Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[fhludlow]

This is evidently more of a MIDI question than Jamstix specific. Using Tracktion 3. Can we retire the old Tracktion thread or start a new one or something?

I keep having this thing where my external sound modules will just sound like piano instead of drums.

I have been able to get my casio keyboard to make drum sounds from a midi signal from Jamstix but I can't get my head around how. I think it has to do with turning things on the right order and a CLOCKWISE rubber chicken spell.

I tried to use my PodXT as a midi interface to other things, and while experimenting with it all I got from Jamstix was piano sounds.

Now I get a Yamaha DTXpress III edrum brain and get the same thing. This was kind of a surprise, because I can understand everything defaulting to "channel 1" or "instrument 1" or whatever a piano is, but you'd think a drum module would assume a basic drum kit.

Aren't drums supposed to be on a seperate... channel or something?

What is the exact concept going on here w/ the piano versus "rock kit 3" or whatever on my DTXpress? Channels, notes, instruments, devices?? I really can't seem to get my head around midi.

Is this something I can change in Jamstix, or do I have to do it every time in Tracktion 3? What do I do to tell whatever is listening to Jamstix that it's supposed to be DRUMS?

[dysfunction]

Perhaps you have a blank midi track in Tracktion, whose output is set to your soundcard's midi output, and input is 'omni'? Sorry I can't be more specific, I've only used Tracktion briefly (came with my Mackie interface, but I prefer Sonar).

[fhludlow]

So I'm barking up the wrong tree wondering if I can get Jamstix (or Tracktion?) to tell the external module it's supposed to be playing drum sounds instead of piano sounds?

I was really hoping to be able to open a given project in Tracktion 3 and have Jamstix tell the Yamaha DTXpress III to play a specific kit depending on what kit it is using. I'm absolutely baffled.

[gmon72]

i dont use traction, but typically you need to set which MIDI channel a track (in traction) is sending the info out to your Yamaha. GM Drums should be channel 10.

[fhludlow]

I don't see anywhere in Tracktion to set either a midi output device or a track to a specific midi channel. The Yamaha drum brain is set to receive all system, channel and program changes.

[fhludlow]

I should mention I did try changing "jam channel" and "control channel" to 10 in Jamstix's Options section. Had no noticeable effect.

I figured out that if I go into the Kit window, and right click on something, a new window pops up with triangle things in the middle and five knobs on the right. There is a column of small + and - labled CH at the top. If I change ALLLLL OF THESE for every group or whatever you'd call it (toms, snare, etc) from 1 to 10 then my external module makes drum sounds!

?!?!

I doubt I'm the first person to try to use MIDI out from Jamstix, and noticed that it's all very granularly set to 1 when supposedly drums are always on 10?

I am so frusterated.

Also, every time I start a new instance of Jamstix it's always way too loud and really clippy and I have to go into the mixer and pull it back so it doesn't clip? Is there some global way I can get it to just be at the right level everytime I open it?

I seem to be still getting audio glitches only when the gui is visible. There was some fix or new version in the past that fixed it 90% but I'm still getting a few.

Is there no way to be able to see the kit and the main windows at the same time? I finally put a second instance of Jamstix after itself just receiving midi so I can watch the kit and the beats/parts at the same time. It's pushing my cpu a little harder then but seems ok.

[fhludlow]

I went through and set all 8 million pieces of the kit from 1 to 10. By clicking a little plus sign 9 times for each piece. There is no slidy thing, no way to arrow it or page up/dn, no way to type it in.

As I did this, I realized that the notes that Jamstix was sending didn't really correspond to the notes the Yamaha DTXpress III was expecting. I'm aware that there are a lot of different ways to map this stufff and it's commonly discussed in a lot of different forums in a lot of different contexts.

But in this case is there some set of settings I can cycle through to see if they can match each other with something that's already set up?

I was really thinking I'd be able to have Jamstix tell the module which specific kit to be using also. I think I have a lead on that, as the module has a way to create and save maps for program change numbers translate to kit change numbers. So I do know how to tell the module to interpret any given program change (whatever that is) as "change to kit # 49" or whatever.

[Ralph [RZ]]

[fhludlow]

Hi just wanted to say thanks for the info and I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet. I'll try to follow up once I get everything working the way I want. I know the dtxpress ii through iv are very similar in a lot of ways so this should apply to all of them.

So if I get some awesome drum part set up in Jamstix, but then want to play it via midi out to my yamaha edrum brain, I would just select this one custom kit that I have all set up for channel 10 and to correspond to the various equivalent notes on the brain and let it rip? I just have to go through every possible thing and get it all set up so it's sending what the edrum brain is expecting, save it, and live happily ever after?

I FULLY want to use the Jamstix sounds for recording in Tracktion etc. It's just that listening to the drum parts through the actual edrum kit is teaching me an enormous amount about drumming in general. I am a rank newbie at playing drums, it was always quite a mystery to me until I actually got a cheap edrum kit and started trying to play along with the radio.

The new visual kit display is the greatest thing that ever happened to me, it really was the impetuous that got me off my duff to learn more about what it's like to actually play the drums. Consider me one eagerly awaiting being able to have that open in a seperate window all the time.

[Ralph [RZ]]