Rayzoon Technologies LLC

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

What I mean by this admittedly jokey subject, is that I'm finding it difficult to get JS to do exactly what I want, as it seems to prioritise what it "wants" to do. For example, I am definitely a beginner, and play mostly folk, rock and indie type stuff. I want to be able to set up a fairly basic 4/4 beat, with no fills or flashy stuff and play along with that. Once I have the guitar lines sorted I want to be able to add intros, fills etc, but keep it very low key - if anyone's heard the new Iron and Wine/ Calexico album, that's the kind of drum sound/style I'm hoping for. The problem I'm having is that JS seems to wander about a bit, repeat itself, change its mind and then show off for a bit before getting bored and hitting drums at random. Now I know that it only does what it's told through the settings I've made, but is there a way to do what I want?

This isn't a complaint about JS, by the way - it seems to do all sorts of things incredibly well. Maybe it's too advanced for what I need, or maybe I'm too retarded?

One final thing - if anyone decides to write some proper walk-through tutorials for JS, taking the user from very basic stuff through to advanced techniques, then I'd be first in line to buy a copy. The video tutorials are, I think, mis-named - they are really more of a video demo.

Cheers

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

Try this:

- Open a fresh Jamstix in your project
- Use manual mode in the jam tab
- Open the rhythm tab, click LOAD, select the keyword 'basic' and pick a basic rock rhythm
- slide the snare and tom accent sliders all the way left

Jamstix should now play this rhythm along with your sequencer without any frills or fills.

You can now go to the arranger and right-click on specific bars to add fills as needed.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

Thanks for the speedy response - I'll give this a try and let you know how it worked out.

Jason · Jam Meister Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 87

hi.

i would also be very appreciative of some more detailed (newbies like me have trouble "filling in the blanks" and like having every single step detailed) tutorials.

i know this is a lot to ask, but maybe some veteran Jammers could volunteer to do a small section each. people on this board seem very friendly and helpful.

just a thought to save Ralph the trouble of answering so many basic questions, pehaps many of them repeatedly.

cheers.

Jason

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

We'll definitely look into more tutorials down the road but any community effort would naturally be very welcome as it would help us keep our efforts focused on development.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

Tried it - and it works! So thanks for the prompt and useful reply.

My next question is: the song I'm working on has a 16 bar intro with just acoustic guitar, then a 4 bar bit, also just guitar. I want the drums to come in on the 4th bar of this second part, to play an intro before it setltles down to play the basic beat that will run through most of the song. I can see in the arranger where I want the drums to come in, but how do I silence them before this point. I've tried clicking on the bars I want to silence and then clicking mute, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I've searched the forum but can't find anything (maybe not using the correct keywords) - if this has been covered then a pointer to the previous thread will be more than enough help.

Cheers

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

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

Ta muchly, as we say around these parts.

Leighton · Jam Meister Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 60

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

Leighton - you've obviously known completely different drummers to me! Most of the ones I knew were too scared to ever hit on a girl. If there's ever a Jamsinger then I'll start worrying.

Thanks to the excellent support I'm really getting somewhere with my song now - the drums are happening when and how I want them, mostly, and they're so good I'm re-recording the other instruments using them as a guideline for accents etc. This interaction is exactly what was missing when I tried using other drum machines to programme the beats, so I consider the cost of JS to be money well spent, especially when I take the world by storm and win the mercury music prize in 2007!

I still think I need help with all sorts of basic functions so I'd like to say again - if anyone considers producing a manual I'd definitely buy it. Or maybe even be involved in writing it - if say, there was an online "template" for a manual I would happily go in and complete the bits I've managed to work out or been helped with. This could be the best way forward for a collaborative effort which would minimise the amount of work each Jammer would have to do and also minimise the chances of people working on the same topics.

What do people think? Would there be space on the Rayzoon site for something like this to be hosted? Would it be better to have access only for certain Jammers to contribute? Would the entries have to be checked before being added? I guess the huge benefit of this would be that not so many repeat questions would get posted freeing up time for "new" problems.

Anyway, while I like nothing better than trying to get loads of people to do loads of work and then sit back and watch them (one of the joys of project managing!) I realise that this might be too big a project.

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

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

You do realize I'm a drummer, right?

Obviously I was referring to British drummers Very Happy

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

[Any kind of contribution that covers things that are not in the official manual and is offered to us for placement on this site would be published after being checked out by us with proper credit to the author(s)]

I will rise to the challenge that erm, I set, and write a mini-tutorial on how to lay down a really basic beat using manual jam, and include details on how to insert intros, fills etc. I'll base this on an actual project as I do it so it should be crystal clear and therefore probably useless to most of the jammers on the board - but it may be of use to total newbies.

I'll email it to you as soon as I'm done. (Insert chin-stroking intellectual-looking emoticon to denote academic seriousness in progress)[/quote]

Jason · Jam Meister Joined: 16 May 2005 Posts: 87

i'm liking the sound of these tutorials as i'm really time pressed in my life and being walked through what seems basic to most would save me time.

but instead of emailing them, should there be a thread or threads dedicated to these tutortials by veteran Jammers?

i'll make a post about this idea for everyone to see as this idea is limited to those just reading this thread now.

cheers.

Jason

thewarmgrass · Junior Jammer Joined: 29 Sep 2005 Posts: 17 Location: UK

I'm no veteran but I've managed to achieve some fairly decent results after following the pointers I've been given. The tutorial I am planning on writing will be basic and quite specific in that it will focus on getting JS to lay down a basic beat to accompany a guitar part, though of course it would apply to any audio instrument.

I will email it in the first instance so it can be approved, and any mistakes I've put in be corrected, but I agree it would be great if there could be a section of the site where tutorials could be posted for download.

Thanks for the new post so that other jammers can be included in the "project". I guess that if enough people get involved, it could eliminate almost all "how do I?" enquiries.