Jamstix 3 Information

[orenbar_20]

Hello,
A small error or incomprehension. I'm talking about update JS3.
I already have JS2 and I am zen

[manymanyhaha_]

+1 on the fonts, +1 on the kit smaller and the bar editor bigger, though I think the reason that it is this size is because the song and mixer windows need to be large.

I do like the colors and the streamlined interface though.

Two other suggestions:

1)The "Hit"editor, the one that pops up when selecting a "hit" in the bar editor, it would be real nice if that thing didn't jump so much. The controls are so far to the edge of its screen that any imprecise navigation causes it to collapse necessitating re-selecting the "hit". It gets a bit frustrating at times.

2)A paste multiple in the song editor. If I have 8 parts in a song that I know are going to have different beats, it would make things a bit faster if I could copy and then paste once instead of 8x.

Small quibbles, great program. To be honest, JS2 works so well for what I do, I'd really only be interested in JS3 if it streamlines my workflow or JS2 stops working with Sonar.

Also, are you going to make it so where we can build our own drummers by adding in the different modules as we want?

Thanks.

[Ralph @ Rayzoon]

The "Hit"editor, the one that pops up when selecting a "hit" in the bar editor, it would be real nice if that thing didn't jump so much. The controls are so far to the edge of its screen that any imprecise navigation causes it to collapse necessitating re-selecting the "hit".

We're trying to get eliminate popups in JS3. The top-right panel will display virtual kit, brain, options or cell editor depending on the users actions. So this should solve your problem.

2)A paste multiple in the song editor. If I have 8 parts in a song that I know are going to have different beats, it would make things a bit faster if I could copy and then paste once instead of 8x.

Let's see what we can do.

Also, are you going to make it so where we can build our own drummers by adding in the different modules as we want?

JS3 will let you mix brain elements from drummers similar to what JS2 already offers for styles. We're also planning to let you save those creations as custom drummers.

[Loka_senna]

One suggestion, depending on how far you've gotten in renovating the song structure options:

Let me set up a master Verse, Bridge, and Chorus part, and then arrange child-copies of those rather than just copy/pasting. So, for instance, I edit the beat for my master Verse, all of my verses reflect that. Or I could go edit a specific bar and lock it, and only that verse would have that edit.

[Dali_S]

Hello,
A small error or incomprehension. I'm talking about update JS3.
I already have JS2 and I am zen

I understood you bought JS2 in April 2009...

My message was: if JS1=> JS2 was 49$, then you *could* expect your upgrade to be in the same price range.

[Guitarfish]

Hmm - haven't called in for a while so this is exciting news for me! Time to dust off my wish-list!

So back in Jan 08...

In my dreamworld, the timeline would go right accross the bottom of the GUI so you could see further ahead, and would have 3 levels for parts, repetitions and bars, something like this:

<---------------Part 1--------------><------Part 2-------><-----Part3--etc
<-Rep 1 -><-Rep 2 -><-Rep 3-><-Rep 1-><-Rep 2><-Rep 1--etc
<b1><b2><b1><b2> etc

This would make it so much easier for me to build up a song structure in JS2 that matches the structure in my sequencer.

If screen 'real estate' is the limitation it could have a 'hide' toggle, something like the 'keyboard' in Kontakt.

Probably asking a lot, but 'nothing ventured'...

We will be able to expand the timeline display in Jamstix 3 when we go to multiple GUI sizes. Until then we are working on visual cues relating to core bar, rep and part for one of the next updates.

I know that you delivered on those enhanced visual cues to help us jam with JS2 and know where we are, but...

The overall instant visualisation of the song structure as a rolling timeline is one of the few areas where JS2 is less functional for me than JS1 (and well worth the trade-off for other benefits). With JS3 looming I still think there is some merit in a 3 tier timeline that reflects the basic architecture of the song structure - so what are my chances?

[Ralph @ Rayzoon]

I'm thinking about an option for an expanded timeline at the bottom of the brain panel, which is wider than the standard timeline. We'll see what we can do.

[ToneCarver]

I agree with Susan. There is no need for a large, realistic picture of a drum kit - a schematic will do. You'll find that you'll have more space on the GUI to incorporate features. Place the emphasis on the grid editor and the rhythm controls. Don't try to emulate "realistic" knobs and faders, etc; the emphasis should be on ease of use. Keep things clean and simple - like me.

+1. I'd also like to see an option to omit the parts of the kit that are not loaded so that the schematic or image shows only the playable instruments.

[manymanyhaha_]

The "Hit"editor, the one that pops up when selecting a "hit" in the bar editor, it would be real nice if that thing didn't jump so much. The controls are so far to the edge of its screen that any imprecise navigation causes it to collapse necessitating re-selecting the "hit".

We're trying to get eliminate popups in JS3. The top-right panel will display virtual kit, brain, options or cell editor depending on the users actions. So this should solve your problem.

2)A paste multiple in the song editor. If I have 8 parts in a song that I know are going to have different beats, it would make things a bit faster if I could copy and then paste once instead of 8x.

Let's see what we can do.

Also, are you going to make it so where we can build our own drummers by adding in the different modules as we want?

JS3 will let you mix brain elements from drummers similar to what JS2 already offers for styles. We're also planning to let you save those creations as custom drummers.

Awesome. It's occurred to me as I've gotten to know the program that "drummers" are actually really great presets and there are many times I've wanted to, for example, add "Heavy Cymbals" to a drummer, so being able to add brain elements would be a great feature.

Also, I have to +1 the previous poster's idea of being able to "Tie" a part to another part, such as "locking" the choruses together for editing purposes, though if this is implemented, to be able to "Tie" and "Untie" quickly would be nice, to be able to slightly alter choruses, for example (I personally think it sounds more realistic if parts don't exactly match). I've done my share of copying parts (and recopying, and recopying . . . ) to really like this idea.

Thanks for listening.

[Earache_]

Great news! I'm looking forward to supporting the next iteration of Jamstix. The style of the new GUI looks promising too. If I had one criticism of the current interface it would be the icons in the bar editor. I find it hard to tell at a glance exactly what each represents. Partially because of the size but there is also a lot of info packed into each.