JambaLaya 1.0.7 (Updated Beta Release)

This is the updated beta release of the JambaLaya Live Performance oriented software. The last public release was 1.0.4.There was no public release of 1.0.5 or 1.0.6. To get any use out of it you will need, at the very least, an external MIDI interface and a controller keyboard of some sort. It also helps to have some virtual or MIDI capable instruments to play. It has no sequencing or recording capabilities of any kind. This copy will expire on May 1, 2008.

New Features, Fixes, and Issues

A lot has changed since 1.0.4. JambaLaya is now fully HAL capable - which means it can address all of the inputs and outputs on your audio interface and route signals just like a full blown mixer.

A new Audio Output selector has been added to each mixer channel. Now you can send your piano to one output jack and your synthesizer to another output jack on your audio interface to keep the signals separate for your sound engineer to mix later.

Previously, all signal sources had to be Audio Unit Virtual Instruments. Now External Audio Inputs can be used as well - allowing you to take advantage of insert effects with external sound sources.

If you have defined any MIDI devices in Audio MIDI Setup - these will also appear in the source signal selector.External MIDI Devices have the same level of support as Audio Units.Upon choosing an external MIDI device as your source for a mixer channel, a configuration window pops up allowing you to select the audio input that the instrument is connected to.There are also selectors for patch bank and program selection.The values of the selectors are driven by midnam files.You can find midnam files for many hardware devices on the internet.Many patch librarians also generate them.You can also use the excellent Cherry Picker application to create your own midnam files.JambaLaya will remember patch information for each song and send the appropriate MIDI commands when switching songs.Thus, JambaLaya bridges the gap between hardware and software synthesizers!

Note Doubling. Clicking the button labelled 'Arpeggiator' opens a panel that allows you to enable note doubling.This allows you to play one finger power chords.You can set it up to play the fifths and octaves of each note.This is really useful for building up fat sounding patches by stacking octaves and fifths.Previously I would just instantiate a second synth and set a transpose - but I ran out of cycles on a few songs with lots of doubling.

The MIDI event filter is not yet fully implemented although the user interface is in place./p>

There is a problem with the lyrics window when the amount of text causes the scroll bars to appear - in general this feature is totally broken.Do not use it.

This version is much leaner on resources - using synth pooling to reduce memory requirements.Patches can sometimes take a little longer to switch.I hope to add a preference to allow people to select the level of resource usage and trade some space for speed.

The About Box is still not up to date.

This version is 100% functional and does not require registration. /p>

New Features and Fixes in 1.0.4

Window is now resized downwards to fit onto smaller (12") monitors.JambaLaya is designed to fit onto my 14" MacBook.Users with smaller monitors found it unusable. Some items have been moved into scroll panes.Not perfect, but useable.

Progress indicator implemented.When opening a file, a progress indicator is displayed showing the state of initialization. Opening a large file of 30+ songs with 1-4 virtual instruments takes about a minute on my MacBook and it would be hard to know if it died or what.

Midi Learn for Mixer Controls.It is possible to map midi control information to the volume, mute, and solo controls in the mixer.To use this, select "Midi Learn..." from the Edit menu, select a row, and move a MIDI control.To clear a mapping, hit backspace or delete.

MIDI input for the mixer control is now a global rather than per song value.I got tired of selecting it over and over again.

Expired application can still be used to download a new version.This was not true in the previous version.

This copy will stop working on January 1st, 2008.I expect there will be new versions out before that.The application will check for updates automatically on startup and alert you to new versions.This cannot be disabled in this version.

A quick explanation of the controls follows.

Set/Song List

As one might expect, clicking on + adds sets and songs, - removes them.Drag songs to sets to add them.Drag them to All Songs to remove them from the set./p>

Keyboard Range Mapping/MIDI Routing

The colored bars on the upper right specify key board ranges - drag the ends to restrict which keys are active.Clicking on the colored labels to the left of the range bars focuses the MIDI detail view to the left of the keyboard.Use this to enter transposition values, and input/output MIDI channels. /p>

Mixer

Each of the 8 input channels allows you to select, from top down, the MIDI input bus, the Audio Unit for the instrument, and up to 4 Audio Unit effects to insert.Clicking on the Audio Unit's name will open its user interface.Choosing MIDI input for the master fader allows you to specify the MIDI control bus for the mixer./p>

Audio Output

Currently JambaLaya sends its audio output to the default device chosen in System Preferences. To change where the audio goes, open System Preferences, choose Audio, and choose your audio interface as the output device.

Feedback

There is a Send Feedback... menu item that will open a new mail message so you can send your bug reports, suggestions, etc.Or just email them to freakshow42@mac.com

Known Problems

Registration does not work and is not required to use this version.The registration panel is about half implemented.This version is 100% enabled but will expire on November 1, 2007.There will be definitely a new version out by then.

The About Box is not up to date.

CPU use indicator is not implemented - occasional audio glitches can occur when CPU is overloaded.

Icon masks need to be fixed.

Preferences are not implemented.The preferences menu item does nothing.

Sometimes it crashes in response to changes in the MIDI environment.For instance, adding a MIDI or audio interface while the app is running.Workaround is to get all your gadgets plugged in and powered up before launching JambaLaya.This one is proving to be a hard one to fix.

No help implemented.

Thanks for offering to test JambaLaya and "Rock On!"