I posted a question yesterday about using the manager in Linux on a Windows compatibility layer but have decided not to attempt that. My reasoning is first that I’m 69 years old and don’t have any desire to sit for hours trying to make sense of software instructional videos trying to do this on my Linux system. I bought this pedal for the simplicity and although I knew they sell drum packages I never stopped to consider the prices or details because I thought the included beats would be enough. Now I have gotten to a point after using it for over a year where I’d like some more variety to select from.
I went to the pages for purchasing beats and correct me if I’m wrong but it appears that the only way I can purchases beats loaded on a memory card is to buy one of the packages starting at $209. One or two of the $20 beat bundles would be more than enough for me but it appears that they won’t load those on a memory card but will only do that for those large $200+ packages. This is where I am starting to regret having bought the beat buddy. I purchased it for the simplicity thinking I would not have to do any programming and thought when the time came if I wanted more of a selection I could simply purchase more beats pre-loaded on a memory card and assumed they would be at a reasonable price. So my question is am I understanding this right, that my only option if I can’t afford to purchase the package that costs more than 2/3 the price of a brand new Beatbuddy is to either learn the programming and risk doing it on a Linux computer hoping I don’t corrupt my files or pay for one of the premium packages when I’d probably only ever use a couple dozen of the two thousand or so beats?
I’m beginning to think that this was not the best drum machine for a senior citizen on a fixed income to purchase. If I knew that I was going to have to learn programming or pay a hefty price for additional beats I would have kept my old drum machine and put the time into learning to program that. I have been playing guitar and bass since the mid 60’s and record songs using a Tascam DP24SD and do the final tweaking in Audacity and post them to an online music page. I have a fairly good grasp of music theory but have been lazy about drumming which I only know by the seat of my pants hence my desire to have something simple to work with. In a band setting I’d be the guy who turned to the drummer and tapped out a sample of the beat I wanted on the amp without having to explain things like time signatures, bars and measures which are like Greek to me.
So am I understanding this right that I can’t have a beat package put on a memory card for less than a starting price of $209? If my understanding is correct I’m extremely disappointed in the Beatbuddy as I can’t afford another $209+ which doesn’t make any sense because as a hobbyist musician I’d never scratch the surface of that many songs but would gladly pay a fee for loading on a card plus shipping. Am I correct in my understanding that they do not make that option available? I didn’t see any option to do that for the lower priced packages but I didn’t go put anything in the cart if that option was in there as I won’t make any purchases unless there is some way to test a beat or two on a Linux system first. I was considering learning the software but after five minutes I decided that I don’t want to deal with that.
If I am correct in my assumption my next question is might there be some way to contact a local Beatbuddy user in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area who I could pay to load a couple $20 packages onto an empty memory card? If none of these options will work then my favorite drum pedal has just become my least favorite paperweight.