My verdict on Jamstix vs EZ Drummer 3

[dev_spot]

Just want to drop in and provide some feedback on how I'm choosing Jamstix as the better tool.

I first heard about virtual drummers from a friend who uses Drummer in Logic Pro. Since I'm on Windows 11 now I started searching for alternatives and came across Jamstix and then EZ Drummer 3. From my intelligence gathering it would seem that both alternatives leave Drummer in the dust.

After investigating each alternative with whatever means available (manuals, videos, demos) I've come to the conclusion that Jamstix has EZ Drummer 3 beat by a good distance.

EZ Drummer 3 has the new Bandmate feature, which under the hood is still just a way to infer data that is then used as criteria to lookup rhythm patterns. After all, tons of premade patterns are still the basic essence of what EZ Drummer 3 offers. So Bandmate just makes use of an audio API to derive dynamic transients that are in turn used to perform a search and return pattern suggestions from a library of premade patterns.

Jamstix in contrast provides an editor to model the sections (parts) of a song. Each part then has its style and drummer rules used to generate rhythm patterns on-the-fly. This approach leads to a much better result that fits the music better while also letting the drums have their own voice, instead of having them completely shadow a guitar audio source for example.

The drag in a audio file/part and then generate (not just match up to existing patterns) a pattern of drums would still be a cool feature for Jamstix to have. As far as I can tell Jamstix does have a audio jamming feature but the data inferred from the audio is used to influence the drums being generated vs completely generating them.

These are my thoughts after some consideration on what product I want to use.

[Azimuth (Archive)]

Hi dev_spot,
Welcome to the forum, first off.

I've held the opinion since 2010 when I first started using Jamstix that there is nothing comparable on the market. That opinion has not changed in all of the time since.

I can create a usable drum track faster than with any other tool I have tried. The amount of variation that can be introduced into a compiled track, while still sounding like a track performed by a human, is untouchable.

One common complaint among some users is the sound of the drum samples themselves. To me this is not really even an issue as Jamstix provides the capability to drive any other drum VSTi whose samples you may prefer.

This is my opinion as a customer, completely disregarding being a mod on the forum. This was some of the best money I've ever spent on music software.

That's my 2 cents.

[steve b]

I have both,and I use Jamstix 4 in audio jam mode with me playing guitar but sending the midi out of jamstix to Ez drummer 3.Sounds great!

[emery_421]

I have both,and I use Jamstix 4 in audio jam mode with me playing guitar but sending the midi out of jamstix to Ez drummer 3.Sounds great!

What template did you use for EZD3?

[Grem_Songs]

I would have to agree with AZ, the variations from Jamstix 4 is untouchable. I do use (and like) EZD3, but when I am writing a song from scratch I usually go with Jamstix. I can get the feel I am looking for instead of searching patterns.

EZD3 has come along way in getting the feel. Unlike other EZD before, you can do much more with it now than you could before.

But for some reason, the "swing" feature in the Song Section of Jamstix allows me to quickly adjust certain parts of a song the way I need it to be, instead of having to follow a static drum pattern. This is where Jamstix outshines any other program by miles!!

[steve b]

Elton.The ez drummer 2 midi out in Jamstix is kit-look top right " load midi output mapping" I must get around to doing an ez drummer 3 midi out map soon!

[Amped_up]

Hate to be the party pooper but since getting Ezdrummer3 I don't use Jamstix anymore. I like to customize the drum parts and I find it much easier to do that in Ezdrummer.

[d_steinschneider]

Hate to be the party pooper but since getting Ezdrummer3 I don't use Jamstix anymore. I like to customize the drum parts and I find it much easier to do that in Ezdrummer.

Not affecting the party at all. It's good to get different opinions. I have both products and I get why someone could prefer one over the other for putting together drum tracks.

Here is my take on the two.

EZDrummer - If you want to quickly drag and drop song parts for a very good but static drum take, EZ Drummer has a good UI for that. If you know what you want for each verse, transition fill, chorus etc it has good search features to find those and makes it easy to drop them into the track. I agree that hand editing is very easy once you get to this point. I think many songwriters prefer this approach.

Jamstix - It takes slightly more time to layout the song parts and set the drummer/style for each. Editing the drum brain to restrain the fill playing was a learning curve for me but once I got past that I now get variety in the drumming. Sometimes I'll go through a song and really like how it played so I'll export that to Reaper and stick with that take. In other situations I'm practicing and really appreciate that the drumming isn't static.

[Amped_up]

I always seem to need to change the kick patterns around to get the groove I want and Jamstix is kind of painful for that. I wish Jamstix had the grid editor like Ezdrummer. I like the sound of Ezdrummer's kits better too. You get a lot more midi content with jamstix, Ez wants to sell you a million paks to get a decent library. I am disappointed in jamstix percussion software, it kind of always sounds the same and it's difficult to just get some congas. Ezdrummers percussion has been way more useful for me.

[Azimuth (Archive)]

I wish Jamstix had the grid editor like Ezdrummer.

The Jamstix Classic style is basically a grid editor but with only 1/16 resolution. You can achieve greater resolution with the +or - 24th, 32nd, 48th timing adjustments but that is quite time consuming. You can also add the Kick, Snare and Tom grids to any style.

However, if something else works better for you stick with it.