Allow transitions to be triggered from external foot switch (single press)

BeatBuddy Feature Requests
21

I have had the beatbuddy since it came out. Started programming my own songs straight away and since then went through a few different ways of programming them. Initially with just loops and triggering one bar fills and using the pause button but through frustration with having to managing playing guitar, singing, working the beatbuddy and guitar pedal I came to the conclusion the less interaction with the beatbuddy during the song the better. Although I still like to have be able to improvise so I program each song a little differently but generally there will be a part for improv and a one press part in the song and it has taken the stress out of using the beatbuddy live.

A couple of examples with the songs you posted that I have refined.
In Never Tear Us Apart My finished version is a little different to the version I have posted in resources with less button pushing required and I will update resources when the new manager software comes out but can it can be found here in the meantime. I start the song with just a repeating loop which allows me to play the intro as long as I like. But when I hit the end of the first verse I always play the song the same til the last repeating chorus so I have a fill which plays the whole song there like one press and it includes any pauses etc. Then while it’s playing the last three chorus runs I can trigger the outro at anytime as sometimes I might only want to play two of the outro chorus instead of three.

In Purple Rain I find I play the song the same everytime from the start of the song till the end of the singing so this part is setup as a one press intro with all the fills and pauses programmed in then when that is finished it automatically goes into the solo loop which keeps playing until I am ready to end the song and trigger the outro.

In a song with more improvisation I have say Eric Claptons Cocaine. The beatbuddy starts of playing the main beat and I can start singing anytime and when I reach the end of a verse I can trigger the fill for the end of the verse. Then I have a transition into the loop playing over the solo and I can play that as long as I want. When I want to play the last verse I have a fill programmed that will play all the verse and fills with one press and then ends up back on the solo loop so there is more control over this song but still not much button pushing.

I know alot of people like to keep the ability to just have loops and trigger fills and use the pause button and I did that at the start but I came to the conclusion it’s alot easier to just program any of this stuff in large fills or one press parts.

Cheers.

22

Except that thing (fcb1010) is HUGE… There just isnt a reasonably sized i.e. 3-4 button user assignable midi footswitch available on the market. Until there is, the MIDI commands are a great feature set in search of usable hardware.

23

Yeah, its a shame the Line 6 FBV MK11 only has USB, as it is the perfect size…

24

This is all going to get ALOT easier. I have implemented an “autopilot” where you can program the song to go through main loops, fills, transitions, part to part to part to outro and end. You could even have a main loop section that loops forever until you move on, so you can solo at will.

What I’m working on now is exactly how to interact with it on the fly. How to skip on to the next part (easy), and how to continue the exisitng part (more difficult).

In addition to autopilot, some awesome new stuff is in this release from today: the ability to specify an instrument as non-percussion. That means that it will play with a note on, and stop with a note off. No more choking to stop notes. That means snappier basslines! Also, we identified and fixed the clipping static sound problem.

25

Honestly in my opinion the easiest way is to program full parts of the song than trying to use loops and the pause function. I always play certain parts of the song the same and don’t need the flexability of the beatbuddy in those parts. I started out trying to use basic loops but it gets old quick. I’ve got beats for Chasing Cars, Purple Rain and Never Tear us Apart in Resources.

Eg. In Never Tear us Apart I have a loop at the start of the song which allows me to play the intro as long as I like. As soon as I hit the change after “Never Tear us Apart” I trigger a fill which plays the rest of the song including stops as from this point I always play it the same. Purple Rain the Intro is programmed to play all the singing in the song including the stops and after the singing is finished automatically goes into a loop for the solo/outro. Chasing cars the first loop is for the soft first part of the song and Then I hold down transition and that gives me the pause part and when I let it go it starts playing the louder loop in the song.

I Find much easier that using the pause switch. Just need to be creative.
Which ever way you like to do things good luck.

Cheers

26

hi there similar question sort off …dont mean to but into this post …ive found a great groovemonkey beat for rockabilly etc ,but its a rim shot first then if i press i get the transition which is great …with snare please could you help me swap these if poss cheers and thanks in advance

27

I’ve been holding of answering this, because I think I can reply to your question, but I’m not sure that the result will be what you want. Anyhow, let’s give it a try. It would be nice to use the groovemonkee song for this, but I’ll use one of mine. Her is a typical song with main loops and transitions:

[ATTACH=full]10265[/ATTACH]

What you need to realize it that a BB song is made of mostly midi parts. They get called .bbt files in an BB song, but at their heart, they are midi. The exception is the accent hits, which are wav file.

So, since they are mid and are able to be triggered by the drum kit, sure, you can move parts around. Let’s say i wanted the Rock 1 A Fill to be the main loop, and the Rock 1 to be the transition. First, I would click on the + below the 1 on the left side of song. That would give me this:

[ATTACH=full]10266[/ATTACH]

Now, I can just click on Rock 1 A Fill and drag it to the Main Loop location in the second Row. Then, click on Rock 1 A and drag it to the Fill or Transition location.

[ATTACH=full]10267[/ATTACH]

Then, I would drag the other fill to the open location in Transition, and drag the crash down.

[ATTACH=full]10268[/ATTACH]

Finally, I would click the top X on the right side to get rid of the Empty row.

[ATTACH=full]10269[/ATTACH]

Then, Save the project.

That does what you asked for. Now, if what you wanted to do was just add a snare to the first loop, that would involve midi editing, and would need to be done through the Midi Editor, or a third party DAW.