Song parts

A song part is linked to a parent section of the chord lead sheet.

Song parts let you define in which order sections are played, and how. For example you can have a chord lead sheet with only 2 sections verse and chorus, but the song will play verse verse chorus verse chorus.

A song part has a name, a rhythm and a value for each of the rhythm parameters. Rhythm parameters let you change how the rhythm is played for this song part.

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.

Editing

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

Song parts can be reordered by dragging them using the mouse (use ctrl+mouse drag to duplicatea song part). Copy/cut/paste commands work as well both on song parts and rhythm parameters.

Edition of song part name, rhythm and parameters can be done directly from the song structure editor using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts, or via the song part editor.

Use the popup menu (right-click on windows/Linux, ctrl-click on Mac) to see commands available for the current selection (song part or rhythm parameter), as shown in the 2 images below.

For most of the rhythm parameters, the easiest way to edit the value is to select it and use the mouse-wheel.

Some rhythm parameters have a custom edit dialog, which can be called as shown below.

When selecting several contiguous rhythm parameters, you can use the Adjust values submenu in the rhythm parameter popup menu to interpolate values between the first and the last selected values. In the example below, we used it to gradually increase the tempo from 100% to 108%.

Song part editor

Song part editor provides an additional way to edit the selected song part(s).

Use the song part editor to edit rhythm parameters which need user to select (ctrl-click) one or more values from a list, such as the Mute parameter.

Change rhythm (music style)

Each song part can have its own rhythm.

To change the rhythm, select a song part and 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.

If you want to remove a rhythm change in the middle of a song, select the song part and use Remove Rhythm Change from the song part popup menu.

Rhythm parameters

Rhythm parameters let you adjust how a rhythm (music style) is played for a given song part.

JJazzLab lets the developer of a rhythm engine define custom rhythm parameters. However rhythm engines will often use a common set of standard parameters as described below.

Variation

A rhythm parameter to indicate which rhythm (style) variation must be used. The YamJJazz engine rhythms usually have 4 Main variations, plus some Intros, Endings, and Fills.

Intensity

This parameter defines the intensity of the generated backing track.

A rhythm engine might simply increase/decrease the Midi velocity of the backing track notes depending on this parameter, but it could also generate more/less notes, etc.

Drums Fill

This parameter defines when a drums fill (or break) should be played at the end of the song part (never, always, randomly, ...).

The special fade_out value does not produce a drums fill, instead it gradually decreases the notes velocity until the end of the song part.

Mute

This parameter is used to mute one of more instruments during this song part. To edit this parameter it's easier to use the song part editor.

Marker

This parameter is useful only if you use substitute chord symbols, as explained here.

Tempo factor

Use this parameter to slow down or accelerate the tempo of the song part.

Drums transform

This parameter lets you change some drums notes for the song part.

This is an easy way to alter the drums track to introduce some variations in your song.

For example you can make the hi-hat louder, transform the closed hi-hat into ride cymbal, or just add percussions!

Custom phrase

This parameter lets you customize one or more instrument phrases of the song part. Example: you want to change the bass phrase at the end of the second verse Edit the Custom phrase rhythm parameter of the corresponding song part, then edit the Bass track. The default bass phrase will appear in the notes editor and you'll be able to change it. If you want this customized bass phrase to also be used in the last verse of the song, just copy the rhythm parameter value and paste it in the last song part.

Track overrides

This parameter lets you use one or more tracks from other rhythms.

Example: your song uses a 8-beat pop rhythm. You want to spice up the chorus song part and use Track overrides to replace the 8-beat original bass line by the bass line from a bossa-nova rhythm.

Other usage examples:

• You like a jazz Yamaha style except the bass line which does not sound good. Use the Track overrides parameter to replace the bass line by jjSwing's realistic walking bass.

• The override rhythm can be the same than the original rhythm. For example this lets you override the piano part by the bass part from the same rhythm, so that the bass line is doubled piano+bass on a given song part.

Compact / full view

By default only a subset of the rhythm parameters are visible, this is the compact view.

Click on the button below or press 'V' to switch between compact and full view.

The compact view settings button, just above the compact view button, lets you choose which rhythm parameters are visible in the compact view. These settings are saved with the song.

As a shortcut, you can directly hide a rhythm parameter (i.e. make it non visible in the compact view) by clicking on the X button in the upper left corner, as shown below.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

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.

Each mix console track has a bottom overview component that represent the track notes.

Mix console toolbar

• Master volume: this increase or lower the Midi volume messages

• M: Mute or Unmute all tracks

• S: Switch off all Solo tracks

• Panic: Send a Midi Panic message, switching all notes OFF

• Add a User track: see below.

Mix console menu bar

Menu File

• Load/Save Default Rhythm Mix

  Update the current song mix by loading the default rhythm mix file. Or save the current song mix as the default rhythm mix file: it will be reused by default each time you create a song which uses the same rhythm. Learn more about default rhythm 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.

Menu Edit

• Reset channels

  Restore each mix console channel (instrument, volume, panoramic, effect) to its default rhythm setting .

Menu Midi

• Enable/Disable all Midi parameters

  By default all Midi parameters are enabled. Use Disable all Midi parameters if you want to control the mix yourself directly on the output synth: in this mode JJazzLab only sends Midi note messages, it does not send Midi messages related to bank/program changes, volume, panoramic or effects.

• 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.

• Enable a drums channel with a Midi channel different than 10

  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 information, potential issues.

Midi channel

Each Midi channel can be changed manually, just click on the channel number.

User tracks

A user track lets you add your own Midi content to your song: a melody, horn riffs, percussion, etc.

Adding user tracks

Click the + button in the mix console toolbar to add a new user track. This will also open the notes editor to edit this user track.

You can also clone a rhythm track as a new user track using the + sign in upper right corner of a track overview, as shown below. The original rhythm track will be automatically muted.

Edit a user track

Edit the user track by clicking on the upper left icon in the user track overview component, as shown below.

This will open the notes editor.

A user track has always the same length than your song.

Export to Midi file with mouse drag & drop

You can export the full backing track to a Midi file by mouse-dragging from the empty area of the mix console. Note that this is the same as the menu File/Export to Midi file, except it's more convenient when you work with another software such as a DAW.

To export a single track, start the mouse-drag from the track icon or track overview component.

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

Popup menus

Use the popup menu (right-click on windows/Linux, ctrl-click on Mac) to see commands available for the current selection: bars, chord symbols or sections.

Selecting and moving chord symbols

Click on a bar or a chord symbol to select it. Use ctrl-click to select multiple bars or chord symbols.

Use shift-click to extend the current selection.

Drag a chord symbol with the mouse to move it to a new location. If you press ctrl while dragging, a + sign appears (see image below) indicating that the chord symbol will be copied, not moved.

Chord symbol quantization

By default a chord symbol position is quantized to a sixteenth note (4 positions per beat).

This can be adjusted per section via the bar or section popup menu Quantization..., as shown below.

The auto value adjusts the quantization based on the rhythm (binary or ternary) used by the first song part linked to this section.

Chord symbols input

Select a bar or a chord symbol, then type the first letter of the chord symbol (for ex. 'C'), the Bar edit dialog will appear automatically :

When a bar is selected, the Bar edit dialog can also be showned by pressing ENTER, double-clicking a bar, or using the right-click menu Edit.

To copy a chord symbol just drag it while pressing the control key.

JJazzLab can recognize different forms of a given chord symbol. For example C-7, Cm7, Cmi7, Cmin7 are all equivalent. You can add your own chord aliases in the Chord Symbols tab of the Options/Preferences, as shown below:

Customizable chord progressions

Select a bar and use the popup menu Insert/Chord progression to select a chord progression to insert.

The chord progression is inserted at the selected bar, replacing existing chords. Additional bars are created if required. Inserted chords are automatically selected, so that you can easily transpose them to the desired key (use the mouse-wheel on a chord, or press ctrl-UP/DOWN).

Chord progressions are defined in a simple text file ChordProgression.txt located in your JJazzLab user directory. It is automatically created by JJazzLab if it does not exist.

Use Open configuration file... from the Chord progression... popup menu (see image above) to edit it. This lets you define and organize the chord progressions which appear in the popup menu.

Changing the size of the leadsheet

Select a bar then select Set end bar in the right-click menu (see below).

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.

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:

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.

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 song structure editor) where the marker is set to Theme2. On the image below it means the C7M will be used only for the 2nd song part.

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, Insert Section... or Edit...

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.

Bar annotations / lyrics

You can add annotations to any bar.

When annotations are hidden, bar with annotations are marked with a post-it (tooltip shows the annotation text).

Special # syntax for Easy Reader

Suppose the same bar is used in different song parts. The lyrics for this bar might change depending on the song part. You can prepend # to annotation lines so that the Easy Reader displays only the relevant line.

Example: for the annotation above, Easy Reader will show "with... you" the first time, "and...you" the second time, and "take...you" whenever the current song part name is "chorus".

Exporting/importing chord leadsheet as text

Select some bars or chord symbols and copy them (via menu Copy or ctrl-C/command-C). Then switch to any text editor and paste : the bars/chords are exported as text like below:

|4/4 Bb9 A7 | Dm7 G13 | Dm7 G13 | Dm7 G13 | | Gm7/Bb | C9/Bb | F7M | |

Text import works the other way around. Copy a similar text in the clipboard then paste it in the chord leadsheet editor: the correspondings bars/chord symbols are imported in the JJazzLab song.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

Edit a user track

The notes editor is automatically opened when you add a user track. For existing user tracks, click the edit button in the track overview component, as shown below.

Rhythm tracks can also be edited with the notes editor by cloning them first as a user track :

Edit a Custom phrase for a song part

In the song structure editor, click the top-left button of a Custom phrase rhythm parameter:

Then select the phrases you wish to customize and press Edit to open the notes editor.

Moving and zooming

You can move the editor by pressing ctrl + dragging in the top ruler as shown below:

You can use the main application zoom sliders in the lower right corner, or use ctrl+mouse-wheel for horizontal zoom, ctrl+shift+mouse-wheel for vertical zoom.

Use ctrl-F to zoom to fit width.

Playback controls

Use the toolbar button shown in the image below, or press ctrl-shift-SPACE, to play in loop mode the edited phrase, or the playback loop zone if it is set.

Press ctrl-SPACE to start playback :

• from the playback loop zone if it is set

• from the bar of the first selected note

• if no note selected, from the first visible bar

Other controls:

Playback loop zone

A playback loop zone can be set by mouse dragging in the top ruler. Use shift+click in the ruler to extend the loop zone. Click in the ruler to remove the loop zone.

Use the toolbar button (see above) of press ctrl-shift-space to start playing the loop zone.

Snap to grid

Use the Snap to grid button (or press G) to snap notes to the grid when you draw/move/resize them. The size of the grid can be set using the drop-down list (1/4=quarter note, 1/8=quaver, ...):

To change the position of existing notes, use Quantize.

Edit tools

You can use 3 tools to modify notes: select tool, draw tool, erase tool. The 2 first edit tools are sensitive to the snap to grid settings.

Tools can be selected using buttons from the notes editor top toolbar, or by right-clicking in the editor:

Use the select tool to select, move, resize, copy/cut (ctrl-C/X), delete notes (press Delete).

Use ctrl-V to paste notes.

Drag to select several notes. Use ctrl-drag notes to duplicate notes. ctrl-shift-I invert the notes selection.

Use the draw tool to draw notes, and the erase tool to erase notes.

Changing notes velocity

Notes color vary with their velocity. There are several way to change notes velocity, as shown below.

Using the main editor panel

First select the notes to change. Then either use the velocity spinner in the toolbar, or use alt + mouse-wheel or alt + page up/down.

Using the velocity panel

Click or mouse-drag on notes to adjust their velocity.

Quantize & humanize notes

Use the Quantize button or press Q to move the selected notes start position on the current grid. If no note selected, all notes are quantized.

Check the Iterative box to perform iterative quantize : notes are gradually moved towards the grid. This is usually recommended to avoid a too mechanical sound.

You can also humanize all or selected notes. Humanization introduces slight random variations in the notes start position and velocity. Use the Humanize button on the left, or press ctrl-H to show the Humanize dialog.

Once you clicked the Humanize button, you can adjust the humanization parameters and see the different results.

Example

This bass line is very uniform: all notes have the same velocity and are quantized. This sounds too "robotic".

We can use the Humanize dialog to improve this, as shown below.

Importing notes

You can import notes by dragging an external Midi file into the editor. You can also drag from an individual track in the mix console.

Mouse shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts

The red dot represents tonic notes (for ex. G for Gm69).

By clicking on the button you can switch between different types of positions : most common, open voiced, close voiced, inversions.

Score

JJazzLab expects rhythm files to be in the User directory for rhythm files. The location of this directory can be changed in the Options/Rhythms, as shown below.

Rhythm files scanning

Your rhythm files are scanned at startup only upon a fresh install or an upgrade, and the rhythm list is saved into a cache file.

You can force a rescan in the Options/Rhythms panel as shown below.

This cache file is then used to get the rhythm list upon next startups, which is much faster than the initial scanning -especially if you have many rhythm files.

Adding new rhythm files

Use the Add Rhythms... button from the Options/Rhythms panel (or from the Rhythm selection dialog).

Added rhythm files will be copied to the root of the User directory for rhythm files, and a rescan will be planned on next start.

In the Add Rhythms... dialog shown below, you can choose to add the rhythms for the current session only, i.e. rhythm files will NOT be copied in the User directory for rhythm files.

You will also find Fill In AA, Fill In BB, Fill In CC, Fill In DD, Fill In BA variations, which correspond to 1-bar transitions, usually with a drums fill or break. You normally don't have to use them directly because JJazzLab does it automatically at the end of each section, depending on the value of the drums Fill rhythm parameter.

Each variation can use tracks of the following types:

• Rhythm (e.g. drums)

• Sub-rhythm (e.g. percussion)

• Bass

• Chord1 (e.g. guitar)

• Chord2 (e.g. keyboard)

• Pad (e.g. strings)

• Phrase1 (e.g. Brass)

• Phrase2

Yamaha "Mega Voices”, “Super Articulation Voices”, ...

Yamaha style files are optimized for Yamaha arranger keyboards. The latest models (Tyros, Genos…) has many voices with special features (e.g "Mega Voices"), especially for guitars which are optimized for style rendering.

Other keyboards or synths can’t reproduce these special voices correctly. That’s why some recent Yamaha style files (SFF2 format) may not sound right with JJazzLab. If this happens locate the faulty channels using the Solo button in the MixConsole, and lower their volume or mute them.

Limitations

JJazzLab is designed to host any kind of rhythm generation engines, and they must work with any kind of output synth, not only the Yamaha keyboards. Therefore some specific Yamaha style file features are not supported:

• SysEx Midi messages: ignored.

• Controller messages: ignored.

• Per-variation sounds: ignored, YamJJazz uses the style’s default sounds for all variations.

• Yamaha Mega Voices : non musical notes or sound effects (notes above C6) are ignored.

• Pitch bend Midi messages : ignored.

• OTS and MDB sections: ignored.

Extended style creation wizard

This wizard, available in the Tools menu, is used to create a ready-to-be-customized extended style file (.yjz) from a standard Yamaha style file (.sty, .prs, ...). See the video below for how to use it.

Simple example : modify Main A of an existing Yamaha style

Say you want to change the music of the Main A variation of Yamaha style MediumJazzS737.sst.

Start the Extended style creation wizard, select the rhythm MediumJazzS737.sst, then adjust the settings as shown on the image below.

Once MediumJazzS737-ext.yjz is generated, open it in your Midi editor. If you use Cubase for example, you should see something like this:

Now you can modify the Midi source phrases as you want, based on the source chord provided in the track name (e.g. C7M for the bass tracks). You must not change the track names or change the duration of the section (8 bars/32 beats here).

When the Midi editing is complete, save your file.

In JJazzLab start a Rescan in Options/Rhythms.

Now you can use the new modified style in your song, just select MediumJazzS737-ext.yjz from the YamJJazz extended styles as seen below.

Video tutorial

.yjz file format

We recommend to use the Extended style creation wizard to prepare a .yjz file ready to be customized (see above).

The extension file (.yjz) must be associated to a base Yamaha style file (.sty, .prs, .sst, etc.) with the same name in the same directory.

Overview

YamJJazz first reads the base style file to get the following Yamaha style information:

• CASM data: channels parameters for each available variation (used Midi channels, source chords, lower/upper note limits, chord/melody channels, etc.)

• SINT data: instruments parameters (bank select/program change, volume, …)

• Musical data: the Midi source phrases for each channel of each available variation

Then YamJJazz reads the .yjz extension file to get Midi source phrases used to refine the available base variations and to add alternate source phrases.

If the base style uses variation Main A (example), then it’s possible to define variations Main A-1, Main A-2, Main A-3, etc. in the extension file. The number is called the complexity level. As soon as you define a Main A-x variation in the extension file, it replaces the original Main A variation from the base file.

If the base file defines variation Main D (example) but the extension file does not define Main D-x, then the original Main D will be used with the name Main D-1.

Midi format

.yjz files use Midi format 1, they contain several tracks. Note that .sty or .prs files use Midi format 0, they contain a single track.

Each track of the extension file must start with a Midi trackname meta event with the following syntax:

trackname=<base variation>-<complexity level>-<id string>-<phrase length in beats>

Trackname examples:

• Main A-1-drums-8

• Main A-1-bass-8

• Main A-1-guitar-8

• Main A-1-guitar_root-8

• Main A-2-drums-8

• Main A-2-bass-8

• Main A-2-guitar-8

• Main A-2-guitar_root-8

• Ending B-1-piano-4

• Ending B-1-bass-4

For <id string> you can use whatever string you like, but it's a good practice to mention at least the target instrument. If you use the Extended style creation wizard, id string is generated for you and will be something like [Bass, C7M, ch11] : the instrument name, the source chord and source Midi channel.

All tracks for a given variation must have the same length in beats. But different variations can have different lengths.

A track should only contain Midi note on/off messages for its source chord and source Midi channel, as defined in the CASM data of the base style. If you used the Extended style creation wizard, you have the source chord and Midi channel indicated in the <id string>, as explained above.

Alternate source phrases

To add alternate source phrases for a given variation, just append source phrases on each track of this variation. Each appended source phrase must have the same length than the original phrase.

Example The source phrase length of track Main A-1-bass-8 is 8 beats (2 bars in 4/4). You can append 2 similar 8-beat source phrases on that track, so the track length becomes 24 beats. YamJJazz will consider the 2 appended phrases as alternate source phrases of the first source phrase, to be used randomly when rendering the Main A-1 bass part.

Note that 2 alternate source phrases must be also added for all the other Main A-1 tracks: Main A-1-drums-8, Main A-1-guitar-8 and Main A-1-guitar_root-8.

Note that current jjSwing version only supports 4/4 time signature. Jazz waltz support will be added later.

Rhythm parameters

jjSwing has 2 specific rhythm parameters, bass style and drums style.

Bass style

Possible values are shown in the image below.

Drums style

Possible values are shown in the image below.

Settings

jjSwing settings are available in the Options/Rhythms tab or in the Rhythm selection dialog, when you select the jjSwing styles rhythm provider, as shown below.

If you're a GitHub user you can also use the Edit on GitHub button in the upper right of each page, or make a pull-request directly on the JJazzLab-X-UserGuide repository.

Translate the online doc

You can also help by fixing or adding new translations. Currently there is 2 languages, English and Japanese. If you language does not exist yet, contact me (here) so that I add a "GitBook variant" for that language.

Top contributors

H. Sakuda. : who created the Japanese doc pages

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