does Jamstix 2 do this????

joe_68 · Post by **joe_68** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 3:05 pm

Hi all,

Brand spanking new to Jamstix and extremely new to DAW's.
Can you do this with it?

Load Jamstix into your DAW (Sonar 6 for me) and have it play like a conventional drum machine - play along with it to record a track?

I can see lots of reference to having Jamstix play to a song that you have already recorded. That's great - but only half the battle.

I am trying to set Jamstix up to do this - however, when I insert (as a soft synth) and hit play on the DAW - it just stutters and stops instananeously. I am sure that I am doing something basic fundamentally wrong. It will play when I record a track - but I'm not ready to record yet. Just want to play along with some drums first.

Help me guys - it's driving me mad.

J

rcraig42 · Post by **rcraig42** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 4:09 pm

That's Sonar's thing, it won't play with nothing in any tracks. You can either stick a MIDI event way out in bar 200 or some such, or arm a track to record and hit record, it doesn't really matter whether the track has any input to record. Heck arm a MIDI track to record without actually having a MIDI device connected...

On the other hand you could also end up hitting a very hot sounding lick by accident and never realize it unless you ARE recording. I've had lots of stuff that at the time thought "ouch what a mistake", but hearing it on the recording was a whole nuther matter.

Susan G · Post by **Susan G** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:51 pm

BTW,, SONAR 7 and later has a Global Option for "Stop at Project End". If that's unchecked, it will play with a blank project.

-Susan

joe_68 · Post by **joe_68** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 3:33 am

Susan and rcraig,

thanks you for this. You have solved the problem for me.

Will jamstix now jam interactivley without recording - or do I have to record to achieve the interactivity?

Thanks

J

Post by **Ralph @ Rayzoon** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:08 am

joe_68 wrote:Will jamstix now jam interactivley without recording - or do I have to record to achieve the interactivity?

JS responds to audio or MIDI input in real-time so there's no need to pre-record.

joe_68 · Post by **joe_68** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:07 am

Thanks Ralph - this is great.

So just for absoloutle clarity

1. I uncheck the Global 'stop at end of project' in Sonar

2. I insert Jamstix 2 as a soft synth

3. I plug my guitar/mic into my soundcard

4. I hit play on the Sonar transport

5. I jam interactivley with Jamstix

There is no need to record the guitar input in an audio track?

Thanks to all again.

This is a great help.

Post by **Ralph @ Rayzoon** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:11 am

Yes, except you must add these steps:

- insert audioM8 plugin on audio track with guitar signal
- set Jamstix to 'Jam With Audio'

joe_68 · Post by **joe_68** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:20 pm

Thanks again Ralph - I would not have known this.
Where do I find the audioM8 plug in?
Do I have to have audioM8 pugged in on every track for Jamstix to interact with a whole song.

Sorry for all of these questions - but this is extremely helpful for me.

Thanks

J

Post by **Ralph @ Rayzoon** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:23 pm

audioM8 is in the Jamstix 2 folder alongside the Jamstix2 DLL. You only have to put it on the track of the instrument you want it to follow dynamically. If there are multiple sources, you can use multiple instances of audiom8 or use a sub-bus.

joe_68 · Post by **joe_68** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 5:07 am

Hey Ralph, Susan and rcraig,

I can't thank you enough for your help on this - this has really sorted out the problem for me.

Just to Susan's point on the 'Stop at End' point - for anybody else grappling with this issue.

I can't find a 'Stop at End' check box in Sonar 6. There is a bit of debate and confusion about this on other forums as well. It seems that this function was only introduced in Sonar 7.

So - again for anybody else with the same issue - I have set up a project as per the instructions above. But I have set loop points in the project between bar 0 and 50 (you can set this anywhere I guess). Now Sonar 6 will play an empty project with Jamstix. Jamstix starts again at bar 1 when the project loops back to the begining.

Ralph - this might be one for Rayzoon's manual. I have struggled with this issue - but the fix is very simple to describe and easy to do when you know how. A simple addittion in the manual at the getting started point would help a lot. Then again - maybe I am just a bit of a thicko.

Thanks again to all.