ADDING

This section of the website deals with various additions which are available to enhance one's use of jOrgan, once a start has been made.

1. USING THE FLUIDSYNTH BACKENDS

2. USING THIRD-PARTY REVERBERATION PROGRAMS

1. USING THE FLUIDSYNTH BACKENDS

When using Windows versions later than XP, Fluidsynth backends are needed to improve latency. It could be claimed that Microsoft became less serious about real-time audio at that point. The backends also make it possible to access ASIO devices, including third-party reverberation programs, and to access JackRouter, which facilitates the use of multiple instances of Fluidsynth (if the jOrgan disposition being used provides such), and also the use of multiple audio channel outputs.

NOTE: The currently-available Fluidsynth backends are suitable for Windows Vista,  7/8.1, but there are definitely problems when used with Windows 10. It is not yet known whether the problems exist also with Windows 11.  The matter is discussed at some length in a thread on the jOrgan-User Mailing List, which can be accessed at this link -    https://jorgan.info/link.html#B4  .      (This note was added in January 2022.)

   

Graham Goode has written a number of tutorials dealing with this general topic, all found on the Tutorials page of the jOrgan InfoBase. The first shows how to install the Fluidsynth backends on your Windows computer. To access click HERE, but firstly bear in mind the following explanation:

Two sets of downloads are offered, and for users of Windows Vista, 7 and 8.1, it is recommended that you use those by Graham (rather than those by BCA), and specified as “ALL”, as you then don't have to do separate downloads. You do of course have to get the 32-bit or 64-bit to line up with the version of jOrgan you are using.

However, if you are using Windows 10 or 11, the situation is more complicated, and you will find detailed suggestions in Graham’s tutorial, where I have made some additions.

You may find the abbreviations off-putting, so here are the full terms:

ASIO  Audio Stream Input/Output

WDMKS Windows Driver Model Kernel Streaming

WASAPI Windows Audio Session Application Programming Interface

JACK  Jack Audio Connection Kit

The download is a zip file, and you will need to unzip it. You should find that it is then a single folder (but in some cases there is a folder WITHIN one or more folders, so you MUST read the tutorial, where you will find guidance in the second of two warnings I have added!). Once you identify the correct folder, it needs to be placed within the “fluidsynth” folder, found within the “lib” folder of the main jOrgan folder which is located in the “Program Files (x86)” folder if 32-bit or the “Program Files” folder if 64-bit. This placement is indicated graphically in the tutorial article. Because you are making a change within the a Program Files folder, Windows may require of you a password.

You should follow carefully the Tutorial instructions, bearing in mind that you cannot expect to see exactly the same details in your installation (which may use Graham Goode's “ALL” download) as the details which are shown in the various screenshots. Don't be confused by the fact that those screenshots portray a situation where there are multiple instances of Fluidsynth being used and multiple audio channels.

The tutorial shows how to configure jOrgan for the use of the backends. Note that after making any change in the configuration, you need to exit jOrgan and restart it, for the changes to take effect.

Having made the change, you now need to alter the Audio Driver entry in the Fluidsynth Properties to reflect that change. Go into Construct Mode for that. This has to be done for every disposition you open and with which you intend to use the Fluidsynth Backends. In most cases, “portaudio” is the driver you will enter from the drop-down list.

Once you begin to play after making this change, you may find that you need to increase the size of the audio buffers (use the last page of the Customizer), in order to reduce any sound break-up. Doing this should not noticeably affect the latency.

2. USING THIRD-PARTY REVERBERATION PROGRAMS

Most users will desire better reverberation than that provided by Fluidsynth. There are available some excellent programs which can be used with jOrgan to achieve this, some of them free.

Graham Goode has written a tutorial to help you install one such program, the ReverberateLE. This is a free convolution-type program, which means that to produce the effect, it makes use of a file created from the tested characteristics of an actual acoustical space somewhere. A great feature is that other files can be loaded, which likewise were created from actual locations which may have valuable acoustical properties. In order to use this or other reverberation programs with jOrgan, it is necessary to download and install a further program, JACK for Windows (Jack downloads suitable for Linux or Mac computers are also available), and most probably also the ASIO4ALL program. This should be installed in your computer before you install JACK.

Graham has also written a tutorial explaining the use of the ASIO4ALL program. You should read that tutorial and follow its instructions.  Click HERE.

Notice that the JACK tutorial caters for users of 32-bit programs as well as for users of 64-bit programs. When installing JACK for Windows to be used along with 64-bit programs, extra effort has to be made by the user, in editing a section of the Windows Registry. People less confident about using computers may find this a bit threatening, and it is for this reason that in this website I have recommended that such users should use jOrgan and Java in their 32-bit versions.

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH MAY NOW BE OUT OF DATE. JACK FOR WINDOWS may now be 32-bits/64-bits, without Registry editing needed to be done.

 For a mention of the reverb program I was once using, called Hibiki, see the paragraph further below.

You will need to refer to Graham Goode's tutorial on installing JACK for Windows. This tutorial was written quite some time ago, and Graham is now advising a different link for the download of the Windows version of JACK. Graham has reproduced much of the material from that JACK website in his tutorial, but it would still be a good idea to read it from that website as well as from the tutorial.

Click HERE for the tutorial, but bear in mind that for the actual JACK download, it may be preferable to use the later link instead, for which you should click HERE.

Note the following sentence  under the heading, “Windows XP 64-bit and Windows Vista 64-bit”:

“The official release of Jack for Windows only supports Windows XP and Vista in the 32-bit installer.”  This sentence is now out of date, and is open to being misunderstood. The following represents the current situation: “The most recent builds of JACK for Windows have all been working on Windows 7, 8, and 10. The current installers available (from the later JACK link given above) support all versions of Windows from Windows XP to Windows 10.”

On the Jack webpage you still have to click on “Downloads” at the top, and choose the 32-bit one, if you have chosen to use 32-bit JACK.

Click HERE for Graham's tutorial on using JACK along with reverberation VST plug-ins.

When using JACK, you will need to make settings appropriate to your actual set-up by referring to the qjackctl window, and then clicking on “Connect”. Something not mentioned in that tutorial: if you wish to retain any settings adjustments you have made in your Jack connections, you will need to do a “Save”. Click on “Setup” in the JACK Control (qjackctl) Window, and then on “Save”.

Hibiki Reverb

For  a long time I used a Windows 8.1 laptop for my 2-manuals and pedals VPO console at home, and I usually downloaded the relevant programs in 32-bit. The free reverb program I use is the “Hibiki”, which can be downloaded from the Freeverb3 site. It is not a convolution-type, but employs an outstanding algorithm to produce an excellent 3-D reverberation effect, and probably makes fewer demands upon the computer CPU than a convolution-type. It offers a number of programs, giving the user quite a variety of reverberations to choose from. I simply used “Program 0”, the “Hibiki Hall”. The Hibiki is a VST plug-in, as is the ReverberateLE, and so the instructions given in Graham's tutorial apply, as it needs to be loaded into the SAVIHOST in a similar fashion. My use of Hibiki is confined to my Windows computer. There is some indication on the Freeverb3 website that it can also be used with Mac computers, but I do not have any information about this. Finding the correct download for Hibiki can be very confusing, and I give some guidance HERE. Included in that guidance you will find some notes on using Hibiki to full advantage. For Linux users there is a native Linux program called “zita-rev1” upon which Hibiki is said to be based. It can certainly be used with jOrgan, along with JACK for Linux. There is a webpage giving some indication of the parameters which can be adjusted. Click HERE.

Graham Goode has written another, more general tutorial on the use of JACK for Windows, which you may find helpful: “Using jOrgan with the Fluidsynth Extension and native JACK API driver”. Click HERE.

It is proposed to add the following topics as time permits:

Multi-channel audio

Multi-computers using the LAN

Use of Raspberry Pi  - but see the F.A.Q. page

Making one's own VPO's - but see this ARTICLE in the jOrgan InfoBase

Editing jOrgan MIDI files

                                                                                       End of page