I was just sick of hearing the Jamstix drums in my demo, and needed to learn how to do this kind of thing anyway, so I put together a dirty (can’t say quick and dirty, cause there were a lot of false steps) drum key connecting the Jamstix drum kit and the GA4 SE drum kit mentioned in the title.
It’s not a perfect match, there are a lot more articulations in Jamstix kit than in this GA4 SE kit (for example there are 5 snare articulations, and I mean above and beyond velocity changes, these are “Center”, “Offset”, “Sidestick”, “Bounce”, and “Rimshot”. GA4 SE has … Snare and Rimshot).
So what I did for example in each Tom, where Jamstix has “Center” and “Offset”, I assigned both to the same MIDI key to GA4 SE “Tom”. Also no sticks, etc. in the GA4 SE kit, just have to live without those in this key.
Even with the loss of a lot of resolution like that, it sounds a whole lot better for demo listening in the car, etc. Hope this helps someone else down the road!
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DRUMS: 2015-07-13 a JS Standard Rock to GASE4 Maple Kit
PERC: NOT LOADED
Kick #36 C1 Kick - 22’’ JS3
Hihat Foot Splash #32 G#0 HiHat Foot Splash - 14’’ JS3
Ride #51 D#2 Ride - 20’’ JS3
Ride Bell #53 F2 Ride Bell - 20’’ JS3
Crash 1 #49 C#2 Crash - 16’’ JS3
Crash 2 #57 A2 Crash - 17’’ JS3
Splash 1 #55 G2 Splash - 10’’ JS3
Snare Side #37 C#1 Snare Sidestick - 14’’ JS3 Medium
China 1 #52 E2 China - 16’’ JS3
Snare Bounce #38 D1 Snare Bounce - 14’’ JS3 Medium
Jam B. Hi #79 G4 Jam Block Hi - JS3
Jam B. Lo #81 A4 Jam Block Lo - JS3
Chimes #80 G#4 Chimes - JS3
Cowbell #84 C5 Cowbell - JS3
Tambourine #83 B4 Tambourine - JS3
Drumsticks #82 Bb4 Drumsticks - JS3
Snare Center #40 E1 Snare - 14’’ JS3 Medium
Snare Offset #34 Bb0 Snare Offset - 14’’ JS3 Medium
Snare Rimshot #37 C#1 Snare Rimshot - 14’’ JS3 Medium
Tom 1 Center #48 C2 Tom - 8’’ JS3
Tom 1 Offset #48 C2 Tom Offset - 8’’ JS3
Tom 2 Center #45 A1 Tom - 10’’ JS3
Tom 2 Offset #47 B1 Tom Offset - 10’’ JS3
Tom 3 Center #45 A1 Tom - 12’’ JS3
Tom 3 Offset #45 A1 Tom Offset - 12’’ JS3
Tom 4 Center #43 G1 Tom - 14’’ JS3
Tom 4 Offset #43 G1 Tom Offset - 14’’ JS3
Tom 5 Center #41 F1 Tom - 16’’ JS3
Tom 5 Offset #41 F1 Tom Offset - 16’’ JS3
Snare Brush Muted #33 A0
Hihat Closed #42 F#1 HiHat Closed - 14’’ JS3
Hihat 25% #42 F#1 HiHat 25pct - 14’’ JS3
Hihat 50% #42 F#1 HiHat Half Open - 14’’ JS3
Hihat 75% #46 Bb1 HiHat 75pct - 14’’ JS3
Hihat Open #46 Bb1 HiHat Open - 14’’ JS3
Cymbal Choke #1 C#-2
Egg Shaker #75 D#4 Egg Shaker - JS3
Shaker #76 E4 Shaker - JS3
Snare Brushing #31 G0
Hihat Foot Close #44 G#1 HiHat Foot - 14’’ JS3
Hihat Shank 0% #42 F#1 HiHat Closed Shank - 14’’ JS3
Hihat Shank 50% #42 F#1 HiHat Half Open Shank - 14’’ JS3
Hihat Shank Open #46 Bb1 HiHat Open Shank - 14’’ JS3
Well sir, I was hoping that would be you if you were to load up the GASE4 Maple key in Jamstix and compare!
It’s looking hopeful for me to be able to build a more complete kit in GASE4 by dragging samples in from other kits. If I can, then there will be a hard decision to make, re: buying EZDrummer 2 or something of similar ilk. I don’t really need any of the “build-a-song” features in those VSTi’s, as I already have Jamstix. I really just need them for the sound of their samples. So I’m wondering:
How do the GASE4 drums sound compared to Battery, EZ Drummer 2, etc.? I guess I’ll have to download a trial if no one else knows, not my favorite thing to do!
Even if the other VSTi’s have samples that sound better than GASE4 … How in the world am I going to find a VSTi that has 7 samples for each snare like Jamstix does - Center, Offset, Sidestick, Bounce(which seems to be it’s own “native” sample in Jamstix, rather than multiple hits of a single sample? … can anyone confirm?), Rimshot, Brush, Mute Brush. Similarly, Jamstix has two for every Tom (Center, Offset), whereas GASE4 has only one.
– is it a fool’s errand to look for a VSTi that has 7 separate samples for each snare (not velocities, but distinctly different sounding samples)?
I just got a new laptop (new job), but it only has 1 USB port. As a result, I ordered a 7 port USB hub. As soon as it arrives, I will install Cubase, etc. and will give the two a listen.
As far as the number of samples per drum go, at least one of the Battery kits far exceed this. The brushes kit has something like 20 samples for the snare alone, and I’m not including the stir-fry. The tight kit has a number of different samples too, but I don’t remember off-hand how many.
Oh, wow, I had no idea. I’ve spent a lot of energy looking into EZDrummer 2, I guess I will have to try to find out how many samples it has per instrument, if it’s very low, it would not be very attractive to me (yes, Jamstix has became the floor of what I currently think is acceptable, 7 samples per snare, two per tom, at least, OMG have I somehow become a drum sample snob? ).
FWIW, as near as I can tell, GASE4 has only 1 sample per drum (there are multiple volume samples per drum, but of course we’re talking about actual different sounds per drum, as in Jamstix). So in that regard it is disappointing, but at least for a short while I’m OK with it, much better sounding than raw Jamstix sounds, until I figure out where I want to land. Man, it is a hard process learning something new (drums, in this case), and then working with new software to make it work!
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