need help with jamstix
need help with jamstix
I've got jamstix running ok in mts, but I can't get any decent drumming going. Everything I do sounds like crap. Not the audio sound itself, but the drumming as a whole. Has anybody got any advice on how to use the thing (apart from reading the manual and watching the video tuts). I need a sort of Jamstix for Dummies, or Drumming by Numbers, a step by step idiot proof How to. Any ideas fellas? Robomusic?
It is all over the place, as you say "too busy". I am trying free jam with a midi drum track at the moment. The arranger goes and assigns about 16 or so different levels and there doesn't seem to be any coherent pattern to anything, just a random selection.
I read somewhere a comment from zauni at js that it won't work on a midi melody line but that it needs chords to work. Being a simple drum track, mine could probably be interpreted as a melody line I guess. Is it any better using audio?
I'm not really being very clear I suspect, but I expected it to just lay down a reasonably simple drum track which I could polish and put in some fancy fills later on. If I have to edit 100% it's not going to be much fun, me not being a drummer.
I read somewhere a comment from zauni at js that it won't work on a midi melody line but that it needs chords to work. Being a simple drum track, mine could probably be interpreted as a melody line I guess. Is it any better using audio?
I'm not really being very clear I suspect, but I expected it to just lay down a reasonably simple drum track which I could polish and put in some fancy fills later on. If I have to edit 100% it's not going to be much fun, me not being a drummer.
I'll let you know how it works.It cost some serious MONEY, but I'm still knocked out about using ACID Pro and pre-recorded drum loops over here.
Three or four good drum sample CDs for starters, carefully auditioned and picked, can go a long way.
The difference is astounding, no Midi involved really, you get pre-recorded riffs, fills, hits of all kinds on a single CD that you just drag and drop into position on the timeline.
These are REAL DRUMS recorded in high end studios using the best of the best in equipment, engineers -- and drummers.
I just start out with either a click track or a rather simple dragged and dropped drumbeat to get the song going, later on I will go back to the drum track and redo with fills and such to fit what I've recorded on the other tracks.
"Mick Fleetwood -- Total Drumming" is one of my favs.
Then there is the "Jazz Trap Kit" and also "R.A.D.S. -- Rhythmic Architectural Design Systems" disks on my shelf.
ACID can change the tempo of the thing to just about anywhere needed before you do a save and export the .wav file to import into your project.
Like I said, it cost more money, but the upside is worth it to me, people hear the work and those in the know immediately start asking how I mic'd the drums, etc. Real drums in a real studio with a real engineer recording a real drummer. At my beck and call 24/7. I mean, I've got MICK FLEETWOOD over there on the shelf.
I have plenty of Midi generator options, hardware synths, software synths, samplers, gigasampler, emulatorX, you name it, nothing, none of them come even close to the real drum sound obtainable using good loops like this. The cymbal die-outs alone are more realistic, didn't think that was as big of a deal until I found out.
My next loss of revenue will probably be to spring for BFD though, it looks like something that can be loaded right into the host program and the demo sounds are easily as incredible as using the Acid Loops. We shall see.
--Mac
Three or four good drum sample CDs for starters, carefully auditioned and picked, can go a long way.
The difference is astounding, no Midi involved really, you get pre-recorded riffs, fills, hits of all kinds on a single CD that you just drag and drop into position on the timeline.
These are REAL DRUMS recorded in high end studios using the best of the best in equipment, engineers -- and drummers.
I just start out with either a click track or a rather simple dragged and dropped drumbeat to get the song going, later on I will go back to the drum track and redo with fills and such to fit what I've recorded on the other tracks.
"Mick Fleetwood -- Total Drumming" is one of my favs.
Then there is the "Jazz Trap Kit" and also "R.A.D.S. -- Rhythmic Architectural Design Systems" disks on my shelf.
ACID can change the tempo of the thing to just about anywhere needed before you do a save and export the .wav file to import into your project.
Like I said, it cost more money, but the upside is worth it to me, people hear the work and those in the know immediately start asking how I mic'd the drums, etc. Real drums in a real studio with a real engineer recording a real drummer. At my beck and call 24/7. I mean, I've got MICK FLEETWOOD over there on the shelf.
I have plenty of Midi generator options, hardware synths, software synths, samplers, gigasampler, emulatorX, you name it, nothing, none of them come even close to the real drum sound obtainable using good loops like this. The cymbal die-outs alone are more realistic, didn't think that was as big of a deal until I found out.
My next loss of revenue will probably be to spring for BFD though, it looks like something that can be loaded right into the host program and the demo sounds are easily as incredible as using the Acid Loops. We shall see.
--Mac
Acid loops are a great way to go especially for drum tracks that are from scratch, they sound so real, i have done a few tracks that way, right not i am doing loads of covers tunes and i have already built midi tracks, they just need a better output and Jamstix does it for me, the drum packs have very decent sound in them, and one can load BFD in JS as well if it is wanted. I might get the Mick F CD and mess with it. I still like the ease of setting up midi arangements especially with JS as the output. I have acid Pro 3.0 and it does a great job of looping, not as many features as the newer versions, but still very powerful and easy to use.
I'm almost afraid to ask, "What is BFD?" 
I've managed to tame the beast a little by turning off its brain and resorting to manual jam. What confuses me is that there are so many fills and intros with names that don't really say anything. How can I listen to individual rythms, fills, intros etc. so that I can discard the ones I don't like? I must admit I envy you guys who can switch from one instrument or software to another. I'm still trying to come to terms with my new setup emu/mts and to get some decent sounds out of my guitar.
Getting into these programms is very interesting and mentally stimulating, but sometimes the mind just boggles even though I've taken to using the Mac method of reading manuals during system purge
I've managed to tame the beast a little by turning off its brain and resorting to manual jam. What confuses me is that there are so many fills and intros with names that don't really say anything. How can I listen to individual rythms, fills, intros etc. so that I can discard the ones I don't like? I must admit I envy you guys who can switch from one instrument or software to another. I'm still trying to come to terms with my new setup emu/mts and to get some decent sounds out of my guitar.
Getting into these programms is very interesting and mentally stimulating, but sometimes the mind just boggles even though I've taken to using the Mac method of reading manuals during system purge
I know I shouldn't have asked.
Here's a selection of what I got
BFD Big Freakin' Deal (polite form)
BFD Barne- og Familiedepartementet
BFD Binary File Descriptor (computer programming)
BFD Conker's Bad Fur Day (video game)
BFD Buffalo Fire Department
BFD Behringer Feedback Destroyer (home theater)
BFD Blackfathom Deeps (World of Warcraft instance)
BFD Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (IP networking)
BFD Brake Force Display (BMW)
BFD Boston Fire Department
BFD Back from the Dead
BFD Bradford West Yorkshire (UK)
BFD Bradford, PA, USA - Bradford Regional (Airport Code)
BFD Big Freakin' Deal (concert)
BFD Beer For Dolphins (band)
BFD Budgerigar Fledgling Disease
BFD Bowling for Dollars (1970s-era TV game show)
Bfd Behindertenfahrdienst (German: Transport of Disabled)
BFD Bellingham Fire Department
BFD Berkeley Fire Department
BFD Back Focal Distance
BFD Burnaby Fire Department
BFD Base Flood Depth
BFD Baked Fresh Daily (band)
BFD Baltimore Fire Department
BFD Basis for Design
BFD Basic File Directory
BFD Big Furry Deal
BFD Battery Firing Device
BFD Bartech Focus Device
BFD Bruce F. Dyer (BFD Productions, Inc.
BFD Burger Fries Drink (fast-food)
BFD Better Follow Directions
BFD Baseline Freeflight Display
BFD Best Food Day
BFD Budget Formulation Directive
BFD Binghamton Fire Department
BFD Beruff?rderungsdienst (German)
BFD Book Form Drawing
BFD Big Freakin' Day (concert sponsored by Live 105)
BFD Bridge Forward Delay
BFD Big Freakin' Dog (polite form, as used on police radio)
BFD Buckskin Fire Department (Parker, AZ, USA)
BFD Buyer Furnished Data
BFD Bureau of Food and Drug (Philippines)
BFD Balanced Frequency Doubler
BFD Business Function Decomposition
all courtesy of a site called http://www.acronymfinder.com which came up in the google. It's a treasure trove of useless acronyms. I also found the drum guys by the way.
LLG (anacronym for Long Live Google (submitted by me))
Here's a selection of what I got
BFD Big Freakin' Deal (polite form)
BFD Barne- og Familiedepartementet
BFD Binary File Descriptor (computer programming)
BFD Conker's Bad Fur Day (video game)
BFD Buffalo Fire Department
BFD Behringer Feedback Destroyer (home theater)
BFD Blackfathom Deeps (World of Warcraft instance)
BFD Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (IP networking)
BFD Brake Force Display (BMW)
BFD Boston Fire Department
BFD Back from the Dead
BFD Bradford West Yorkshire (UK)
BFD Bradford, PA, USA - Bradford Regional (Airport Code)
BFD Big Freakin' Deal (concert)
BFD Beer For Dolphins (band)
BFD Budgerigar Fledgling Disease
BFD Bowling for Dollars (1970s-era TV game show)
Bfd Behindertenfahrdienst (German: Transport of Disabled)
BFD Bellingham Fire Department
BFD Berkeley Fire Department
BFD Back Focal Distance
BFD Burnaby Fire Department
BFD Base Flood Depth
BFD Baked Fresh Daily (band)
BFD Baltimore Fire Department
BFD Basis for Design
BFD Basic File Directory
BFD Big Furry Deal
BFD Battery Firing Device
BFD Bartech Focus Device
BFD Bruce F. Dyer (BFD Productions, Inc.
BFD Burger Fries Drink (fast-food)
BFD Better Follow Directions
BFD Baseline Freeflight Display
BFD Best Food Day
BFD Budget Formulation Directive
BFD Binghamton Fire Department
BFD Beruff?rderungsdienst (German)
BFD Book Form Drawing
BFD Big Freakin' Day (concert sponsored by Live 105)
BFD Bridge Forward Delay
BFD Big Freakin' Dog (polite form, as used on police radio)
BFD Buckskin Fire Department (Parker, AZ, USA)
BFD Buyer Furnished Data
BFD Bureau of Food and Drug (Philippines)
BFD Balanced Frequency Doubler
BFD Business Function Decomposition
all courtesy of a site called http://www.acronymfinder.com which came up in the google. It's a treasure trove of useless acronyms. I also found the drum guys by the way.
LLG (anacronym for Long Live Google (submitted by me))