I was thinking of getting Jamstix during the sale. but wondered about Jamcussion if one already has Toontrack & Addictive Drums percussion, Stormdrum 3, RMX and Groove Monkee world, and Logic loops? (although those things don't create rhythms).
I also love the idea of it re-doing current MIDI loops I may have.
If just using Jamstix, are there instances where it requires Jamcussion and XL, where you would wish you had them? Thanks.
Jamstix: Jamcussion & XL?
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- KVRAF
- 3329 posts since 7 Aug, 2008
Jamcussion is quite good, and I'd say it's worth buying. Good variety and tweaking. I'd prefer to just set up a style and adjust the parameters to get what I need rather than deal with trying to use premade midi or figure out good rhythms on my own. So, Jamcussion is great for this.
The XL version just adds extra kits. The kits are pretty good, but honestly, you could probably just MIDI out Jamstix to your favorite drum vsti using one of the inbuilt mappings.
The XL version just adds extra kits. The kits are pretty good, but honestly, you could probably just MIDI out Jamstix to your favorite drum vsti using one of the inbuilt mappings.
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 705 posts since 23 Jun, 2004
Same here.
OK, so XL doesn't add any extra AI, where you would need those kits in order to get those kind of beats (electronic, etc.)? I was also considering the AI, Sophistica and maybe Euclid add-ons? Any thoughts having used them?
Thank you!
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- KVRAF
- 3329 posts since 7 Aug, 2008
The AI pack is definitely worth it. I don't have the Sophistica or Eculid add-ons, but I'm contemplating buying them this year.
In Jamstix, you can independently select the kit, the drummer you want, and the style with no limitations. In other words, the drummers are NOT linked to particular kits.
In Jamstix, you can independently select the kit, the drummer you want, and the style with no limitations. In other words, the drummers are NOT linked to particular kits.
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- KVRist
- 138 posts since 1 Sep, 2006
I LOVE Jamstix and use it a lot. I do own the XL Pack -- I like some of the Jamstix sounds and use them -- sometimes I replace or supplement the kick with Addictive Drums or some other sample. But the core value that Jamstix brings to the table is the drummer "brain." Sometimes it comes up with a very cool rhythm or fill that I love so much, I will re-work some of my other song parts to fit. I think this is probably the most unique and useful plugin that I have ever used. I started using it when it was Jamstix 2, and as long as the dev keeps upgrading, I'll keep buying.
But I am also on the fence about Jamcussion. What worries me is that the newest post on the Jamcussion forum is from a year ago and the latest Jamcussion product update is 10 years ago. (granted, there are Jamcussion updates included in Jamstix updates, but these mostly appear to be bug fixes).
Personally, I think the best value there is to be had for percussion is DrumJam for iOS. It's primarily a loop player, but with an easy way to "play" rhythms over the loops. It's $8, and expansion packs are super cheap. I also recently purchased Shimmer Shake Strike from In Session Audio which is a cool and easy way to add hand percussion. But neither of these products have the Jamstix brain.
Probably I'll hold off and wait for the next sale to see if the product gets any attention. I did buy the AIPack and Metal Pack on the current sale, both of which are factoring into my latest project.
But I am also on the fence about Jamcussion. What worries me is that the newest post on the Jamcussion forum is from a year ago and the latest Jamcussion product update is 10 years ago. (granted, there are Jamcussion updates included in Jamstix updates, but these mostly appear to be bug fixes).
Personally, I think the best value there is to be had for percussion is DrumJam for iOS. It's primarily a loop player, but with an easy way to "play" rhythms over the loops. It's $8, and expansion packs are super cheap. I also recently purchased Shimmer Shake Strike from In Session Audio which is a cool and easy way to add hand percussion. But neither of these products have the Jamstix brain.
Probably I'll hold off and wait for the next sale to see if the product gets any attention. I did buy the AIPack and Metal Pack on the current sale, both of which are factoring into my latest project.
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- KVRAF
- 1972 posts since 14 Mar, 2006
Jamcussion is one of the best features of Jamstix, definitely get it. Its not just the sounds, its the ability for it to generate patterns for you with player nuances. Invaluable if you need percussion tracks beyond a simple drum kit.
I eventually ended up getting all Jamstix sounds. They are decent. They are perhaps not as immediately awesome as what you hear with various AD2 expansions, but if you process the drums in your DAW with some compression and so forth, they come alive and sound just as fantastic. Jamstix drum sounds out of the box are a bit in need of FX processing
I eventually ended up getting all Jamstix sounds. They are decent. They are perhaps not as immediately awesome as what you hear with various AD2 expansions, but if you process the drums in your DAW with some compression and so forth, they come alive and sound just as fantastic. Jamstix drum sounds out of the box are a bit in need of FX processing
MacPro 5,1 12core x 3.46ghz-96gb MacOS 12.2 (opencore), X32+AES16e-50
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- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 705 posts since 23 Jun, 2004
Thanks guys. One more question. I've noticed even when using the MIDI from one drum plugin to another, things don't totally translate well, and in reading some comments it seems that JS doesn't always either. So, is that a reason to have more of the kits like XL acoustic kits, Bonzo (Bonzo sounded pretty good)?
I also noticed that the kits have been around a long time, so do they still sound modern enough?
I also noticed that the kits have been around a long time, so do they still sound modern enough?
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- KVRAF
- 3329 posts since 7 Aug, 2008
Jamstix has MIDI out mapping presets for Addictive Drums, EZdrummer, etc, plus you can adjust these mappings by hand if you wish to change what drums are triggered.macmuse wrote: ↑Tue Dec 11, 2018 1:04 pm Thanks guys. One more question. I've noticed even when using the MIDI from one drum plugin to another, things don't totally translate well, and in reading some comments it seems that JS doesn't always either. So, is that a reason to have more of the kits like XL acoustic kits, Bonzo (Bonzo sounded pretty good)?
I also noticed that the kits have been around a long time, so do they still sound modern enough?
That being said, some nonessential nuances are lost in translation so you might like to have some of the extra Jamstix kits on board.
As noted above, lots of the presets are quite dry so you might have to do more work to get a "production ready" sound that you hear in the other drum vsti's.
There's probably not an obvious answer to your question. I prefer the ease of using external vsti's for the drums, but your preference may be for using the Jamstix sounds.
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- KVRAF
- 1972 posts since 14 Mar, 2006
The mapping to third party drum plugins is quite good, I wouldn't get too worried about that. A product like SD3 might have extra articulations that may or may not be 100% supported by Jamstix, I'm really not sure about that, but Jamstix can remap all the hits across products very easily, you can setup velocity curves, and its smart enough to use some extra controllers for opening Hi hat and stuff like that which is typical among many products. Generally it works great with other drum plugins.
The sounds included with Jamstix are unique in their own way. I used to be underwhelmed by them a bit, but I have found that with a little processing they come alive. they are basically just very unprocessed and raw, but sometimes that is what you want. Yesterday I installed the JS4 beta on my mac that just came available. The factory drum kits sound totally different on JS4 then compared to JS3, same exact samples. I asked Ralph about it and basically he modified the Jamstix mixer settings on the kits for JS4 to be a bit more processed sounding. They generally have EQ changes and a bit more compression on them, the end result being that they sound more like what you'd expect in a finished production most likely. That being said, I feel that the original JS3 mix of those kits had a very realistic sound, like what you'd expect to hear if you were at band practice and your drummer was 10 feet away from you in the same room. He told me how to import those old drum kit settings from JS3 into JS4, so that now I have both options... and it made me realize that the mixer in Jamstix is capable of quite a bit of sound sculpting to the raw drum samples. The JS3 "sculpting" was less processed, more intimate, sounded more clear. I have always loved the hi hats in Jamstix kits for example, they just sound clear and detailed. But snares and stuff need more processing most of the time. The Jamstix mixer only really provides EQ, Compression and Delay, which is not always enough, a transient designer in there, some saturation and other things would be very nice additions, but not there yet. But you can always mix the drums in your DAW if you want.
Anyway, The JS4 kits sound much more modern and probably sellable then the same kits in the JS3 version because of the mixer settings he chose for JS3 vs JS4, but there is still a ton of potential to just use the sounds in Jamstix...and if you get some of the extra kits, then you have that many more snares and what not to choose from. Especially right now with the sale, they are VERY INEXPENSIVE expansions compared to other products. And they are capable of quite a lot.
But if you really just want to use SSD5 with it, that will work too! If you're just going to use SSD5, then maybe instead of buying Jamstix kits, buy the other expansions that add styles and players rather then samples.
Jamcussion has both styles, players and sounds. And its really all the little extra african and latin, etc..sounds...and various styles of stuff... To me that is the most essential add on because it adds a whole new dimension of percussion track generation. Generating percussion tracks that are unique and have nuance and variation and dynamic playing with accents in all the cool places...and able to tweak style and player parameters to get different stuff.....all in midi so you can use it on any sound source..that is indispensable if you need that sort of thing and there is nothing else on the market that can do that that I am aware of.
The sounds included with Jamstix are unique in their own way. I used to be underwhelmed by them a bit, but I have found that with a little processing they come alive. they are basically just very unprocessed and raw, but sometimes that is what you want. Yesterday I installed the JS4 beta on my mac that just came available. The factory drum kits sound totally different on JS4 then compared to JS3, same exact samples. I asked Ralph about it and basically he modified the Jamstix mixer settings on the kits for JS4 to be a bit more processed sounding. They generally have EQ changes and a bit more compression on them, the end result being that they sound more like what you'd expect in a finished production most likely. That being said, I feel that the original JS3 mix of those kits had a very realistic sound, like what you'd expect to hear if you were at band practice and your drummer was 10 feet away from you in the same room. He told me how to import those old drum kit settings from JS3 into JS4, so that now I have both options... and it made me realize that the mixer in Jamstix is capable of quite a bit of sound sculpting to the raw drum samples. The JS3 "sculpting" was less processed, more intimate, sounded more clear. I have always loved the hi hats in Jamstix kits for example, they just sound clear and detailed. But snares and stuff need more processing most of the time. The Jamstix mixer only really provides EQ, Compression and Delay, which is not always enough, a transient designer in there, some saturation and other things would be very nice additions, but not there yet. But you can always mix the drums in your DAW if you want.
Anyway, The JS4 kits sound much more modern and probably sellable then the same kits in the JS3 version because of the mixer settings he chose for JS3 vs JS4, but there is still a ton of potential to just use the sounds in Jamstix...and if you get some of the extra kits, then you have that many more snares and what not to choose from. Especially right now with the sale, they are VERY INEXPENSIVE expansions compared to other products. And they are capable of quite a lot.
But if you really just want to use SSD5 with it, that will work too! If you're just going to use SSD5, then maybe instead of buying Jamstix kits, buy the other expansions that add styles and players rather then samples.
Jamcussion has both styles, players and sounds. And its really all the little extra african and latin, etc..sounds...and various styles of stuff... To me that is the most essential add on because it adds a whole new dimension of percussion track generation. Generating percussion tracks that are unique and have nuance and variation and dynamic playing with accents in all the cool places...and able to tweak style and player parameters to get different stuff.....all in midi so you can use it on any sound source..that is indispensable if you need that sort of thing and there is nothing else on the market that can do that that I am aware of.
MacPro 5,1 12core x 3.46ghz-96gb MacOS 12.2 (opencore), X32+AES16e-50
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- KVRian
- 843 posts since 27 Nov, 2003 from UK, Polegate
Have the percussion but haven't played around with it yet...On a side note I have played around with the XL pack and there's a nice Hot Rod Kit and Brush kit on there with lots of velocity variations, glad I got that while the sale is on
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- KVRian
- 1185 posts since 11 Sep, 2015
got jamstix studio last year, completed my kit this week with the mini-pak bundle, well worth it.
incredible software, I wish I had known about it earlier, can't imagine my studio without it now.
incredible software, I wish I had known about it earlier, can't imagine my studio without it now.
