Jamstix 3 RC1 - Now Available

[studio64]

You can download the JS3 beta from your usual download page.
It is in the JS2 section

Send your findings to "support@rayzoon.com"

regards

[Guitarfish]

Finally got to play! 8) Lots of good stuff, and not much time to comment, so a few constructive usability observations (I've already pre-ordered, so definately no show-stoppers!)

[b:b4112680a9]Songbuilder:[/b:b4112680a9] like the idea. Would prefer to define Vs and Ch length as 4 x 4 (rather than 16 bars) and to input a common time sig across all parts (my test case was a 3/4 piece, which I then had to edit in all parts).

[b:b4112680a9]Output Routing:[/b:b4112680a9] icon still not intuitive - you have to know what to look for before you'd find it.

[b:b4112680a9]Compose:[/b:b4112680a9] still find the way of selecting between bar / part is high-risk. If you forget to change it first you can blow away a mostly good part. Seperate controls for recomp-part and recomp-bar still uses 2 controls but fewer clicks and is more idiot-proof. Could use the current Bar / Auto style, so may actuallly take up less real-estate.

[b:b4112680a9]Song-sheet:[/b:b4112680a9] Would really like to be able to see the 'start-bar' in the list view. It would make it easier to build up the JS arrangement to match the markers that I have in Cubase. I know I can 'step-thru' to see the start-bar on the time, but that seems more clicky than it needs to be...
Would also like (option?) to see time sig in this view. Either / both of these would be more use to me than the TRG column. If screen real-estate is a constraint, could this become a user-selectable column?

[b:b4112680a9]Part details:[/b:b4112680a9] These are spread across 2 different pop-ups for part name and the other attributes (length / reps / time sig), with different look / feel. My ideal would be: One pop up for all attributes along the 'timing' look / feel. This includes those that are currently directly editable in the list view (i.e. RF & TF) and start-bar (which would be read-only). I would like to be able to step thru the list and have the pop-up automatically update without having to cancel out and re-open. I'd be happy if any edits were automatically applied by stepping on to another item in the list, removing the need for the save button (more uneccessary clicks). Alternatively, you could keep the save button and have a warning if the user steps off without saving when updates have been made to the data.
Enabling in place editing of Name / BARS / REPS (arrowing up /down accross) would also be pretty funky from a usability perpective.


I know I'm pretty late to the party with this feedback but I think tweaks like this could help usability significantly. This would overcome barriers to adoption, so allowing RZ to shift more units, make more profit, employ more help, have more free time and still keep devloping this fabulous product and feeding his insatiable user community!

Next week: how to stop war and solve world hunger with Jamstix27

[JoPiano]

Another major problem: JS 3 (Beta eight) does not play any fills in jam mode. Audio interrupts, while the brain composes notes, what you can see in the matrix.

Best,

Johannes

[Ralph @ Rayzoon]

aydy: i'll see about adding a middle 8 option that used half-time feel.

bakiki: song builder will be expanded to allow for preset selection. So in your case you'd build your groove, then use 'Turn Groove Into Style' and then save the brain as a style preset. You can then use that style preset in the wizard.


all other suggestions/reports will be considered.

[NathanB_30]

Ralph,

I wanted to run this by you and see if I was missing something. In JS2 if I programmed my own grooves, when I switched my drummer from silent to a drummer, it still retained most of the basic feel of the groove. In JS3 I have been noticing that when I do this, I start losing hits, specifically kick and snare hits which anchor most of the groove. It doesn't matter which drummer I use, it happens and dramatically alters the beat. Also If I create a 4 bar beat, sometimes the "non core" bars don't completely populate with the part. Is there something I am not doing correctly?

Thanks

[Ralph @ Rayzoon]

Ralph,

I wanted to run this by you and see if I was missing something. In JS2 if I programmed my own grooves, when I switched my drummer from silent to a drummer, it still retained most of the basic feel of the groove. In JS3 I have been noticing that when I do this, I start losing hits, specifically kick and snare hits which anchor most of the groove. It doesn't matter which drummer I use, it happens and dramatically alters the beat. Also If I create a 4 bar beat, sometimes the "non core" bars don't completely populate with the part. Is there something I am not doing correctly?

Thanks

Can you send me a screenshot of what your hand-programmed groove looks like and then a JS3 song file with the "messed-up" groove after drummer selection?

[LKWRM_LKWRM]

Minor thing but I would like it if there was an easier way to determine what Style Elements belongs to Style and what belongs to Drummer in the Brain control. Now it's only rectangular or rounded headers. It feels like a too small difference on my 1920x1200 display. Maybe color coding would be more appropriate?

Thanks for a superb and inspirational tool. I'm a very new user (<1 week) of Jamstix and luuuuve it

[NathanB_30]

Ralph. I am stupid . I looked at it at home last night. One of the drummers had the skipped kicks up in the grooves section, the other ones had some sort of kick drum function in the accent page. And I figured out the other problem I had too. I guess the defaults for the drummers have changed when they load up. No big deal. So aside from that I am done with the testing, I will be doing my pre-order tonight.

One question. My wife initially purchased JS2 for me as a gift, the registration is in her name, but my credit card is obviously in my name. Is that ok? Can I change the registration over to my name?

[Ralph @ Rayzoon]

One question. My wife initially purchased JS2 for me as a gift, the registration is in her name, but my credit card is obviously in my name. Is that ok? Can I change the registration over to my name?

No problem.

[BitFlipper]

[b:a107eed50b]Part details:[/b:a107eed50b] These are spread across 2 different pop-ups for part name and the other attributes (length / reps / time sig), with different look / feel. My ideal would be: One pop up for all attributes along the 'timing' look / feel. This includes those that are currently directly editable in the list view (i.e. RF & TF) and start-bar (which would be read-only). I would like to be able to step thru the list and have the pop-up automatically update without having to cancel out and re-open. I'd be happy if any edits were automatically applied by stepping on to another item in the list, removing the need for the save button (more uneccessary clicks). Alternatively, you could keep the save button and have a warning if the user steps off without saving when updates have been made to the data.
Enabling in place editing of Name / BARS / REPS (arrowing up /down accross) would also be pretty funky from a usability perpective.

A lot of what you say can be resolved with a proper Undo/Redo feature, but unfortunately we are not going to get that in JS3. A proper Undo/Redo would be much more user friendly in that we won't be scared to touch anything in case our whole song gets modified with no way to go back since we don't usually do the Save operation every time we touch something.

A product like JS screams for a proper Undo/Redo feature with all of its endless and destructive tweakability. The lack of this feature is why I just don't experiment as much as I otherwise would have.

I do realize that JS can't intercept the Ctrl-Z and Ctrl-Y keypresses, but it could have dedicated Undo and Redo buttons. [b:a107eed50b]Much[/b:a107eed50b] better than the Save button.

Edit: As an added bonus, a proper Undo/Redo feature would allow simple A/B comparisons between different settings, without the fear of destructively modifying your song.