Hello All,
New to forum , and new owner of a BeatBuddy. Non professional musician , home recording , jam sessions kind of player. I have two questions and if these have been asked before I humbly beg your pardon.
My questions are :
Can I use an app such as OpenSong to control BeatBuddy so I don’t have to keep bending down to change settings?
Is there a three switch foot pedal I could use that would work similar to the official BeatBuddy pedal and the foot pedal on BeatBuddy? That way I could set the BeatBuddy on a tray on the music stand and change settings from there.
I have not setup a SD card with a set list or songs on it yet.
Thanks for the quick response, I did look at OnSong but thought the price was a bit steep. I don’t need all the features of that app and I am definitely not interested in a subscription based product. I just was looking for something to control the BeatBuddy, maybe I need some sort of Midi controller I can download on to my phone, but I have never used Midi before.
Thanks @rotylee. @bcuccaro I developed the app BBFF which will do what you want. It was developed as a full command centre for your BB pedal. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
Here is a Link to my comments relating to the BBFF app which was Posted under a different Topic. Once I got it sorted out after hearing back from the Developer, it was a game changing positive experience!
If anyone is interested in the BBFF app, I’m hoping that what I Posted will help them to decide if it will be useful to them an enhance their BeatBuddy usage.
PS I also use OnSong successfully but only in a limited way. I typed a the short line of computer code on the 1st line of each PDF in my OnSong song list. Some of these PDFs point to Songs in a Folder on my BB containing the most frequently used beats when I’m on a gig. Another portion of the OnSong List points to specific Songs which I had purchased from Singular Sounds’s Goran Rista.
By installing the BBFF app, I now have the best of both worlds. I can continue to use OnSong to go to Specific beats that I use most often and I can use the BBFF app when I want access to everything that’s in the Project Folder on my BeatBuddy.
Please note, I have not seen any evidence of OnSong or BBFF interfering with each other in any way! In fact they are both active at the same time on my iPad using Stage Manager along with other apps such as GoodReader, iGigBook, Jamzone and Flow.
Hello andrew13,
I will consider the purchase of the app it looks good and I think it is what I need, but I will also need to purchase more equipment if I understand it right. I would need a MIDI adapter and a Bluetooth or USB cord connector.
I control my BB with my iPhone and my iPad depending on where I’m using it.
I am going to have to get a 2nd beat buddy as one of my knobs is getting very loose and It will need to be replaced. My band gigs pretty often in the summer and a 2nd unit is probably a good idea for redundancy.
For either of those reasons, multiple control devices and multiple BBs will I need more than one copy of the app?
And there are Mac Os and iOS versions which I know nothing about.
Good luck.
I am very happy with my setup. I select a song from my list and the right beat and tempo are pre loaded automatically so I can focus on the audience instead of on the gear.
@Handoc Mike you won’t need more than one copy of the app (I don’t think you can on iOS) but you will only be able to use the app with one pedal configuration. If you have the same projects/songs/etc on both BeatBuddy’s then the app will work fine with both. The app understands the project structure of the pedal which is why both pedals will need to be configured the same.
You can use the same app purchase on both iPhone and iPad provided they share the same Apple ID for purchase. Again, both devices will need to be synced with the same project structure as your pedal(s).
If you want to use an app on a phone or tablet the one missing link in this discussion could be how to get from your app to a sent MIDI command. Because Beat Buddy does not have wireless MIDI there is going to be some MIDI cable involved. So you have to pick an option to get from an app to a piece of hardware that can physically connect to Beat Buddy’s MIDI dongle. Like others in this thread, I use Songbook by Linkesoft (Good app, reasonable price). It allows you to embed MIDI commands in the text of the song that gets sent to your MIDI device when you open the song.
I shopped around and decided on a Bluetooth MIDI device that works with my iPad. There are several on the market, but I picked one by Yamaha because it had good reviews and there was a demo available at Sweetwater. I decided on Bluetooth because I didn’t want to deal with a wire. I spent around $50. You can opt for lightning to MIDI cable if you don’t mind the wire.
Next I had to download an app that allows my iPad to recognize the Yamaha device. I picked an app called Midimitter. It was free and works well. When everything powers up you open Midimitter first, select devices, then your Bluetooth MIDI device. Once connected it can run in the background. I open Songbook and I’m ready to go.
Two other issues remain. I couldn’t get Beat Buddy to power the Yamaha Bluetooth MIDI device. For me that wasn’t a problem because I have several MIDI pedals, and others powered it just fine. Because I have four pedals that I wanted to use, I got on Amazon and bought a cheap MIDI thru box (around $35). It accepts the MIDI “in” from my Yamaha Bluetooth device and sends it out to all the others. Depending on what device gets used you might need to power it externally or see if Beat Buddy has that capability and I just don’t know how to do it.
The second issue is that there is precious little info geared toward newbies like me on just how to code the information you want to send. The entire protocol seems cryptic and overly complicated. Be prepared do dig around through forum posts to figure out exactly what you will have to send to your Beat Buddy. It’s out there, but you have to work for it.
Good luck, and share your commands once you get it going.
It seems my project I started as a “pet project” may be on a merge/collision course with this conversation.
The requirements on it at the moment: PC (need to test mac) with audio interface, python, bb + midi cable, LAN (for access from smart phone or other devices)
I set my BeatBuddy pedal on my keyboard and use the Singular Sound footswitch to start and stop songs. I setup a setlist so that all I need to do is go to next song. The volume and tempo is at arms length if need be.
Hi bcuccaro
I use an app called SongBook chord pro ( not subscription based).
I edit my songs and insert the midi instruction {midi: CC0.0@1 CC32.05@1 PC00@1 CC106.1@1 CC107.22@1} after the title and subtitle there. See included image. The first two numbers MSB and LSB indicate the folder (eg. MSB 0 LSB 5 would indicate folder 6, MSB 1 LSB 0 would indicate folder 128, MSB 1 LSB 4 would indicate folder 132 and so on). The next would be the song # o being the first song in the folder, 01 being the 2nd song in the folder etc. The tempo code is selected similarly to that of the folder using a MSB and a LSB (eg. Tempo of 150 bpm would be MSB 1 and LSB 22, Tempo of 125 would be MSB 0 and LSB 125). A good explanation of his is in the BeatBuddy Manual page 45 to 48. Hope this helps.
I just started getting into MIDI song selection for my Beatbuddy. I have an Android phone, so I’m using an app called Open Song. It’s totally free. I typed in the names of songs that I play, and then entered the MIDI commands of where to find the song on my Beatbuddy. I already had been using the MIDI Maestro. Now, I’m taking advantage of the Maestro’s Bluetooth capabilities, and using it as a wireless bridge to my Beatbuddy. I just pick a song on my phone, and my Beatbuddy switches to it!
I’m interested in how Ed1970 was able to use the MIDI maestro’s bluetooth. Is it possible to have the BBFF app communicate directly with the maestro without using an external bluetooth midi device?
I think you need to connect inside the BBFF app, do not try to connect through the phone Bluetooth device selection
I don’t have that app but I use different app to connect the Maestro via Bluetooth. In my app it also connects within the app itself I just need to make sure Bluetooth is on in both devices And Maestro needs to be blinking the light
Isn’t BBFF now Beatbuddy Manager Online? Isn’t that just for editing songs? I don’t think that it’s for MIDI song selection. If you have an Android phone, Open Song is a great app for MIDI song selection. The developer has added Beatbuddy features, and the ability to sync the app with your BeatBuddy project. The app has a lot of other features that I haven’t even explored, yet. I don’t turn on my phone’s Bluetooth, first. I just turn on my MIDI Maestro’s Bluetooth, and then in in the Open Song app I go to settings> MIDI> MIDI devices and settings. Open Song is free. Here is a link to it.
I just need to make sure Bluetooth is on in both devices 
And Maestro needs to be blinking the light 