Jamstix in use: problems and suggestions
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 12:42 am
Hi Ralph. I believe this is the longest time without an update, are there any news going on?
Meanwhile I'm now definitely finalizing a project and I can't think working the drums without JS. But there are still some problems that arise during deeper usage, so I'm listing what I found in the last days. Some are old, some are new found by me.
1) One that’s ´bugging´ me a lot: sometimes elements manually inserted (Snare Mode, Kick Mode, Open Hat End, etc) can’t be removed or disabled. I built parts with almost every available element so I can use them when needed (I finally found the bst way for me to work, I must say), but sometimes I have to remove or at least disable some, and I lost control over their headers. Closing and reopening the project works, but it's boring to interrupt the work flow.
2) Many controls don’t show their value in info bar (i.e. Classic Controls Kick/Snare probability slider), or compete with the element information and end up not showing, and this feedback is very important. There could b some routine to block the element description while moving a control.
3) The amount in the ´Toms´ accent element does not control the amount of toms, but the amount of bars in which they appear. The behavior is different and inconsistent with other elements (and gives this element very little usability, IMHO).
4) When I add an element to ´Groove´ or ´Accent´, the fill settings are reset. I expected the fill settings not to be altered.
5) Fine tuning most controls is very erratic and mousewheel only works when it wants, I can’t find a reproducible pattern of when it works.
6) Lasso is still very hard to use precisely. It only shows when it wraps an existing cell, and even so, not always.
7) Right-click + Drag changes the velocity in Classic Controls Kick/Snare and the luminosity changes accordingly. But when you change the Display Contrast, cells reset their light.
8) When I change velocity of cells, as well as hihat openness, in the Bar Editor with mousewheel (when it works), info bar shows me what I’m setting in percent, but when I hover, it shows me in MIDI velocity value , which is preferable in my opinion. Anyway, I believe they should use the same reference, I’d like it to always show MIDI value, but in case someone else prefers in percent, this could be optional. But, please, make them use the same scale, it's been a source of a lot of confusion in my work.
9) As I have mentioned in another thread, the Kit tab is great visually, but crating a custom map takes so much longer than in Jamstix 2. Anyway, on thing that would help a lot would be to support mousewheel in both ´Articulation´ selector and ´Key´ selector. This would speed up the creation and modification a lot.
10) Renaming an element causes problems if I insert spaces or other symbols in the name. I want to rename one ´Kick´ control to ´Kick Odd´, for instance, but it destroys the interface and all the controls of the tab disappear or get messed. Only restarting the project solves this.
A few requests:
a) Fills and Jamcussion tutorials would be fantastic, I use Jamstix for some years already and I struggle to customize them both in an acceptable level.
b)´Freeze´ mode could work when using ´MIDI Out Only´ too.
c) Simple stripped down Custom and Drummer would be very nice.
d) In the same spirit, I would like to be able to add a set of elements (i.e. Open Hats, Open Hat End and Swung Hats) to any part without adding one by one. Because there are some sets of elements that combine with each other and could be grouped together. This way I could try them with many different styles. I know it's no a small request, but maybe there's a better way to add many elements quickly to a groove or accent, the current way is impractical.
Despite the long post, Jamstix and WIVI (which I just got and can't recommend enough) are to me the most revolutionary and original VSTi's of all times and brilliant pieces of genius invention.
Thanks!
Meanwhile I'm now definitely finalizing a project and I can't think working the drums without JS. But there are still some problems that arise during deeper usage, so I'm listing what I found in the last days. Some are old, some are new found by me.
1) One that’s ´bugging´ me a lot: sometimes elements manually inserted (Snare Mode, Kick Mode, Open Hat End, etc) can’t be removed or disabled. I built parts with almost every available element so I can use them when needed (I finally found the bst way for me to work, I must say), but sometimes I have to remove or at least disable some, and I lost control over their headers. Closing and reopening the project works, but it's boring to interrupt the work flow.
2) Many controls don’t show their value in info bar (i.e. Classic Controls Kick/Snare probability slider), or compete with the element information and end up not showing, and this feedback is very important. There could b some routine to block the element description while moving a control.
3) The amount in the ´Toms´ accent element does not control the amount of toms, but the amount of bars in which they appear. The behavior is different and inconsistent with other elements (and gives this element very little usability, IMHO).
4) When I add an element to ´Groove´ or ´Accent´, the fill settings are reset. I expected the fill settings not to be altered.
5) Fine tuning most controls is very erratic and mousewheel only works when it wants, I can’t find a reproducible pattern of when it works.
6) Lasso is still very hard to use precisely. It only shows when it wraps an existing cell, and even so, not always.
7) Right-click + Drag changes the velocity in Classic Controls Kick/Snare and the luminosity changes accordingly. But when you change the Display Contrast, cells reset their light.
8) When I change velocity of cells, as well as hihat openness, in the Bar Editor with mousewheel (when it works), info bar shows me what I’m setting in percent, but when I hover, it shows me in MIDI velocity value , which is preferable in my opinion. Anyway, I believe they should use the same reference, I’d like it to always show MIDI value, but in case someone else prefers in percent, this could be optional. But, please, make them use the same scale, it's been a source of a lot of confusion in my work.
9) As I have mentioned in another thread, the Kit tab is great visually, but crating a custom map takes so much longer than in Jamstix 2. Anyway, on thing that would help a lot would be to support mousewheel in both ´Articulation´ selector and ´Key´ selector. This would speed up the creation and modification a lot.
10) Renaming an element causes problems if I insert spaces or other symbols in the name. I want to rename one ´Kick´ control to ´Kick Odd´, for instance, but it destroys the interface and all the controls of the tab disappear or get messed. Only restarting the project solves this.
A few requests:
a) Fills and Jamcussion tutorials would be fantastic, I use Jamstix for some years already and I struggle to customize them both in an acceptable level.
b)´Freeze´ mode could work when using ´MIDI Out Only´ too.
c) Simple stripped down Custom and Drummer would be very nice.
d) In the same spirit, I would like to be able to add a set of elements (i.e. Open Hats, Open Hat End and Swung Hats) to any part without adding one by one. Because there are some sets of elements that combine with each other and could be grouped together. This way I could try them with many different styles. I know it's no a small request, but maybe there's a better way to add many elements quickly to a groove or accent, the current way is impractical.
Despite the long post, Jamstix and WIVI (which I just got and can't recommend enough) are to me the most revolutionary and original VSTi's of all times and brilliant pieces of genius invention.
Thanks!