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Song editors

Use the Chord LeadSheet Editor to:

Add chord symbols, eg "Cm6", "Ab7"
Add sections, eg "A", "B", "verse", "chorus", ...
Move and edit chords to adjust rhythm accents, interpretation or harmony

Use the Song Structure Editor to:

Define the order of sections, eg "AABA", "verse verse chorus verse", ...
Select rhythm(s) to be used
Adjust the rhythm parameters to introduce dynamics, eg variation, intensity, fill, muted instrument,

Use the Mix Console to adjust the mix of each rhythm instrument:

Select the instrument to be used on your sound device
Adjust volume, panoramic, reverb, chorus
Mute, solo, transpose

Chord lead sheet

Use the chord leadsheet editor to:

Add chord symbols, eg Cm6, Ab7
Add sections, eg A, B, verse, chorus, ...
Move and edit chords to adjust rhythm accents, interpretation or harmony

Chord symbols

Input

Select a bar or a chord symbol then:

type the first letter of the chord symbol ('A' to 'G'), or
press ENTER, or
double-click, or
right-click menu, Edit

You can also select an existing chord symbol and move it while pressing the control button, it will create a new copy that can be edited.

To move a chord symbol just select it and move it with the mouse.

To change the size of the lead sheet, select a bar then right-click menu and select Set end bar.

Use ctrl-click or shift-click for multiple selection.

In order to input a lead sheet from scratch, the easier way is to select the first bar, directly type in the chord symbols, press ENTER (it will automatically select the next bar), type in the chord symbols for the second bar, etc.

Aliases

JJazzLab recognizes many aliases for each chord symbol. For example C7M can be written Cmaj7, Cma7, CM7, CMAJ7 etc.

You can add more aliases in menu Options/Chord Symbols.

Interpretation

Select a chord symbol, edit it (double-click, press enter, or right-click menu), and select the Interpretation tab.

The Interpretation tab lets you decide how this chord symbol should be played:

Normal
Accent: add a rhythmic accent and randomly a crash cymbal. You can make the accent stronger, or make sure a crash cymbal is played or not played.
Hold: add a rhythmic accent and hold notes until next chord symbol. If extended more instruments are hold.
Shot: add a rhythmic accent with chord notes played briefly. If extended more instruments are shot.
Pedal bass: bass line will only play the bass note (for ex. F for Fm7 or C for Fm7/C). This setting is on by default when you enter a slash chord.

Each rhythm generation engine may render these Interpretation parameters differently.

The shape of the marker below the chord symbol depends on the interpretation mode:

For example, in order to render:

you could use the following interpretation parameters:

See below the keyboard shortcuts to change the interpretation of selected chords.

Harmony

Select a chord symbol, edit it and select the Harmony tab.

The Harmony tab lets you select the scale to be used when rendering the music for this chord symbol.

Example Suppose that the reference bass line for Eb7M contains a Ab (4th degree of the Eb major scale). If you select the Lydian mode (which has a sharp 11th degree) then the reference bass note Ab will be rendered as A for this chord symbol.

By default no scale is selected: each rhythm generation engine will decide the "best" scale to use.

Substitute chord symbol

Select a chord symbol, edit it and select the substitute chord symbol tab.

This tab lets you define a substitute chord symbol which will be used when some conditions are met.

Substitute chord symbols are useful when you need to introduce a slight variation in a part of a song.

The substitute chord symbol can be any chord symbol, with any interpretation or harmony, or no chord symbol at all (void chord). Chord symbols which have an substitute chord symbol defined are displayed with a different color (see image below).

Example:

In the Carlos Santana's "Europa" song, the 1st ending of the theme is a Cm7, but the 2nd one is a C major. To implement this in JJazzLab, one solution could be to duplicate section A1 to create section A2 with the different ending, then update the song structure accordingly. This is perfectly fine, but when changes are minor the substitute chord symbol can provide a simpler solution.

There is another substitute chord symbol example in the 3rd bar: A7. If you listen to the original song you'll notice that they play a A7 on the last beat of the 3rd bar only during solos. So the A7 chord symbol defines its substitute chord symbol as the "void chord symbol" (same as no chord symbol) when marker is not "Solo".

Sections input

Typical sections are 'intro', 'verse', 'chorus', etc.

A Song section is the basic unit used by JJazzLab to define the song structure. There is always a section defined on the first bar.

To add a section select a bar which is not after the end then:

press ENTER, or
double-click, or
right-click menu, Edit

The new section name must be different than the existing one.

Force a section at new line

You can force a section which is not on the first bar of a row to start on the next line. This can be useful when some sections have an odd number of bars.

Select a bar with a section defined or select the section itself, right-click menu "Force Section at New Line".

This will result in the display below.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Many actions are also available via the context menu (right-click on Windows/Linux, ctrl-click on Mac), and when available the associated keyboard is displayed.

Song structure

Use the song structure editor to:

Define the order of sections, eg "AABA", "verse verse chorus verse", ...
Select the rhythm(s) to be used
Adjust the rhythm parameters to introduce dynamics, eg variation, intensity, fill, muted instrument, ...

Song parts

A song part has a name, a rhythm and a value for each of the rhythm parameters.

To add a new song part:

drag a section from the chord lead sheet into the song structure editor, or
right-click menu Insert, or
copy an existing song part: drag it while pressing the ctrl key, use copy & paste, or right-click menu Duplicate

By default the name of the song part is the name of the parent section. If the song part is renamed, the parent section is shown below the name.

If some contiguous song parts share the same name, then the name is displayed only on the first song part and a line is shown on the contiguous song parts. Clicking this line will select all the related song parts.

Song parts can be reordered by dragging them using the mouse.

Editing

You can modify the song part name, rhythm, and rhythm parameter values.

Press R or click the rhythm name to open the rhythm selection dialog.

When changing the rhythm, JJazzLab tries to adapt the values of the previous rhythm parameters to the new rhythm parameters.

Midi can only accommodate 16 channels, and many rhythms use 7 or 8 instruments. That's why it's difficult in practical to have a song with more than 2 rhythms.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Many actions are also available via the context menu (right-click on Windows/Linux, ctrl-click on Mac), and when available the associated shortcut is displayed.

Mix console

Use the mix console to:

Change the instruments
Adjust channel settings: volume, reverb, chorus, panoramic, transposition, velocity offset
Mute or solo channels
Load/save .mix file
And more: change Midi channel, use special Midi commands, etc.

JJazzLab uses the mix console information to send the relevant Midi messages to the output synth. This is done each time you make a change in the mix console, or when you start the playback.

Midi has only 16 Midi channels. That's why usually a song can't have more than 2 rhythms.

Load/Save Default Rhythm Mix
Change the current mix from a file. Consult this page for more information about .mix files.
Import Mix...
Note that this will import settings only for the instruments which are common between the current mix and the imported mix.

Add/Remove user channel
The user channel is used to automatically set the instrument that you want to play for a given song or rhythm.
Example: you're a keyboardist and JJazzLab is connected to your synthesizer. You made Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely" song and you play a clavinet sound on it. Add the User Channel with a Clavinet sound, increase the chorus effect, then save the song. This way, the next time you load the song you'll automatically get your clavinet sound recalled on your synthesizer.
Reset channels
Restore the original settings from the related rhythm.

Enable/Disable all Midi parameters
Use Disable all Midi parameters if you control the mix yourself directly on the output synth.
Send GM/GM2/XG/GM mode ON message
This lets you send special Midi initialization messages to turn your output synth in the desired mode.

Change instrument

Click on the instrument name in the channel. Note that this is also where instrument transposition can be adjusted.

Channel settings

Use the channel settings to:

Add a Midi velocity offset to all notes played on this channel
Note that this is slightly different from adjusting the volume.
Disable sending specific Midi messages
Probably because you control the parameter yourself directly on the output synth.
Use drums-rerouting for channels drums
If you use a basic GM output synth, it can play drums only on channel 10. If drums/percussion are used on other channels in your mix, you need to activate drums rerouting on these channels. Note that JJazzLab may activate this option for you if it detects, based on the current output synth information, potential issues.

Midi channel

Each Midi channel can be changed manually.

Multi-rhythm songs

When a song uses 2 or more rhythms, a popup is displayed in the upper left corner of the mix console to select the rhythm you want to display.

Note that some commands such as menu Edit/Reset channels will not be applied to the hidden rhythm(s).

Mouse shortcuts

Mix console

Use the mix console to:

Change the instruments
Adjust channel settings: volume, reverb, chorus, panoramic, transposition, velocity offset
Mute or solo channels
Load/save .mix file
And more: change Midi channel, use special Midi commands, etc.

JJazzLab uses the mix console information to send the relevant Midi messages to the output synth. This is done each time you make a change in the mix console, or when you start the playback.

Midi has only 16 Midi channels. That's why usually a song can't have more than 2 rhythms.

Load/Save Default Rhythm Mix
Change the current mix from a file. Consult this page for more information about .mix files.
Import Mix...
Note that this will import settings only for the instruments which are common between the current mix and the imported mix.

Add/Remove user channel
The user channel is used to automatically set the instrument that you want to play for a given song or rhythm.
Example: you're a keyboardist and JJazzLab is connected to your synthesizer. You made Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely" song and you play a clavinet sound on it. Add the User Channel with a Clavinet sound, increase the chorus effect, then save the song. This way, the next time you load the song you'll automatically get your clavinet sound recalled on your synthesizer.
Reset channels
Restore the original settings from the related rhythm.

Enable/Disable all Midi parameters
Use Disable all Midi parameters if you control the mix yourself directly on the output synth.
Send GM/GM2/XG/GM mode ON message
This lets you send special Midi initialization messages to turn your output synth in the desired mode.

Change instrument

Click on the instrument name in the channel. Note that this is also where instrument transposition can be adjusted.

Channel settings

Use the channel settings to:

Add a Midi velocity offset to all notes played on this channel
Note that this is slightly different from adjusting the volume.
Disable sending specific Midi messages
Probably because you control the parameter yourself directly on the output synth.
Use drums-rerouting for channels drums
If you use a basic GM output synth, it can play drums only on channel 10. If drums/percussion are used on other channels in your mix, you need to activate drums rerouting on these channels. Note that JJazzLab may activate this option for you if it detects, based on the current output synth information, potential issues.

Midi channel

Each Midi channel can be changed manually.

Multi-rhythm songs

When a song uses 2 or more rhythms, a popup is displayed in the upper left corner of the mix console to select the rhythm you want to display.

Note that some commands such as menu Edit/Reset channels will not be applied to the hidden rhythm(s).

Mouse shortcuts

Chord lead sheet

Use the chord leadsheet editor to:

Add chord symbols, eg Cm6, Ab7
Add sections, eg A, B, verse, chorus, ...
Move and edit chords to adjust rhythm accents, interpretation or harmony

Chord symbols

Input

Select a bar or a chord symbol then:

type the first letter of the chord symbol ('A' to 'G'), or
press ENTER, or
double-click, or
right-click menu, Edit

You can also select an existing chord symbol and move it while pressing the control button, it will create a new copy that can be edited.

To move a chord symbol just select it and move it with the mouse.

To change the size of the lead sheet, select a bar then right-click menu and select Set end bar.

Use ctrl-click or shift-click for multiple selection.

Aliases

JJazzLab recognizes many aliases for each chord symbol. For example C7M can be written Cmaj7, Cma7, CM7, CMAJ7 etc.

You can add more aliases in menu Options/Chord Symbols.

Interpretation

Select a chord symbol, edit it (double-click, press enter, or right-click menu), and select the Interpretation tab.

The Interpretation tab lets you decide how this chord symbol should be played:

Normal
Accent: add a rhythmic accent and randomly a crash cymbal. You can make the accent stronger, or make sure a crash cymbal is played or not played.
Hold: add a rhythmic accent and hold notes until next chord symbol. If extended more instruments are hold.
Shot: add a rhythmic accent with chord notes played briefly. If extended more instruments are shot.
Pedal bass: bass line will only play the bass note (for ex. F for Fm7 or C for Fm7/C). This setting is on by default when you enter a slash chord.

Each rhythm generation engine may render these Interpretation parameters differently.

The shape of the marker below the chord symbol depends on the interpretation mode:

For example, in order to render:

you could use the following interpretation parameters:

See below the keyboard shortcuts to change the interpretation of selected chords.

Harmony

Select a chord symbol, edit it and select the Harmony tab.

The Harmony tab lets you select the scale to be used when rendering the music for this chord symbol.

By default no scale is selected: each rhythm generation engine will decide the "best" scale to use.

Substitute chord symbol

Select a chord symbol, edit it and select the substitute chord symbol tab.

This tab lets you define a substitute chord symbol which will be used when some conditions are met.

Substitute chord symbols are useful when you need to introduce a slight variation in a part of a song.

Example:

You can see below (and in the dialog snapshot above) that a C7M substitute chord has been created for Cm7. C7M will be used for all song parts (see the ) where the marker is set to Theme2. On the image below it means the C7M will be used only for the 2nd song part.

Sections input

Typical sections are 'intro', 'verse', 'chorus', etc.

A Song section is the basic unit used by JJazzLab to define the song structure. There is always a section defined on the first bar.

To add a section select a bar which is not after the end then:

press ENTER, or
double-click, or
right-click menu, Edit

The new section name must be different than the existing one.

Force a section at new line

You can force a section which is not on the first bar of a row to start on the next line. This can be useful when some sections have an odd number of bars.

Select a bar with a section defined or select the section itself, right-click menu "Force Section at New Line".

This will result in the display below.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Many actions are also available via the context menu (right-click on Windows/Linux, ctrl-click on Mac), and when available the associated keyboard is displayed.