Forgive me if this has already been covered in another thread, I promise I’ve tried looking. With all the advancements with the implementation of the midi functions with the BB has anyone used a FCB1010 or another midi foot controller to control it? I know there has been some posts on using OnSong/SetList Maker along with a blue tooth controller and embedding midi commands into the song files, but I’m interested in knowing if anyone has been able to use a dedicated midi controller plugged directly into the BB and what the results were.
Although it’s not a direct MIDI controller, I used a simple midi pad program on my iPhone to control the BB through a bluetooth midi interface (puc+). As long as you can program the midi messages into the controller, it should work just fine. Download the BB midi manual off the BB forum, pick the features/commands you want and program away. Obviously you have to get the channel numbers aligned first. On my midi pad program, I had to hand dial-in the commands.
There are three types of commands in my midi pad program - Notes, Program Changes, and Control Changes. The midi commands I used were all Control Changes although the BB should response to all three. Notes would play specific drum notes on command and a few of the BB features use Program Changes. The pads I programmed control:
Song Start
Fill
Outro
Transition (to next loop)
Transition to loop 1
Transition to loop 2
Transition to loop 3
Muted Pause
Accent
Tap Tempo
Tempo increase
Tempo decrease
I didn’t do anything with pedal volume because I didn’t have any sliders in the midi pad program I’m using but that would be a nice feature. Also, the tempo pads don’t work yet. I haven’t had time to fix those yet.
There are a few commands that require two or more steps. The one I used is the transition to a specific loop (not just the next loop). The set command tells the BB which loop to transition to then there’s a separate command to actually play the transition fill and move to the specified loop (up to 3 loops). It turns out my midi pad is able to issue one command on press and another command on release so I was able to program the ones I wanted using the two steps on a single midi pad button.
i have android…can any one help me with midi ?
Re FCB 1010, grab the latest firmware(1.85) and the midi manual for it. Everything you need is in there. You can program the fcb1010 to send up to 2 CC messages when a switch is pressed as well as up to 5 program change commands so it should work just fine with the bb. If you wanted to do somethng like vol control with one of the swell pedals then you’d have to program it to send cc 108 with a range 0 to 100 (not cc 7 which is the std vol cc).
Appreciate the information. That is what I was thinking since reading through all the threads. At some point I’ve got to copy/paste all these midi threads into a Word Document due to the vast amount of information. LOL.
TouchDAW seems to be popular . . . and free. What assistance do you need? Once you select an app and you have connectivity, the rest is in programming the appropriate commands into your controller.
Just wondered if anyone has any patch save files for FCB1010 they want to share for controlling BB? Found this video -
- but it’s hard work understanding the guy’s accent!
I haven’t had my FCB1010 very long so I’m still on a bit of a learning curve.To be honest I haven’t even programmed one pedal yet. All I did was set up Onsong to listen for what pedal I tap (1-10) and have Onsong send the actual CC data I want to the BB. However, I plan on changing everything around and don’t even know what works best for me yet. I’m finding there are A LOT of options! I guess it’ll just going to be trial and error.
What exactly are you trying to do?
I have the FCB1010 and have linked it with the BB and apps on my iPad. It works really well. However I upgraded the FCB1010 with the UnO chip, which is a very easy task and well worth it. (here’s the website: http://www.fcb1010.eu). Basically you replace the chip in the FCB1010 with an upgraded one from this website and this improves the functionality of the FCB1010. It allows you to program the buttons with stomp box functionality: you can send an “on” and “off” midi signal and the LED on the FCB1010 reflects the state; on or off. Also you can set the buttons as momentary switches - good for the BB when you want to send a fill or transition command. The website also has a very good app (€20 I think) that allows you to program the FCB1010 easily. Even if you don’t upgrade it with the chip, the app is worth using.
For the BB you need to send Control Change messages (CC) and for each message you generally need the message value, say 111 to pause the BB, or 110 to trigger an accent (you can find all the commands here: https://singularsound.com/downloadable/BeatBuddy-MIDISettings-Firmware-v1.77.pdf) and then a value between 127 and 0 to indicate whether you want to turn it on or off. Typically the value 127 is on and 0 is off or no effect. But sometimes the values mean something more. For example in the accent trigger message, 110, the value between 0 and 127 determines the volume of the accent 0 being no sound and 127 being the loudest. One thing to note about the BB values in the pdf link above: it’s a little misleading because it seems to suggest that a value of 1 turns a setting on and a value of 127 turns it off. But in the case of the 111 (BB pause), for example, any value between 1 and 127 will cause the BB to pause and then un-pause when sent a second time. In other words the value you send is always the same and the BB simply toggles between the two states. So when you program a monetary switch to pause and then un-pause the BB you set the On value (when switch is pressed) to 127 and the Off value (when switch is released) to 0 (zero has no effect for the CC 111 message). This is because you don’t want anything to happen on the switch release you just want to send an On message each time it is pressed and if the BB is playing it will pause and if it is paused it will play.
As mentioned, the FCB1010 is useful because it allows you to program more than one message with a single switch. So you could, for example, program a pause with an accent hit into a single switch and the BB will do both with one stomp.
Is there any way to convert transmitted CCs in the range 33 - 95 into received CCs in the range 96 - 120?
I use a Roland FC-300 to control a Boss GT-Pro, and for some reason neither one transmits above 95 in BeatBuddy’s range.
It would have to be an inexpensive little gizmo, I suppose, to be a valid alternative to another pedal board.
It depends where you want to do the conversion. On a Mac there is a useful app call Midi Pipe that allows you to do this. There are also a number of apps for the iPad that can do it too.
You won’t need to send the BB anything above 95 unless you are sending values that affect things like volume or tempo. These message types use the value to set a particular volume or tempo using MSB and LSB. If you are just turning a feature on or toggling a feature on or off then anything with a value above 0 will represent on and 0 will represent off. One exception is when you want to transition to a specific song part using the 113 message. In that case the value field represents the song part you want to transition to; so 113 with the value 3 will transition to song part 3. That starts the transition, you then need to send 113 with the value 0 to stop it and actually move to the requested song part. The manual says that you need 127 to transition to the next song part but in fact any value greater than the total number of parts will do this. So if you have 3 song parts and you send 113 with the value of 4 that will transition to the next part as there is no 4. So if none of your songs have more than 10 parts, sending an 11 will always move to the next part.
Tomd100, thanks for your BB/FCB1010 info. I’ve actually had my FCB 12 years+ now but haven’t used it for years so I’m really rusty in how to program it which is why I was lazily hoping for someone to have already mapped out some controls for BB as it would save a lot of time. I have the UNO chip installed as well, there’s also a Eureka chip doing the rounds at the moment I believe.
By CC I mean controller number not control value. If I want to increment BB to the next song, I can send:
CC0 with some value,
CC32 with some value,
but I can’t send CC96 with any value. It’s a Roland shortcoming that seems inexcusable, but maybe they had their reasons.
I looked among this brand’s offerings after recalling that I have one of their products, which I don’t currently use but does fit my mental image of what a physically unobtrusive MIDI Command converter could be. Lo and behold, there ya go!
http://www.midisolutions.com/prodevp.htm
Problem is, it’s not inexpensive because it does so much more than I need it to do. For twenty bucks more I could get the FCB1010! Problem with that is, I’m already out of floor space. Probably should have bought the Behringer instead of the Roland, but now I would hate to give the FC-300 up.
Wonder if there is a single purpose (less expensive) converter / event processor out there.
Doesnt this make it more complicated hitting pedals all the time instead of playing .I have enough trouble using the pedal and footswitch on BB and that behringer thing takes up more space than Dave Gilmours pedal board lol
I love my behringer thing
I think that the Behringer thing probably is overkill for controlling the BB only, especially if one is using stompboxes for signal processing. If using MIDI-controlled signal processing however, then a foot controller could, ideally, control that and BB as well. That would require some free controller footswitches not being used for other purposes, or a very well thought-out song set in which individual footswitches change effects (patches) and drum functions simultaneously.
I agree with AnthonyR, and have an idea that our friends at Singular Sound invented BB with ease of operation as a primary objective. I think they are working on, among other enhancements, an new version of the BeatBuddy Footswitch which would allow more functions without having to involve a full-blown controller.
If you want complicated, check out the posts on this forum from other intelligent (& undoubtedly talented) members concerning iOS, DAW, Bluetooth, etc. integration with a host of third-party MIDI platforms. Wish I did, but I don’t have time for all that. I really would like to jam with my Buddy, and the simpler that Singular Sound can make it, the better. They’re almost there…
Yes overkill is the word alright ,end up tap dancing instead of fousing on the music and feel.I find even with BB thinking mmm less is more sometime it can free you up sometimes BB can constrict little own the “Behringer Thingy”
I find that musician’s needs are different so if a musician finds what works for them then kudos! It’s the reason I love my BB and all my other Thingy’s. Just sayin’ 
So True Raymond