |
|---|
| 14 | applications and plugins using JACK and OSC |
|---|
| 15 | * Loads and saves .jab files, Jackbeat's xml+tar open file format |
|---|
| 16 | * Supports native audio devices, PulseAudio and JACK |
|---|
| 17 | |
|---|
| 18 | Requirements |
|---|
| 19 | ============ |
|---|
| 20 | |
|---|
| 21 | Required dependencies |
|---|
| 22 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 23 | |
|---|
| 24 | * PortAudio (http://www.portaudio.com/) |
|---|
| 25 | |
|---|
| 26 | * Linux only: libasound (http://www.alsa-project.org) |
|---|
| 27 | |
|---|
| 28 | * GTK+-2.0 (gtk.org) |
|---|
| 29 | |
|---|
| 30 | * libsndfile (www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile) |
|---|
| 31 | |
|---|
| 32 | * libxml2 (http://xmlsoft.org) |
|---|
| 33 | |
|---|
| 34 | * libsamplerate (http://www.mega-nerd.com/SRC) |
|---|
| 35 | |
|---|
| 36 | * liblo (http://liblo.sourceforge.net) |
|---|
| 37 | |
|---|
| 38 | Optional dependencies |
|---|
| 39 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 40 | |
|---|
| 41 | * JACK, the Jack Audio Connection Kit (http://jackaudio.org) : a running server |
|---|
| 42 | as well as the API header files. Mac OS X users should see |
|---|
| 43 | http://www.jackosx.com |
|---|
| 44 | |
|---|
| 45 | * PulseAudio (http://www.pulseaudio.org) |
|---|
| 46 | |
|---|
| 47 | Installation |
|---|
| 48 | ============ |
|---|
| 49 | |
|---|
| 50 | Jackbeat uses autoconf and automake, so you should just need to type:: |
|---|
| 51 | |
|---|
| 52 | ./configure |
|---|
| 53 | make |
|---|
| 54 | make install |
|---|
| 55 | |
|---|
| 56 | This should be straightforward on Linux. |
|---|
| 57 | |
|---|
| 58 | For Mac OS X please check: |
|---|
| 59 | http://jackbeat.samalyse.org/wiki/MacInstallation |
|---|
| 60 | |
|---|
| 61 | For Windows please see: |
|---|
| 62 | http://jackbeat.samalyse.org/browser/trunk/mingw/README |
|---|
| 63 | |
|---|
| 64 | Developer/maintainer mode |
|---|
| 65 | ========================= |
|---|
| 66 | |
|---|
| 67 | If you want to compile Jackbeat and run it without installation, you |
|---|
| 68 | need to:: |
|---|
| 69 | |
|---|
| 70 | ./configure --enable-devmode |
|---|
| 71 | make |
|---|
| 72 | # run jackbeat from the current directory: |
|---|
| 73 | src/jackbeat |
|---|
| 74 | |
|---|
| 75 | Usage |
|---|
| 76 | ===== |
|---|
| 77 | |
|---|
| 78 | Jackbeat is pretty simple to use. Browse through the main menu, it is meant to |
|---|
| 79 | be quite obvious. The Sequence and Track buttons at the bottom of the window |
|---|
| 80 | open the corresponding properties panel where you'll find convenient functions. |
|---|
| 81 | |
|---|
| 82 | To begin, just a load a few samples using the track panel properties or the edit menu. |
|---|
| 83 | Then by toggling some of the buttons on the drummachine and clicking Play you shall |
|---|
| 84 | hear some music. Well... hopefully ;) |
|---|
| 85 | |
|---|
| 86 | Notes about export parameters |
|---|
| 87 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 88 | |
|---|
| 89 | When you export the current sequence as a WAV file, you are given a choice |
|---|
| 90 | about how to handle samples that continue playing passed the end of the sequence: |
|---|
| 91 | |
|---|
| 92 | - loop: mix at the beginning. This is optimal for playing the exported |
|---|
| 93 | WAV file as a loop in some external software. |
|---|
| 94 | - truncate: don't play at all. This will sound like the initial sequence |
|---|
| 95 | playback, before it has looped at least once. |
|---|
| 96 | - keep: continue playing samples until they terminate. Beware that the |
|---|
| 97 | exported file may thus be (much) longer than the sequence. |
|---|
| 98 | |
|---|
| 99 | The double function |
|---|
| 100 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 101 | |
|---|
| 102 | Available in the Edit menu, Double increases the beats number by a factor of 2, |
|---|
| 103 | and duplicates the beats data. This feature allows you to increase your workspace |
|---|
| 104 | size, while keeping the output unchanged. |
|---|
| 105 | |
|---|
| 106 | About track masking |
|---|
| 107 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 108 | |
|---|
| 109 | Track masks allow you to insert silences into a track interactively. |
|---|
| 110 | |
|---|
| 111 | Use Shift-Click (or press N) to toggle the mask for a given beat. The corresponding track |
|---|
| 112 | will then get muted during the duration of that beat. |
|---|
| 113 | |
|---|
| 114 | Keyboard shortcuts |
|---|
| 115 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
|---|
| 116 | |
|---|
| 117 | You can learn about most of the keyboard shortcuts by looking at the main menu. |
|---|
| 118 | |
|---|
| 119 | There also are a few pattern editing shortcuts: |
|---|
| 120 | |
|---|
| 121 | - B or <return>: toggle beat |
|---|
| 122 | - N: toggle mask |
|---|
| 123 | - <up>/<down>/<right>/<left>/<home>/<end> : move |
|---|
| 124 | |
|---|
| 125 | Feedback and Support |
|---|
| 126 | ==================== |
|---|
| 127 | |
|---|
| 128 | Please give me some feedback. Tell me if Jackbeat inspires you. |
|---|
| 129 | |
|---|
| 130 | For user support, mailing list and bug reports please see: |
|---|
| 131 | http://jackbeat.samalyse.org/wiki/UserSupport |
|---|
| 132 | |
|---|
| 133 | You may also send me links to your musical productions so that I can include |
|---|
| 134 | them on the musical examples page at: |
|---|
| 135 | http://jackbeat.samalyse.org/wiki/MusicExamples |
|---|
| 136 | |
|---|
| 137 | Contact |
|---|
| 138 | ======= |
|---|
| 139 | |
|---|
| 140 | Home page : http://jackbeat.samalyse.org |
|---|
| 141 | |
|---|
| 142 | Olivier Guilyardi <olivier {at} samalyse {dot} com> |
|---|
| 143 | |
|---|
| 144 | |
|---|
