JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

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jjazzboss
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JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

I've just released it... 8)

New features:
- Much better sounds thanks to a new high-quality soundfont (>300MB!)
- Better rendering of Yamaha styles (full SFF1 & SFF2 format support)
- 300 embedded rhythms, plus access to thousands of Yamaha style files
- ...

As the Midi setup is a bit more complex on Linux I made a dedicated help page to use JJazzLab with FluidSynth: https://www.jjazzlab.com/en/doc/fluidsynth/

Of course it's still 100% free :D Feedback welcome !

https://www.jjazzlab.com/en/download/
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by oscillator »

Makes me think of my old Yamaha qy70, i will definitely check this out.

Many thanks for your work!

Staffan, Sweden

MusE DAW running on Debian 11 Testing/XFCE4.
https://oscillator.se/musik

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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by fraslo »

Hi,

thanks for this software, I found it easy to use and it has a lot of features, here are my thoughts:

To add a virtual midi device for jack users permanently (Debian/Ubuntu/Mint):
  • Add "snd-virmidi" to /etc/modules
  • Add file /etc/modprobe.d/snd-virmidi_options.conf with the content "options snd-virmidi midi_devs=1"
The midi configuration wizard is very good, I attached my workstation and optimized the configuration with a few clicks.

I was unable to find the chord symbol sus2 e.g. Csus2 (C,D,G), is it possible to add this symbol?

The tooltips are very hard to read (white font with yellow background).

I changed the user rhythm directory to find my styles, but they won't show up as a rhythm provider. I can import single styles for a song, am I missing something?

Thanks again for the software, the functionality is impressive.

Frank
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

Thank you very much fraslo, I'll update the Linux online help with your tips (I'm not a Linux specialist...)
I was unable to find the chord symbol sus2 e.g. Csus2 (C,D,G), is it possible to add this symbol?
For some harmonic reason all chord symbols must have a 3rd defined or a fourth. In your case I'd recommend using Gsus/C instead of Csus2.

For the tooltip it's the first time I hear this. I just use the standard Java SDK tooltip feature with no customization at all. So I think it might be your configuration, on my Linux/Mint tooltips use a black font.
I changed the user rhythm directory to find my styles, but they won't show up as a rhythm provider. I can import single styles for a song, am I missing something?
Just to make sure, which versino of JJazzLab ? What are the extensions of your style files ? If .sty/.prs/.bcs/sst files they should appear in the YamJJazz Standard Styles list.
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by fraslo »

Hi,

thank you for your answer, some of my problems are now solved.

- The workaround Gsus/C did the trick
- Changing the theme worked, now the tooltips are readable

- I am using JJL 2.0.0 and trying a directory with some styles works. I also enabled the debug log.
The problem is that I have downloaded several thousand styles and I know that some of them are broken. This causes an exception and no styles are imported. Is it possible to configure the debug log to see which is the faulty style?

Now I am looking forward to dive deeper into the song structure and variations.

Thanks again

Frank
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

This causes an exception and no styles are imported. Is it possible to configure the debug log to see which is the faulty style?
I see the problem. In the next bug-fix release I will log the style file before it's processed, so in case of an unexpected error you'll know the faulty file...

In the meantime, here is a hack to help you:
- Exit JJazzLab
- edit <JazzLab Installation Directory>/etc/jjazzlab.conf and update the "default_options" value by adding "-J-DYamahaRhythmProvider.level=700"
- restart JJazzLab and go to Tools/Options/General
- in Debug panel/Set logger level select YamahaRhythmProvider, select FINEST, and click SET
- go to Tools/Option/Rhythms, click Rescan

Now you should see a log line "YamahaRhythmProvider readFast() -- f=FILENAME" before JJazzLab actually read the file, so you should spot the faulty file.

By the way could you send me the faulty file ? I'll try to add robustness code to avoid the exception.
Now I am looking forward to dive deeper into the song structure and variations.
On the jjazzlab users forum there are a few example songs which show how you can play with the song structure editor to introduce dynamics (change variations, mute instruments, change intensity, use 2 different rhythms) .
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by fraslo »

Hello Jerome,

I configured the logging as described and identified four styles by moving them out of the way one after another, then I ran into an error: "java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space". I am sure there are more broken styles.

How can I send you the faulty styles?

The debug messages window produces delayed output.
Is it possible to configure the logging.properties file for file system logging?

Feel free to send me beta versions for testing and keep up the great work.

Frank
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

Send me the files by email. Contact info is on the JJazzLab website.

The log window is actually just a view of a log file which is in the <Netbeans User Directory>/var/log/messages.log.
To find what is <Netbeans User Dir.> on your system: menu Help/About and search for the Netbeans User Dir. value.

How many style files have you loaded ? I have not tested with thousands of files to be honest, it's not opimized for handling such huge collection, hence the out of memory error.

Some tips: JJazzLab scans at startup the User Rhythm Dir and 2 levels of subdirs, except if subdir name starts with a '_'. This can let you organize the directory tree and avoid scanning all the files. Ideally the User Rhythm Dir was designed to store only your "preferred" styles.

If you just want to test some styles : in the Rhythm selection dialog (from the song structure editor) you can manually Add some rhythms files. You can use this to add e.g. 50 files in one shot, you test them, and you copy in the User Rhythm Dir only the preferred ones.
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by fraslo »

Hi,

I hope you received the broken styles. I have a few thousand, but don't need them all together in JJazzlab. If the logging in future versions shows the last style, I could clean up my collection easily. That would be a nice "feature".

Frank
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

Yes, I received them and everything is fixed :D JJazzLab can now "read" the 4 files, and it also always show the files being read in the log.

I'll use the autoupdate soon to distribute these fixes, together with other bug fixes.
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by fraslo »

Hi,

I installed the update and cleaned up my collection easily, thanks. Everything works very well, I created my first two songs and some exercises from a book.

The number of beats using the "count in" differs from 3 to 8 beats. Is this style dependent? Is it possible to define the number of beats or set them to two bars depending on meter?

Frank
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by jjazzboss »

The number of beats using the "count in" differs from 3 to 8 beats.
Normally precount is 1 or 2 bars, depending on the time signature and tempo. There is no way right now to adjust it manually.

In general I add a 1-bar section "start" which uses the Intro-A variation.
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Sus2 chords

Post by SpotlightKid »

I played around with Jjazzlab a bit yesterday and found it pleasantly intuitive to work with. However, I wanted to add a sus2 chord (e.g. C-D-G) to a section but could not find it in the list of recognized chords. Only add2 chords or with an added seven. Did I miss something, or is this a deliberate omission or just an oversight?
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Re: Sus2 chords

Post by Kott »

SpotlightKid wrote: Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:20 pm I played around with Jjazzlab a bit yesterday and found it pleasantly intuitive to work with. However, I wanted to add a sus2 chord (e.g. C-D-G) to a section but could not find it in the list of recognized chords. Only add2 chords or with an added seven. Did I miss something, or is this a deliberate omission or just an oversight?
viewtopic.php?p=115476#p115476
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Re: JJazzLab 2.0 is out !

Post by SpotlightKid »

Doh. Thanks.

I even read that when it was first posted, but probably my puny brain refused to memorize that information because the reason made no sense to me (still doesn't). I mean, sus2 chords are only the the fourth most common chords in pop music maybe.
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