QMidiArp Documentation

When no commandline options are given, QMidiArp starts as a JACK MIDI client with an input port and two output ports. You can now connect the MIDI ports. In the following example, an Edirol UA-25 interface is connected to a MIDI Keyboard. A2jmidid is used (a2j -e) to bridge the ALSA MIDI world to Jack MIDI.
In Ladish or Patchage, this would look like the following, the MIDI connections are in red, the audio connections in blue.
Connection in Ladish with amSynth

In QJackCtl you would connect QMidiArp like the following (note that we're looking at the MIDI tab that shows JACK MIDI connections only):
Connections in QJackCtl

The a2j JACK MIDI client shows the ALSA MIDI devices and programs (here only necessary for the UA-25 hardware interface. The JACK MIDI elements (such as qmidiarp and yoshimi) show up directly.

If you don't have a2jmidid or only have ALSA MIDI programs or don't want to use JACK MIDI, you can use QMidiArp with ALSA as well.
For starting QMidiArp as an ALSA client, use the -a option, and you would see something like this when you start
ZynAddSubFX and qmidiarp -a
Connections in QJackCtl with ALSA MIDI

Note that in this example we are looking at the ALSA tab showing ALSA MIDI connections.

Main Toolbar

The QMidiArp main toolbar will show up like this after starting the program:

Command Toolbar

New modules can be created by clicking one of the Add Arp..., Add LFO... or Add Step Sequencer... buttons, which will show a new tab with the chosen module in the main area. The modules can be renamed or removed using the corresponding buttons or menu functions. Modules can be detached from the main window to control and view them in parallel. They can be brought back to the main window again by clicking on the icon on the left side of each module title bar. They can also be aligned side-by-side within the same window if the main window is stretched sufficiently before reinserting a module. The entire setup containing all arps, sequences and LFOs in the tab bar along with the parameters set in the Settings window can be saved to or loaded from a QMidiArp XML file (.qmax). The tempo of the queue can be set in beats per minute and affects all modules.
To make QMidiArp play whatsoever, you need to start it using the blue arrow button.

MIDI Clock operation (ALSA MIDI only)

QMidiArp can use incoming MIDI clock events as clock and start/stop control source. If the MIDI clock button right of the tempo box is pressed, the running ALSA queue is stopped, and QMidiArp will wait for an incoming "MIDI Clock Start" event from an external source connected to QMidiArp's MIDI input. Once this event is received, the queue is started using MIDI realtime clock events as clock source. QMidiArp will best remain in sync with the incoming MIDI clock if its internal tempo value (see above) approximately corresponds to that of the incoming clock. The MIDI clock tempo is, however, measured while the queue is running. Therefore, if the tempos of the MIDI clock and that of QMidiArp differ, synchronization should become stable from the second queue start. The queue will stop when a MIDI Clock Stop event is received. During MIDI Clock operation, QMidiArp's own clock start and stop functions as well as adding or loading new setups are disabled. They are enabled again by unchecking the MIDI clock button.

JACK Transport Client Operation

Note: MIDI Clock and Jack Transport button states will be saved with the QMidiArp session file, and get active or inactive when a new session file is loaded.

Groove

The Groove sliders control a linear shift of timing, length and velocity within each beat of the output pattern. This can be used to create swing timing and accent. Groove settings apply to all modules simultaneously.

Settings

The Settings window allows you to configure if and to which port incoming events that do not match any module's input filter are forwarded ( unmatched events). You can also set whether incoming controller events are recognized for muting and controlling the modules separately. If this option is set, QMidiArp will recognize MIDI control events that can be attributed to different parameters (see MIDI Control ). By checking the compact module style all new created modules will show with small GUI elements to be more economic in space when distributed as separate windows over the desktop.

All settings in this dialog are stored along with the module data in the qmax session file.

MIDI control

Controllers can be attributed by right-clicking on the sliders or mute checkbox in each module and selecting MIDI Learn. QMidiArp will then wait for MIDI control events, and moving a MIDI controller connected to QMidiArp's input will attribute this controller to the control item. It is possible to add several MIDI controllers to one item. If MIDI Forget is selected, all controllers for that item are removed. If Cancel MIDI learning is selected, the learn process is stopped.

Note that by default, mute controllers are interpreted as toggles, i.e. the mute state is toggled on reception of a value of 127 from the attributed controller.

The Control Editor is accessible from the View menu. Controls can be edited by MIDI control number, channel, and the minimum and maximum values that are sent to the control item. Mute controllers have a special behaviour. If minimum and maximum are equal, the controller acts as toggler upon reception of the adjusted value. If minimum is different from maximum, the corresponding module will be muted upon reception of minimum and unmuted upon reception of maximum as values.

If Remove is pressed, the currently selected line will be removed, pressing Revert reloads the current controller settings. Pressing Cancel quits the control editor without applying changes, and only if OK is pressed, the edited control list becomes active.

Event Log

Example Files

The demo_seqlfo.qmax setup shows the use of the new sequencer and LFO modules playing in parallel. The sequencer outputs should be routed to percussive synthesizer sounds. The LFO data is intended to act on filter cutoff, which has the standard controller CC#74. ZynAddSubFX by Paul Nasca reacts on these filter cutoff controllers. The "Bass 1" and "Plucked 3" presets from this synthesizer work well with this demo file.

QMidiArp - A MIDI Arpeggiator, Step Sequencer and Controller LFO

Documentation

Index

Click on icon for module documentation

Connections and General Operation