Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[alexis]

(Page 24 of the JS3 Manual)

I'm not quite understanding how to use these, and how they might interact. I've been slumming without using them correctly for a long time now, and I think it's time I finally got to grips with them ... any help from you guys who get it would me much appreciated!


POWER KNOB
1) First off - power is "loudness"/volume/Velocity when MIDI/Audio jamming, and JS adjusts that knob on its own, I understand that bit.

But when in "Normal Jam" - is it up to me to manually adjust the power knob if I want it changed throughout the song? (BTW - I've always been confused about the name "Normal Jam" ... just to clarify, it's not really a Jam, as "Audio Jam" and "MIDI Jam" are ... or is it?).

Let's say I have a song that starts out very soft, just a voice and a softly strummed acoustic guitar, then it builds to some more instruments, then back to soft, then ends with full out power chords on distorted guitars and vocal screams.

Is it up to me to adjust the power knob for each section of the song when I'm in "Normal Jam"? For example, turned down for the soft 1st part, up a bit for the louder second part then back down for the softer third part, then turned way to the right for the very loud ending?

And if it *is* up to me to turn it ... is the "scale" something that can only be determined by trial and error, or is there some general rule-of-thumb scale (e.g., 6:00-9:00 on the dial for soft ballad, 9:00-noon for average pop song, noon-3:00 for loud pop song, 3:00-6:00 for thrash metal? (I know I'm being overly simplistic here, but just trying to understand if there is a generalized scale, or it's like a compressor where the amount to turn the knob depends on the song at hand ...).

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DYNAMICS KNOB

I understand the manual to say that "this knob sets the minimum power level allowed, meaning the kit will not be played any softer than this value. This is great for songs that have a fairly constant power level so playing
too softly in low dynamic areas would make the kit too quiet".

Now I can see that would be really helpful with MIDI or Audio jam, but I just can't see the utility of it when in "Normal Jam" ... why would I need to set *another* minimum level allowed, when I've just finished setting the Power Knob "to control the overall power"? Is the DYNAMICS KNOB redundant when using the POWER KNOB, in "Normal Jam"?

Thanks for any comments and help ... believe me, no comment is too basic for me on this one!
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Alexis
JS 3.6.1x64; Cubase 7.5.40 64 bit; i5-4570 3.2GHz, 16GB RAM; W7 SP1 64-bit on Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB; Seagate 1TB SATA 600 Audio Drive; UR28M; Motif8; UAD-2 Solo, BCF2K; TC Helicon VoiceOne; RevoicePro3

[jas_lan]

Basically, the Power Knob is how hard the player hits the kit pieces. There can be modifications applied such as on a fill, there can be a power adjustment based on the drop down box in the fill tab (I think it is the "character" box).
Dynamics is just the minimum level. So if Dynamics is set at 50% and you put the Power knob at 25%, the player will play at 50%.
Yes, you can automate the Power knob throughout the song and EVEN.THROUGHOUT the PARTS! For example if you just wanted the player to hit the first beat really hard or lead into a fill playing softly and build throughout until the end of the fill.

The best thing to do is to experiment with it. Build a short song with the song wizard, let it play and adjust the two knobs while it is playing. Oh yeah, it may not be obvious, but those knobs affect the output even AFTER the song has been composed.
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Core i7 4712QM, 16GB, Cubase 9 Pro on Windows 10. Scarlett 2i2. M-Audio Axiom Pro 61. Komplete 8. Jamstix 3.6. Absolute 3 VST. 418 Carrier Landings.
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[alexis]

[jas_lan]

[alexis]

[jas_lan]

[alexis]

[alexis]

You know, I was thinking more about jas_lan's kind responses.

I was wondering ... do experienced users think of the Power Knob as essentially a volume control ("Hits the drums harder"), with the small amount of drumming changes that might come with changes in the volume (like changing to the Ride with increased Power) being just incidental?

In other words ... do you reach for the Power Knob just as you might reach to increase the fader level in the combined Drum Track in your DAW?

Or is there more to it?

Sorry for the questions ... it's just that that knob takes up so much space in the GUI that I'm concerned I might be overlooking one if its significant functions, above and beyond simply making the drums louder.

Thanks
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Alexis
JS 3.6.1x64; Cubase 7.5.40 64 bit; i5-4570 3.2GHz, 16GB RAM; W7 SP1 64-bit on Samsung SSD 840 Pro 256GB; Seagate 1TB SATA 600 Audio Drive; UR28M; Motif8; UAD-2 Solo, BCF2K; TC Helicon VoiceOne; RevoicePro3

[minerman_1]

The power knob affects the velocity of the drum hits, which in turn, affect the timbre/sound of the hits (IE: a snare drum sounds much different at a 127 velocity level than it does at say, 115...same with all the other kit pieces)...It power knob affects the whole kit, making the velocity harder/softer depending on which way you turn it, which again, affects the tone/timbre of the drum hits...

I use automation in every demo/song/whatever I do, I automate the power knob & the timing slider/knob. I'll usually have the chorus parts hitting a little harder (and speed up the timing a few milliseconds), & do the same at about every fill...

I think you just need to roll up your sleeves & dig into Jamstix trying different things with it, to find out "what does what", in order to find your workflow, & to give you a better understanding of how all the knobs/sliders work together...Yes, it's a complicated program, and yes, it takes a while to get your head around it, but the results are well worth it if you really dig into it...

[alexis]