Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[pauls_academy]

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased the JS2 studio pack, and while I'm waiting for the download info I have a question....

I bought Addictive Drums last night at Guitar Center for $129, mainly to lock in the price. I didn't open it, knowing I was going to get JamStix today.

But while playing with the JamStix demo and listening to the Metal/Bonzo audio samples, they sound so great that I wonder if I even need Addictive Drums at any price? Or is that just hedonistic overkill?

So, may I ask for some opinions on WHY other people choose to use JamStix to drive another sound module, rather than using only JS sounds? Why doesn't JamStix sound good enough to you, compared to other modules?

Thanks in advance for any replies!
Paul

[dysfunction]

First off, it's not exactly a matter of sound quality- I'm not one of those demanding 96khz 24-bit samples made with $10,000 worth of equipment. Jamstix is at the very least competently sampled, and that's all I ask for in that regard.

No, the reason I use an external sound module (originally Ezdrummer, and now Superior 2) is simply that Jamstix isn't sampled in as high detail as the bigger multi-sampled drum modules. By 'detail', I mean the sheer number of velocity layers, alternate hits, and articulations sampled.

For instance, Ralph told me in another thread that the BonzoPak hihat had 5 velocity layers with 3 alternate hits per layer and 5 degrees of openness. For all the articulations of that hihat, plus all the ambience mics, it comes out to 182 samples. For comparison, the default hihat in the Ezdrummer Avatar kit has 192 samples from the hihat mic alone. Including ambience mics, it comes out to 576- so better than 3 times as many as the BonzoPak hihat. Superior 2 now packages the samples inside a proprietary format so it isn't possible to count the individual samples, but to quote the manual-

[R Green]

This is all very subjective. My take is I've have heard other software drumkits and since the release of Bonzo-pak, I can do without them. Whoever sampled Bonzo did a magnificent job and this looks like continuing into Jamcussion.
pre-Bonzo I agree that the Jamstix kits were adequate, with the cymbals being excellent.
So to answer the post, I will not be filling my hard drive up with BFD or whatever. This has a small advantage of having to wait less for each song to load up.

[pauls_academy]

Thanks for the responses. I can definitely tell the difference between those hypersampled modules and JamStix, but in the context of busy music JamStix sounds fantastic. I think I'd need to produce pop or jazz music to really justify the extra clarity of those other modules. So I think I'll just enjoy JS for now, and take Addictive Drums back.

By the way, Ralph, if your demo program made me question Addictive Drums, etc., the Bonzo Pack sold me! I hope the star of the next pack is named Keith (Animal notwithstanding). Long live rock!

Paul

[balistick]

Bonzo Kit sound great, i will not argue that, and it is a must for everyone. Altough, Those sounds do not fit any musical context...a good example of this is jazz, ballads, ect...

I am not a Drummer, but i am sure that they build a kit by searching pieces that blend well together, and provide them a vast array of sound textures. For the drummers i have seen, they where rarely using only one "brand" of drums and cymbals... they mixed parts that gave them the sound they wanted...

Having the power to take High quality sounds from other software...AND EVEN blend them with JS sounds ( this is one of the JS2 features i like ) give you the opportunity to taylor your drums to the situation at hand...very powerfull..

Remember that it is alway easier to work on the best possible "fitting to song" sound on the drums before, instead of choosing an out-of-context ingredient , even if it is good, and try to make it fit in at the mixing stage...

This is the way i see it, take everything that you can, filter out what you dont like, be open-minded and creative...