[LAU] korg + timidity + rosegarden via jack

[Pedro Lopez-Cabanillas]

robert lazarski wrote:
> > I think that you can't tell Timidity to use GUI and ALSA interfaces at
> > the same time, Sorry. Maybe you want to try a different program?
> >
> > VMPK can highlight the keys on a piano keyboard, according to the played
> > MIDI notes from another program like Rosegarden. But only one channel
> > each time. http://sourceforge.net/projects/vmpk/
>
> I tried for about an hour to get the output of RG into vmpk, but I had
> no luck. I tried about every connection possible in qjackctl. I can
> connect RG to timidity and get sound easily - though the sound it
> horribly distorted - so something isn't right with vmpk or how I'm
> using it. Has anyone conected RG to vmpk? What output/inputs worked?

There is some bug in vmpk triggered when Rosegarden connects and disconnects 
its ports, that renders vmpk input unusable. Please fill a bug report in vmpk 
tracker, so I will keep you informed when it is fixed.
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=1100307&group_id=236429

Meanwhile, here is temporal recipe.

1. Start vmpk alone, and open the connections dialog. Select the "Enable MIDI 
input" checkbox, and also "Enable MIDI Thru on MIDI output". On "Input MIDI 
Connection", select "Midi Through:0". The Output MIDI Connection should be 
your external MIDI synth. The Midi Through port is a special ALSA device 
(load it with "modprobe snd_seq_dummy" as root if you don't see this device). 
Close vmpk to automatically save its configuration.

2. Start Rosegarden, and load the song you want. Use the "studio" dialog to 
prepare a device connected to "14:0 Midi Through Port-0", and give it a 
meaningful name. The banks/programs names don't matter, but you can load for 
this device the rgd corresponding to your external synth. Assign this device 
to the tracks you want to display in vmpk, verifying the correct channel 
number.

3. Now, start vmpk again. The configuration should be remembered since the 
last run. Don't change anything. Press play in Rosegarden and enjoy.

If you load another song, or change something in Rosegarden studio or in vmpk 
connections, it is possible to trigger the bug. In this case, the only 
solution is to close vmpk and restart it again.

If you want to try a replacement for vmpk, google "jack-keyboard".

> > Another program that you may want to try is kmid. It is a MIDI/karaoke
> > player: http://developer.kde.org/~larrosa/kmid.html
>
> The kmid UI actually has a better "pianola" for me than tiimidity,
> thanks. Unfortunately I don't think it accepts an input like from RG,
> otherwise it'd be perfect . At least I looked hard and couldn't find
> any inputs. I was able to connect kmid to my Korg though, so its at
> least an alternative to RG for me if it indeed doesn't have any
> inputs.

kmid has no input ports. It is only a player. 

Regards,
Pedro