Rayzoon Technologies LLC

bobseekone

Hi,

I just purchased JS after trying the demo and I'm quite impressed - it keeps much better time than some drummers I've had to play with!

Anyway, I am confused by something in the manual not matching with my experience with JS. In section 9.2 (Manual version 1.7, software version 1.71 running with Cubase SX2.2) about FreeJam it says:

The jam gets automatically recorded in the Arranger and will be repeated precisely the same if you rewind and play/record again.

I set up Cubase to Jam with Midi, and record my piano track and an arrangement is created. However, when I rewind to top and play, the arrangement seems to be overwritten, as the rectangles are moving to a different rhythmn part.

Elsewhere on this forum, the suggestion is made to switch to Manual Mode - is that what I should do if I like the arrangement that FreeJam created and I don't want to change it? Then what does the sentence I quoted pertain to?

Thanks - this looks like a great VSTi - I'm having a blast just Jamming with it, but I want to start using it to create some projects that I can save.

AlanB · Jamologist Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 134

Hi

You do need to change to Manual mode to preserve your arrangement.

AlanB

Ralph [RZ] · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 13332

It can be tricky. A MIDI free jam will stay the same if the MIDI input stream is the same. Make sure that when you record your piano, JS gets fed the piano signal and that when you play the song back, JS also gets fed that same MIDI data.

In most hosts the easiest way is to copy/paste the piano data into the Jamstix MIDI track after recording.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

bobseekone · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:34 am Post subject:

OK - that explains it. When I played back, the MIDI in to JS had nothing on it because I wasn't playing, so JS changed each measure to the first basic pattern. Next time I'll do the copy/paste - then Manual Mode is not needed for this simple application - right? Does the "Use Arrangement" button have different functions in each mode?

So to clarify, there is no "randomness" in that the same MIDI input will produce the same drum patterns each time. A suggestion - maybe add this to the section of the manual on Free Jam.

Thanks - I'm looking forward to diving in to this program!

Ralph [RZ] · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 13332

bobseekone · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:34 pm Post subject:

Ok - now I'm really confused! Seriously, I figured I would try a deterministic test to see if I understand everything. Here's what I did:

Took a MIDI track into Cubase - copied the same part onto MIDI tracks 1 & 2 - routed track #1 to JS, #2 to my VSTi synth. Set JS into FreeJam, hit the reset button on the Style pane. Played the sequence - flipped to the arrangement tab and watched the arrangement being automatically built.

Hit rewind and then play again without changing anything. Flipped to the arrangement tab. As the arrangement was playing, the pink rectangles for the part sometimes changed on some measures. When I rewound and played again, some measures changed again. So playing the exact same MIDI data into FreeJam causes the arrangement to change. Not that there's anything wrong with this, but I am not seeing the behavior that you are describing. That's why I thought that it might be randomizing something.

If I switch to Manual Jam the arrangement stays the same (as long as I uncheck "Play Input" which was originally checked - this sounded terrible as my MIDI piano notes were playing the drums!) Please excuse my questions, but I really like to dig into a new program and understand as much about it as possible.

Ralph [RZ] · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 13332

I'm gonna try to duplicate this and get back to you.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

Fingers · Jam Meister Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 83 Location: Spain

Stringer · Jam Meister Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Posts: 52

bobseekone · Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 7:11 pm Post subject:

OK - at least it looks like I'm not doing something wrong since others are seeing this too. Happy new year everyone!

Ralph [RZ] · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 13332

Just an FYI: we will have a fix for this in the next update that ensures that the free jam stays the same until you hit 'Clear All' or switch between modes.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

bobseekone · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:06 am Post subject:

Thanks! -- here's a thought - I've found that after a FreeJam there are sections of the arrangement that I like and others that could be improved on. Could "locking" a part cause it to stay the same? If so, then just lock all measures after a FreeJam. That will keep the arrangment the same. If there are some measures to be changed, we can then just unlock them and FreeJam again to have them re-done. What do you think?

Ralph [RZ] · Site Admin Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 13332

We've just released a new beta 1867 with a fix for this problem:
http://rayzoon.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/viewtopic.php?p=13599

Let me know how this works for you.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

bobseekone · Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:11 am Post subject:

I've tested it all evening, and it works great. And now I think I understand FreeJam. Thanks so much.