Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[audiotrax2000]

First off, I want to say thank you so much for developing this software! Jamstix is absolutely amazing. It’s the first real breakthrough I’ve seen in years (since the sampler) that allows me to work as though I have a real drummer next to me; that plays the way I like. My new best friend! Honestly, I haven’t got much of any song production done in the last month since I bought it, because every time I turn on my computer, I find myself just playing with it in happy amazement for hours.

The kits are great too. I bought the entire pack with Jamstix, the same day I tried the demo. I haven’t done that before with any software. I have quite a sampler library I’ve developed over the years for my old Roland hardware samplers. Recently I’ve switched over to Battery, which is a great tool, but I haven’t used it at all since adding Jamstix. The kits have pretty much the sound I always hear in my head: big old, wooden, warm drums like you hear on 60’s and 70’s albums. The toms remind me of the Beatles. This is an amazing deal for the price. Their flexability is amazing. I would buy Jamstix just for the drum samples, even if I didn’t use it for its playing ability.

The only thing I would ask in the samples area is some larger “Phil Collins” type toms and Rototoms, as in the albums “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway”, and “Trick Of The Tail”. Also some glassier, more transparent hi-hats like the producer used on the first Culture Club album. (ok, silly band, but GREAT sounding mixes…)

OK, finally, off to my point: Here’s a few suggestions I have for future improvements, after settling into the software a bit. There’s a lot I still need to learn about it, so I’m sorry if these are not relative to features it already has:

1. Easier installation, and over all learning curve. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I really got stuck figuring how to get this installed and running. I had to contact user support. (Which is FANTASTIC by the way. The reply was almost immediate, and very helpful. You guys have the best customer support I have ever encountered).

Also, being used to working with drum machines (well actually, I haven’t for 10 years. I hate them), and sequencers, I found getting my head around the user work flow very puzzling. I know this is a new concept in creating drum tracks, but it really needs to be clearer somehow, with how this thing works. I still am kind of confused between the three modes: Manual, Jam, and Keyword Jam, and how it all relates to the Arranger.

2. The Pocket knobs work somewhat counter-intuitive for me. Couldn’t they work so that turning them to the left pushed them back in time, and turning them right pushed the drum forward?

3. Easier MIDI input for having Jamstix learn what you are playing. I’m still not quite sure what is going on in there. Sometimes it seems to work, others I’m not sure if it’s following what I wanted. I have an M-Audio Trigger Finger pad. Am I right that you can only put in two bar beats? This seems like a very limiting shortcoming. Most of the beats I come up with are four or eight bar based, as in the drummer for ”Japan” in the 80’s. I don’t like being forced to enter a groove in by little segments, and reassembling them later in the Arranger.

4. Also, and maybe this should be number one on my list: The ability to just import a MIDI drum track that’s the length of a song, so the software can learn it and Jamstixify it so it comes to life. This would be the most useful software in the world, if it could do that!

Thanks, and thanks again for creating this fascinating, and revolutionary music tool.

[Ralph [RZ]]

[audiotrax2000]

Hi Zauni,

Thanks for the fast reply. You guys are good!

I would like to elaborate a little more on what I am confused about with the work flow. As I am confused about what I DON’T know, and I’m not in front of the software right now, that makes it a little harder. I guess I don’t quite get the relationship between Freejam and the Arranger.

Ok, say I’m starting a new song, and I want Jamstix to play along with me. Just for examples sake, Cubase SX will be creating a track that’s 40 bars long. I understand that to have Jamstix create its own groove, I need to be in Freejam mode. Once, Cubase starts off with a 2 bar count in, do I just start playing (and have Jamstix follow me), on the first recordable bar, or do I wait for 2 blank bars to go by? How does that relate to having the suggested 2 bar offset in Jamstix’s arranger?

How do I use the Intro, Fill and Ending buttons in Freejam mode? If I select one of those, doesn’t it take over the 1 bar limit in Jamstix? (In my post above, I mentioned 2 bar limit, but I meant 1 bar. Sorry). How does Freejamming with the Intro, Fill and End buttons relate to the Arranger screen?

When I am in the Arranger mode, and Cubase loops around again at 40 bars, does Jamstix always play the exact same thing, or does it improvise a little each time?

What happens when Cubase loops around while I am in Freejam mode? After the 40 bars, does Jamstix wipe the Arranger clean, and continually create a new arrangement? I think that’s where I get confused with the relationship between Freejam, and the Arranger, because the Arranger is working behind the scenes, underneath Freejam, and I can’t see what it’s doing, live. (Am I confusing YOU yet?)

If I import a MIDI drum track into the Freejam screen that’s say 8 bars long, am I right that Jamstix will break this into 8 separate drum grooves in the Arranger screen? Maybe they could be merged together (like cells in Excel) to form one big, locked groove that’s several bars long. And, if Jamstix could still apply its random magic to the groove every time it passes by, that would be wonderful.

I understand from your answer the complexities of converting an entire drum track to a system of rules. (It still would be GREAT if it could do that though, and bring an over-quantized drum part to life. ) I would be happy though if the Jam screen could at LEAST work with 2 bar programming. One bar just seems too limiting and repetative for a program this powerful.

Oh yes, having the program come with a bunch of pre-made song arrangements in a folder would really be useful for getting up and running on it, and grokking how the Arranger screen works. Some standard song structures in different styles (Rock, Country, Jazz) that could be cut and pasted, would be nice. How about adding them to your website for download?

More tutorials, especially the videos, and having them go into more detail, would be great as well.

Thanks again for your input. My brain is fried now…..I wish I didn’t have to go to work for about a month, so I could just spend all day experimenting and playing with Jamstix!

[Ralph [RZ]]

Think of it like this: in free jam mode you give Jamstix all control. The arranger is now used by Jamstix and you can only watch. It's a starting point, designed to let you jam and have Jamstix come up with grooves.

If you have a decent jam session that you want to refine and alter, switch to manual mode. This is key: you have now taken over control from Jamstix but all is still as it was after the free jam. You can now edit rhythms, alter rhythm changes, add fills, into etc.

So the free jam is just a starting point, at some point you go to manual and fine-tune everything.

In free jam mode, Jamstix will repeat a jam over and over identical if Cubase loops, as long as the input is MIDI and stays the same. For audio input the rhythm selection will change and you should switch to manual mode after the jam session.

Multi-bar patterns aren't a big problem in manual mode as you can click together bars to form them as you surmised.

We plan more wizard-style functions for Jamstix 2 to aid in the creation of song structures.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[audiotrax2000]

Your information is very helpful. Thanks Zauni.

[Ralph [RZ]]

By the way, try the rod hihat that comes with DrumPak #2. It has a delicate, crisp sound that is closer to the Culture Club sound especially in close-stereo mode.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[audiotrax2000]

Man, I love those kits. This is the best over-all drum sample pack I've ever heard. The Close and Ambiant controls you built in are amazing for getting more millage out of them.

[Guitarfish]

Hi Ralph

I thought I was finally getting the Freejam behaviour worked out, but I fear I'm loosing the plot again...

[Ralph [RZ]]

I'm sorry, Guitarfish. I was incorrect in saying that looping would yield identical free jams in audio mode. It's only true for MIDI jams. I have corrected my original post to that end.

Therefore, you should switch to manual mode after the jam and not have the host loop in audio jam mode.

We'll see what we can do in this area for the next update as it clearly would be advantageous to have JS stick with current audio free jam data upon playback.
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Ralph [RZ]]

Guitarfish, here is a link to a preliminary update that will cause Jamstix to stick with audio free jam decisions even if the host loops or you close/reopen the project. You can reset the jam if needed via 'Clear Arrangement'.

Hope this helps!

http://66.235.201.50/updates/jamstix1801.zip
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[GregHolmes]

I have not tried the prelim update - does it have any impact on Live Loops that are fed dynamic audio input? (Where the expectation is that JS will perform the rhythms differently each time through the loop, depending on input.)
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http://www.ghservices.com/
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[Ralph [RZ]]

We generally use liveloops in manual mode.

The update makes liveloops in audio jam mode act more like MIDI mode so rhythm choices are retained (which I think would be desirable).
_________________
Ralph Zeuner
Rayzoon Technologies LLC
http://www.rayzoon.com

[Guitarfish]

Wow again!

Was just trying to understand, so wasn't expecting an update but thank you anyway . I do think this tweak makes behaviour more consistent = easier to understand for newbies.

A small technical hitch: how do I download it? I followed the link, but it asks me for an ID / Password (sorry if I'm missing something obvious...)

[Doc]

[Guitarfish]

Thanx Doc. I thought that might be it, but the Password is @home and I'm @work so I couldn't test it.