ThumbJam Forum

Hi Thumbjam community!

First off, I want to say this is an amazing instrument! Super fun to play. I'm creating my first instrument, an analog synth sound. I sampled c1 sound from my Mac and transferred the file to thumbjam with iTunes file sharing. Unfortunately, the sound plays fine until I get to c5. Any notes played above c5 on thumbjam (with my c1 root note sample) only play the same pitch C5. Is this a hard limit for maximum transpose up?

I tried to use some additional samples (multi-samples) ie. - I sampled C2, C3, C4, C5, but I can't get the transitions between multisamples to sound good. I also can't see how to change key splits. Is it possible to assign the low and high notes for each multi-sample?

Appreciate any guidance. I will try to experiment and add more background.

Thanks!

Yes, there is a maximum pitch range for a single sample... which is usually fine because it starts to sound really bad at the extreme ranges anyway.

Right now when you add multisamples it automatically spreads the used range evenly between them (with the base note of the sample centered in a range)... there isn't a way to manually set the low/high for each note. Eventually I will expose this when I get around to re-working the instrument creation UI.

What particular issues are you having with transitions? Is it because you are using one of the glide modes in the patch? If so, you can adjust the legato start point to help with that. Multi-samples are the way to go, hopefully we can figure out why it isn't sounding good to you for your example.

Hi Jesse,

Thank you so much for the response! Now that I know how the key ranges are assigned I can just reverse engineer it. I will probably create the instrument on my computer in Logic EXS24 first (with multisamples every few notes) and make sure it sound great there before importing.

On another note, it sure would be cool to be able to add multiple columns of playing surfaces (ie. a x by y grid with lowest pitch bottom right and highest pitch top left) so you could have a more pitches on the screen without scrolling. I'm just learning to play and for accuracy of playing melodies it seems easier to use all of my fingers instead of just my thumb.

I'm sure you've considered this before, but i just thought I'd put my vote in. Thanks!

You can use splits for this! Find the splits button on the sidebar on the iPad ([ | ]) or in the auxiliary sidebar on iPhone (press the 2nd button down the sidebar with the 3 little icons on it). Then set the number of splits you want, then when you select each split on the play area you can assign independent ranges on each. Then save it as a preset, and there you go!

Well that is the fastest I've ever seen a developer implement a new feature request! ha ha Thank you Jesse!

So... I have been working on my sawtooth synth wave preset and I still can't get a good transition between multi-samples when I drag across the keyboard (thumb-board) in legato mode.

I used the same samples in Kontakt and was able to make it work and what I discovered is that in Kontakt when you drag your fingers down the keyboard in monophonic / portamento mode, new mutl-samples are not triggered until you pick your finger up. instead, the first note you hit is just transposed as you slide your finger. I believe that this is why I can get a smooth glide across a wide pitch range on Kontakt and not in Thumbjam in my multi-sampled preset.

Is there a workaround for this? Am I even correct in my assessment? I will try to figure out how to post an example of the sound and the problem.

Thanks again!

Yes, on the Edit->Sample page switch it to Glide mode, then you'll see a Sample Lock switch which does exactly what you are describing if you enable it. Use the time interval slider to make the glide quicker or slower to taste.