Shelljam 0.0.1 review

Shelljam is a cross-platform console application that transforms keystrokes into MIDI events and hence, lets you use your computer ke

License: GPL (GNU General Public License) File size: 0K Developer: Carlo Capocasa

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Shelljam is a cross-platform console application that transforms keystrokes into MIDI events and hence, lets you use your computer keyboard like any other MIDI input device.

Also, the instrument you use will color the music you make. If you like computers, you might just want to use what you love to do what you love.

Shelljam isn't meant to replace musical keyboards as little as trumpets are meant to replace pianos; it is here to let you enjoy true live-played computer-made music for its own sake and uniqueness.

Here are some key features of "Shelljam":
Written in C++. Profiled and optimized for speed. Enjoy full musical control on your computer.
Enjoy your favourite soft synth without the GUI. Reduce overhead if the synth is all you need. Perform live with your computer.
Portable. Tech-savvy Windows and Mac users can compile their own versions. (Note: latency applies)
Use the same application to perform in a GUI environment.
The application locks keyboard and mouse. Never lose keyboard focus in mid-performance.
Switch octaves and MIDI channels like on expensive synth boards.

Known issues:

Command-line version leaves keyboard in medium-raw mode. To use anyway, please include alias i="kbd_mode -a ; stty sane" in your user's .bashrc. When you are in mediuam raw mode, quickly press and hold the key 2, the Left-Arrow key, and the key to the left of the backspace key, in this order. This should work independantly of keyboard layouts.
The X interface spawns a non-drawing window. It will look like a crash, but it's fine. Just ignore.
Keymaps are hard-coded. There is currently no way to change them that doesn't take a little compiling. However, the keymaps read scancodes and should therefore work the same on all keyboards.
Additional notes are sounded unpredictably when notes are held longer than a few seconds.

Requirements:
libgii 0.9.1 or higher
portmidi 20041117 or later
Shelljam uses the scons build system.

Installation:

After making sure you have all required dependencies, please do the following in the shell:

tar -xvjf shelljam-0.0.1.tar.bz2

cd shelljam-0.0.1

scons

strip shelljam

You may then copy the binary wherever it is usable, e.g. /usr/bin.