Jamahook Review – AI Sample Selection Done Right

Music producers have access to millions of samples, but finding the right one can be more like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Long have we wished for a sound matching vst that, would listen to your track and just give you a sample to use in your music. Lo and behold, Jamahook is just that: a great tool for music production, to get your ideas flowing. Here's what we thought of it!

What Is Jamahook?

Jamahook is a sound matching vst plugin that listens to your daw project, and then finds the perfect loops and samples for your tracks, no matter the genre or style. By analyzing your DAW project, Jamahook returns a selection of loops that are relevant, in-context, and musically meaningful.

It analyzes your material, using a powerful sample matching algorithm, and finds loops that work best with your music. It also uses artificial intelligence developed in partnership with the, Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology. Together, they have developed the Sound Match Algorithm that specialises in processing loops and samples.

It detects attributes such as harmony, key, emotion, mood, dynamic, distortion, percussive qualities, etc. Jamahook then suggests new loops that work in context, based on mood, rhythm, key signature, genre and other factors. We've been using services like Splice and Loopcloud for ages, but we've always wished there would be an easier way to find the perfect sample.

Just like Loopcloud or Splice, you subscribe to Jamahook, which provides you with a set number of credits to use each month.

You can choose from three options:

• Bedroom (€3.99)
• Studio (€9.99)
• Professional (€19.99)

A discount of 50% is available on the Studio tier when paying annually. And, Jamahook is available in VST, AU and AAX formats for both Windows and OSX

How does it work?

Jamahook analyzes your material using AI Sound Matching technology, and helps propel your music making forward, using artificial intelligence

It analyzes the audio signal being sent to it in terms of its key, density, distortion, rhythm and so forth. It'll then suggest new samples that it thinks will fit into the mix.

Jamahook means you don’t have to search for a needle in the proverbial haystack every time you need a new track element.

When making suggestions in your daw project, Jamahook considers tempo, harmony, mood, rhythm, key signature, genre and more. It then presents you with a selection of loops – which can be auditioned and then dragged directly into your daw project.

After you’ve searched for a match in Jamahook, you can narrow down your search using the built in filters.

Jamahook has three filter categories:

• Instrument
• Mood
• Genre

You can select any combination of these filters meaning you can get really specific with your search, helping you to find the perfect sound for your track.

For music making of any kind, a plugin that listens to your daw project and suggests new samples, is a magical tool for ideas

How To Use Jamahook

Here's how you can use Jamahook in your very own productions.

1. Load the Jamahook plugin on your DAW’s master channel.

It’s possible to load it on a bus or group to get it to ‘hear’ fewer tracks. Jamahook is an effect plugin, if your DAW categorizes instruments and FX separately.

2. Click the Match button and then play your track.

After 4 bars (8 can be set in the Settings), Jamahook will start looking for samples in the library that match your track.

3. Audition the samples that Jamahook suggests.

Just press the play button on any sample and it will play in time with your track. You can flip between samples and find a sound you like.

4. Drag the sample into your DAW.

You can instantly drag any loop from the JamahookSoundAssistant VST into your DAW. Alternatively you can use the buy function to download the sample straight onto your hard drive.

Modes

Below you'll find all the modes inside Jamahook and what purpose they serve.

Harmony

The Harmony matching mode will listen to your input audio, and match any melodic or percussive elements that fit your tracks harmony. It's the most straightforward matching mode of the three that Jamahook offers. And, you can match from a single channel, or a master buss.

Rhythm

The rhythm mode works by matching your groove and drums, and then suggesting new samples based on the rhythm, key signature or genre.

Put Jamahook onto a drum buss, and you’ll come up with results that groove perfectly with your beat.

While matching by rhythm, is a good opportunity to filter the results, you might not want to demo loads of bass sounds to go with your particular kick, for example.

Filter by Instrument and even Mood, then hit ‘Apply Filter' to see what you get.

Drums

This mode means Jamahook will give you only Drum/Perc options to choose from. Play it some music without a beat in the background, and you’ll have some instant suggestions for drums, that will match your existing material.

Boom! Instant AI sound matching, what could be better than that?

The Drum mode ended up being our most used feature when playing around with the plugin.

Letting fate decide what new weird layers to add to your song, can be a great tool for getting new, intriguing sounds down, fast.

The Samples

With such a concept, Jamahook must have a wide selection of sounds to pick and choose from, to be considered effective.

Jamahook has partnered with Loopmasters to bring a large part of the their library into the Jamahook ecosystem. It’s not the full Loopmasters library, but they are constantly working on adding more samples.

In the future they're also planning to bring in more sample providers, as well as provide opportunities for individuals to sell their own samples through Jamahook.

The filter function helps in finding the perfect samples for your music. Get more specific by filtering for Genre, Instrument and Mood.

Tags like ‘Aggressive', ‘Funk', ‘Bass'; or ‘Relaxing', ‘Jazz', ‘Piano' help you zero in on exactly the sounds you're looking for.

Pros

• It’s fast, it’s clever, and the cutting edge algorithm can get you some insanely good matches.
• Suggests new samples based on tempo, harmony, mood, rhythm
• Refine your search based on genre instrument and mood.
• Jamahook analyzes your music and helps you to finish tracks quickly when your inspiration is running dry
• There’s no fussing with search terms
• Three modes for matching
• Free to download
• Jamahook is available in VST, AU and AAX formats for both Windows and OSX
• Three subscription options: Bedroom (€3.99), Studio (€9.99) and Professional (€19.99).
• A discount of 50% is available on the Studio tier when paying annually.

Cons

• Some matches aren't precise
• Doesn't have as large of a sample library as Loopmasters or Splice

How Good Is It At Suggesting Sounds?

In our testing, Jamahook hit both sides of the matching spectrum. Every new match presents quite a few samples to choose from, and using the filters, makes it possible to narrow it down even more.

However, at least half of the samples that it usually provided, were misses. Wrong key, weird rhythms – just not a good match at all.

The other half however, were scarily good.

Some of the matches that Jamahook offers are staggeringly accurate and appropriate. The matching algorithm is so cutting edge, that during initial testing, we started with a single melodic loop, and let Jamahook create a song for us.

After 15 minutes of looking through samples, and feeding different audio to the plugin, we ended up with great sounds.

For each section, we've layered a few sounds together. Every single sample (other than the starting melody) comes straight from Jamahook, with no mixing.

Below you'll find our results.

Examples

Features

• One Click AI Sound Matching
• Tempo, Harmony, Mood, Rhythm filtering options
• Choose from three modes for matching.
• Available For both Windows and OSX
• Available in VST, AU formats
• Free to download

Verdict

A great music production tool that listens to your daw to help you come up with new and exciting ideas.

Jamahook is a blessing to help some music producers to climb out of a writer's block. With it being so reasonably priced, it could be a really engaging utility for some producers.

Jamahook listens to your project and suggests new and exciting samples to add to your daw project. It also matches your groove and drums, as well as melody and harmony. Then, it'll suggest new samples based on that, which are scarily accurate.

Paired with artificial intelligence developed in partnership with Fraunhofer IDMT (the creators of the mp3), Jamahook is a great tool to pick up and give a spin.