Hey Rui!
I dunno if it is difficult to implement or not, but if you will manage to do this, this might increase usability and productivity of working in Qtractor by a dazzling 200%.
The idea is simple - when you select a midi channel, allow the normal computer keyboard to send midi to that channel, so that if I load up a synth there or a soundfont, I can play it with the keyboard.
This is important, because if you, for instance, are choosing a preset of a soundfont or are tweaking a synth, like Monosynth, you need to always hear how it plays. What can be done at the moment is not convenient:
1. Attach a jack_keyboard to Qtractor and grab keyboard with it. You don't want your keyboard to be always grabbed, so you have to switch between windows all the time, bringing jack_keyboard up, deselecting "grab keyboard" option and so forth.
2. Get some notes into the midi clip and loop it while changing the sound.
So would be great. And, most importantly, when the midi track is selected, you should be able to play it even when Qtractor window is not active, like if you opened a synth window and changing something in there. This is missing in LMMS for instance - when an instrument window is active it will grab your computer keyboard to play this instrument on it, but as soon as you switch away to tweak effects, it stops playing which makes you once more switch between windows. Very inconvenient.
Anyway, tell me what you think.
Re: Asking for a keyboard preview feature
Hi Luigi,
Have you tried the Track/Auto-monitor option? I think that's close if not exactly what you're after ;)
Cheers
I tried it and if I have
I tried it and if I have jack_keyboard attached - it works. But I am speaking about just a normal computer keyboard. A lot of the times I have no midi controller beside me.
Re: grabbing the pc-keyboard
grabbing the pc-keyboard is evil :)
you should consider getting your hands on something like a nanoKEY and have it plugged in all the time :))
now seriously, I'm afraid this pc-keyboard grabbing is not that really feasible or that it cannot do any better than what eg. jack_keyboard already does.
maybe I'm just too skeptic about this, or maybe, just maybe, I don't like it :)
cheers
well.... what can I say. In
well.... what can I say. In my opinion grabbing it is not evil or at least I see nothing evil about it, but it would allow one to just use Qtractor without having to use jack_keyboard. Is it difficult programatically? What if we just try it as an experimental feature?
I have nanoKontrol =)
Re: grabbing the pc-keyboard
difficult programatically?
not a question of programmatic difficulty, no, but more like one of kludgy and potential intrusive behavior, not only for Qtractor itself but to any other application on the X screen.
I'm quite sure there would be many PEBCAK type of calls when users start to complain why the damn pc-keyboard doesn't work when it obviously should, completely forgetting that qtractor is grabbing it to its own hidden agenda :)
The pc-keyboard, like the mouse pointer, is a shared resource and its just evil to take exclusive access on it from a window, widget or application which is not the current input focus. At least, that's MHO.
It's a can of worms that I don't wish to open, but again, maybe I am just being short-sighted or maybe you do have a nice solution already under your sleeve ? :)
Cheers
I will think about it. I will
I will think about it. I will be on a two week trip to Europe where I will have a chance to think stuff over. I must say that in LMMS it seemed to work quite normally and also in various music trackers and of course stuff like FL Studio. Basically, the grab should not work when no track is selected - as simple as that. In FL Studio for example there is no problem to play an instrument when it is selected, yet you have no problem typing stuff when you actually need to rename stuff - it just turns the grab off for that moment.
Anyway, gotta think about it. I understand your reluctance to add this just as a global program grab and the way it is done in FL Studio looks like a lot of work.
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