another very simple "how-to" for beginners with no MIDI hardware controller (Qtractor)

posted on linuxmusicians.com: https://linuxmusicians.com/viewtopic.php?p=176405#p176405

the text:
video demonstration*: https://youtu.be/Qp3rDmZoZPg

This tutorial assumes you're already familliar with basic Qtractor functions such as adding MIDI tracks and Soft Synth Plugins, etc.

What you need:

1. Qtractor
2. Qpwgraph (assuming you're using pipewire)
3. jack-keyboard (you can get it from official package manager of most distros and on AUR for arch. For OpenSUSE you can compile yourself, which isn't hard. But you can also install from my new user-run OBS just for jack-keyboard. link: https://software.opensuse.org//download.html?project=home%3Arounakagag&package=jack-keyboard ). Watch the video above if you need help downloading/installing from OBS.

Steps (Assumes you're using default MIDI Master Duplex Bus in Qtractor):

1. Open Qtractor, Jack-Keyboard and Qpwgraph
2. In Qtractor, add a MIDI track, add a soft synth plugin to the track.
3. Right click on the track. Enable Auto-monitor.
4. Connect jack-keyboard midi out to Qtractor master MIDI in using Qpwgraph
5. Optionally enable Grab Keyboard in jack-keyboard so you can use your typing keyboard to trigger MIDI even when jack-keyboard window is not in focus.
6. Make sure to click on the track in the left tracks pane , only then will jack-keyboard send MIDI signal to that track, and with soft synth activated. you should hear sound.

(* in the video, audio gets cut halfway, I put this in video description as well but i've never used the session management feature of actually any patchbay. But i left it in just for myself. Note that as you can see in recording, i could hear sound from qtractor, it just wasn't going into SimpleScreenRecorder
The early minutes, post yast 1 click guide, shows basic connections and stuff like auto monitor, selecting tracks to enable MIDI signal etc. .)