Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[sequence]

Hi all,
I'm going step-by-step through the benvesco.com jamstix 2 tutorial (sticky of the post on the rayzoon forum). When I get to the step where he has you load the drummer Carter and has you try him, nothing's happening for me. I tried cranking the play-power knob all the way, but nothing is getting composed on the grid, nor played aloud. Is there something I need to activate/deactivate? The cursor moves along the grid in jamstix when I press 'play' in my host, it's just that nothing is getting created or played.

[Doc]

Make sure you also load a style.

[sequence]

Hi Doc. The style I'm using is "Motown Love."

[sequence]

Okay, I just noticed something while playing with jamstix some more. The program is silent for my intro section (which is 4 bars with 4 repetitions). After it gets through the intro and on to the first verse, then jamstix starts composing for me and plays audible hits. My intro has the same settings as my verse in that the style is "motown love" and the drummer is "carter" for both. Any ideas on why the intro is silent? I know it's something dumb I'm doing/not doing, but I just am unsure as to what that dumb thing is .

[sequence]

Okay, I think I may have found a little quirk in the software (emphasis on 'may').


Say we have our song sheet open in jamstix 2. On our sheet, we only have one part, which we'll call "verse." Our style for our verse will be 'motown love,' our drummer for our verse shall be 'carter.' I've selected it to be 4 bars long, with 2 repeats (use any kit you want. I'm using Rock: Jamstix 2 Big Kit).



Now, move your mouse cursor over to the downward pointing green arrow box that's immediately to the left of our part name (our part name in this case being called "verse").

Right click your mouse, hover over the option of "new part," and from there, select "create intro."


You should now have 2 parts on your song sheet. The first part called "Intro," the second part called "verse." Now, press play in your host system (i'm using pro tools in my case).

When I press play, nothing is played during the intro section. Once the song has moved on to the "verse" section, then the drums will play. Now, if I delete the intro section, go to the downward pointing green arrow next to the word "verse" and instead select "new part" and then select "before this part" and then select the name for this new part to be called "Intro," If I then go and press play in pro tools, drums will be played in this intro section AND verse section.


So.... to make a long story short, when I select "create intro," from the "new part" option, the part that is created is completely silent. But if I create an intro via this other method, then I get a part that has drum activity. To cut to the chase, my 'create intro' option seems to be broken .

[Ralph [RZ]]

"Intro" for Jamstix 2 is a silent part meant to be the beginning of a song that is usually without drums. The transition fill at the end of the "Intro" then starts the drums off leading into the first part (usually verse).
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[sequence]

Okay, that makes complete sense. Sorry about that question (i'm feeling kind of dumb now. heh,heh ) .




I have another question for you though (uh-oh) . In the tutorial on benvesco's site, he talks about hitting the "comp" button, to quote "compose a new variation of your chosen Motown beat." I've hit that button close to a dozen times, but have yet to hear any variation at all (each take is sounding exactly the same). Is there something I need to turn on or turn off that could be affecting the "comp" button's ability to create a new variation? I've tried hitting the comp button while the song is playing and also while the song is stopped, but neither seemed to have any effect. The "auto" button is currently lit and the "power" knob is set to its max (127%). Any details you need, please feel free to ask and I'll happily provide them.





Thank you Ralph and all for your help. I really appreciate you taking the time to set me straight when I occasionally get stuck. Keeps jamstix from seeming too intimidating even for someone like myself . Thanks again.

[Ralph [RZ]]

The effects of the COMP button depend on how variable the current style/drummer combo is. The 'Motown Love' style is very fixed so the COMP button won't make a difference. However, try the randomize button (dice icon) next to it and you will get changes due to randomization of the brain controls. The may range from cool to crazy, though

Finally, try a different drummer because they interject accents and can also alter the composition process. You will find that 'Motown Love' sounds quite different when played by 'Charlie' versus 'Carter'.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com