Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[Nils_Olav]

I have been using Jamstix for quite some time, but this one has me completely baffled.

I am trying to teach Jamstix a GM midi song from Cubase 8.5. I have midi learn enabled, I have loaded my song structure with Silent drummer and Silent style, and I have enabled 'Allow Time Signature Changes'. I have also checked each and every part in my song structure for time signature, and I have checked - and checked again - that all my part changes appear at the correct places in the track. I have set up Jamstix to look for GM1 input hits, and feed Jamstix from a prepared midi track.

I have a song structure in both Cubase and Jamstix where I have a bunch of parts in 4/4 and then in bar 88 I have the following:

7/4 for two bars
3/4 for three bars
4/4 for one bar
7/4 for two bars
3/4 for three bars
4/4 throughout the rest of the song.

Everything is working out fine; Jamstix plays along and learns my midi part (using the Rock - Minimal - Natural kit btw).

Now the problem:
Jamstix keeps losing sync with Cubase 8.5 every time it gets to the first 7/4 bar.

I have checked the manual, I have checked my song structure, and I have checked all relevant settings in Jamstix I can think of, but I cannot get Jamstix to keep in sync with my song structure.

Am I asking the impossible of Jamstix?

Have I overlooked something?

Might I have come across a bug?

Please help.

[Azimuth]

Do you have a Time Sig change marker at every point on your track where the changes occur also, you have to. I use Reaper so I'm not sure exactly how Cubase locates/marks time sig changes

[Nils_Olav]

I have a time signature change marker in all the same places in Cubase as in Jamstix - apart from the very first bar, that is. Cubase defaults to 4/4 if no time signature is specified.

[Ralph [RZ]]

Play the song and watch the time sig display to the left of the bar/beat display in JS. Make sure it always shows the right time sig and changes at the right time.

I'd also add a 4/4 marker at bar 1 just to be sure.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Nils_Olav]

Thank you for your input.

I have reset the song before import;

I have added a 4/4 bar marker in Cubase at every part change in 4/4, including the first one; (the rhythm changes during different sections of the song, including a few transition bars, even if it is still 4/4);

I have taught Jamstix the song with all parts using the Silent style;

I have taught Jamstix the song with all parts using the Import style;

I have checked - again - that all bars and changes match throughout the song, both in Cubase and Jamstix;

I have all drum parts in the midi track in Cubase quantized to 16ths - no fancy upbeats or anything;

Jamstix bar and beat count follows Cubase throughout the song;

Jamstix cannot learn the song starting from bar 88, where the first 7/4 bar starts - It still seems to follow Cubase perfectly bar for bar, but the imported hits are in the wrong place and Jamstix completely loses count of the track from that point.

I have been contemplating two workarounds:

1) Re-write the whole song structure from scratch in Jamstix; this would be rather tedious, but possible.

2) Keep the odd time signature parts as blanks in Cubase (i.e. no hits, but the odd time signature changes are kept) and then program the odd time signature parts in Jamstix by hand afterwards; I am afraid that it would make Jamstix stay out of sync for the rest of the song.

I still suspect that I have overlooked something obvious.

Jamstix really is the perfect band companion when working with a band without a drummer (primarily for space reasons). It has been on each and every song in our catalog so far, and the problems have been surmountable.

I am convinced that I will get this one solved, too.

[Ralph [RZ]]

Please do a 'Save Song As' in Jamstix and send me the resulting file so I can check this out.

Also, which version of Jjamstix are you using?
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Nils_Olav]

A Song file and a reference midi file sent.

I use Jamstix v. 4.1.0

[Ralph [RZ]]

Nils, I've been checking out your song file. Since you used MIDI learn to build manually there's no real way for me to figure out why the hits were placed where they were. I suggest you try this fix:

- Save bar 88 of the MIDI file you sent me (first bar of part 4a) as a separate MIDI file
- In Jamstix, go to part 4A, use the 'Import' style and import the MIDI bar you've just saved.

If this fixes the part, repeat the same procedure for any other part that does not sound right.

Generally speaking, I always recommend using 'Import' style with MIDI clips as it gives you greater flexibility than static MIDI learn.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Nils_Olav]

I have now tried the "Import Style" method suggested by you, with some success.

I found, however, that a more systematic approach would be more appropriate, so I cut up all my different drum parts (without repeats), saved them as separate midi files, and rebuilt the song structure in Jamstix from scratch. Finally, I imported all the midi grooves into Jamstix one by one, checking them for time signatures etc.

That actually did work, apart from one odd glitch I haven't been able to hone out. The 7/4 parts refused to import the last three beats (i.e. the 5, 6 and 7-beat) from the midi file. I checked that the file had all the notes in it and that it went in 7/4. Now, I can easily add those notes manually, but I am still a bit confused as to why this happens.

However, by now, at least I can continue to work on the piece with my band - and Jamstix.

Thank you for your great support! Jamstix rocks! (even in 7/4, as it happens)

[Ralph [RZ]]

Can you send me a MID file for a problematic 7/4 part so I can look into that?
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Nils_Olav]

I have performed a more thorough investigation of this odd phenomenon.

I have made a new project with two bars of 4/4, then two bars of 7/4. If the bar-pointer (the cursor) in Cubase is at the exact place where the first bar of the 7/4 rhythm is to begin before the 7/4 part is created, the 7/4 midi file imports perfectly. If the bar-pointer is e.g. at the beginning of the song when the 7/4 part is created, the part defaults to 4/4, and the 7/4 midi file will not import even if the part time signature is changed to 7/4 before importing. I have tried with three bars of 4/4 before the 7/4 part, eight bars of 4/4 before the 7/4 part, and several other combinations. The 7/4 midi file imports OK if, and only if, the Cubase bar-pointer is at the place where the part needs to be before the 7/4 part is created.

@Ralph: I have sent the 7/4 midi file to your PM.

[Ralph [RZ]]

Thank you. We're gonna see if we can have this fixed in the next update.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com