Mamba

Virtual MIDI keyboard and MIDI file player/recorder for the JACK Audio Connection Kit

Description

Virtual MIDI Keyboard

Mamba comes with some predefined key-maps: QWERTZ, QWERTY, AZERTY (fr) and AZERTY (be), but you can also define your own key-maps with the included key-map editor. In addition to computer keyboard and mouse input, Mamba also supports JACK and ALSA MIDI In and Out connections. Incoming MIDI notes are displayed on the keyboard, each with their own colour according to their MIDI channels. JACK and ALSA connections can be managed within the connection menu.

Mamba implements full Scala tuning support, which means it can load Scala tuning files (*.scl) and Scala MIDI keymap files (*.kbm) to support micro-tonal tunings. These can be loaded simply via drag and drop or via the "File" -> "Load Scala" menu. The keyboard layout "tries" to reflect the loaded tuning ratio scala. MIDI keyboard mapping works for both JACK and ALSA MIDI input.

The MIDI-CC control dials on the GUI can be used via the mouse or the keyboard. Using the mouse you can hover over a dial and turn the mouse-wheel, or left-click and drag the mouse up/down. The pitch-wheel control is a special case: to use it with the mouse-wheel, you need to press the mouse-wheel while moving it. This is because of the auto-return-to-default value behaviour of the pitch-wheel. This means, when you release the mouse-wheel press, the pitch-wheel control will spring back to its default value 64.

To change the MIDI-CC control dials on the GUI via the PC keyboard, use the up/down arrow keys. For a control to receive keyboard input, it must be under the mouse pointer. When using the PC keyboard to control the pitch-wheel, it does not spring back to the default value.

16 Channel Live MIDI Looper/Recorder

To record a loop, press "Play" and then, to start recording, press "Record". To stop recording press "Record" again. Playback will start immediately.

The first recorded channel will become the Master Channel loop. This loop sets the length for all loops recorded afterwards. The loop length of the Master Channel will be adjusted (i.e. extended or cut) to the nearest full beat according to the tempo .

To record a new loop, switch to another MIDI channel, select your instrument and press "Record" again to start recording.

The loops recorded after the Master Channel loop will be synced to it. When the recording time exceeds the absolute Master Channel loop time, recording will be turned off, but the playback continues and loops back. Absolute time is not bound to the loop point, so you can record loops crossing it. You can also stop recording by pressing "Record" again before the time expires.

Each Channel can be cleared and re-recorded separately at any time. When you press "Record" on an already recorded channel, it will be cleared automatically before recording starts.

You can record events from the connected MIDI input device or use the the keyboard to play and record.

MIDI File Player

You can select a MIDI file via the menu "File" -> "Load MIDI", or just drag and drop a MIDI file from your file manager onto the keyboard. It will be loaded into the play buffer of the first channel, regardless of how many MIDI channels it uses. You can then use channels 2 - 16 to record your own playing on top of it. To play along with it you can use any channel. A loaded MIDI file will become the Master Channel loop of the looper.

To save your work, just go to menu "File" -> "Save MIDI file as", select a path and enter a file name. If the filename doesn't have one of the common MIDI file name extensions, Mamba will add the extension .midi before saving the file.

FluidSynth

You can load an SF2 SoundFont via the menu "Fluidsynth" -> "Load SoundFont", or drag and drop it from your file manager onto the keyboard. Mamba will start the FluidSynth engine and create the necessary connections so that you can just start playing the SoundFont. The menu "Fluidsynth" -> "Settings" will open a new window were you can select the instrument for the currently selected MIDI channel and change the settings for the FluidSynth reverb and chorus. Also, you can select the tuning scale to use there; the available options are Just Intonation, 12-edo or Scala. All your Settings will be saved on exit, so when you next open the application you can just start playing.

Features

• Virtual MIDI keyboard for JACK Audio Connection Kit
• Includes ALSA MIDI support
• Includes NSM support
• Includes gettext localization support
• Includes FluidSynth support
• SoundFont loader for FluidSynth
• Controls for FluidSynth reverb, chorus and channel pressure
• Instrument selector for FluidSynth
• Micro-tonal tuning for FluidSynth
• MIDI Channel selector
• MIDI Bank and Program selector
• Keyboard mapping for QWERZ, QWERTY, AZERTY (fr) and AZERTY (be) selectable from the menu
• Key-map editor to set up a custom key-map
• PC keyboard mapping selector from C0 to C4
• Control dials for sending MIDI Pitch-bend, and MIDI Control Changes (Balance, ModWheel (Modulation), Detune, Expression, Attack, Release and Volume) and setting the Note On velocity
• MIDI Sustain and Sostenuto controller switches
• Connection management menu
• Supports MIDI file loading, saving, recording and loop-playing
• BPM controller for playback speed
• Supports MIDI Timing Clock for playback speed
• MIDI Through: forwarding ALSA MIDI in to JACK
• MIDI Through: forwarding MIDI input to output
• MIDI input notes highlighting on keyboard
• Resizable up to a full-range 127 keys view
• Load MIDI files from the command-line
• Supports JACK transport to start and stop MIDI-Loops
• Supports loading Scala tuning (*.scl) files
• Supports loading Scala MIDI keyboard mapping (*.kbm) files

Keyboard Shortcuts

Dependencies

• libfluidsynth-dev
• libc6-dev
• libsmf-dev
• libcairo2-dev
• libx11-dev
• liblo-dev
• libsigc++-2.0-dev
• libjack-(jackd2)-dev
• libasound2-dev

Prebuild Binary

Mamba.zip

Build

git submodule init
git submodule update
make
sudo make install # will install into /usr/bin

With Localization Support

git submodule init
git submodule update
make nls
sudo make install # will install into /usr/bin