BeatBuddy and Garageband > midi settings or DAW limitation?

I am new to BeatBuddy, GarageBand and midi interfaces and I am running into some issues that I have not been able to work through.

I have a new BeatBuddy attached to an i-connectivity mio interface cable that is being seen by my MacMini_M2 (under Ventura 13.3) and I think it is working properly as long as I am only trying to record one midi track at a time. The issue I have is that I also have a keyboard connected (direct via usb) and when I try to record Beatbuddy and keyboard simultaneously, GarageBand doesn’t seem to want to separate the two instruments…… it will record both instruments on a single track but it either won’t play both sounds back at once and/or the keyboard wants to play Beat buddy rhythms along with notes

I am a total midi novice so I kind of guessed at the beat buddy settings when setting this up so I am wondering if there is setting option I am missing….and/or if there is a switch/setting in GarageBand I am missing (or maybe even some limitation in GarageBand?)

I’ve been all over Google as well as this Board and I can’t seem to find what I am looking for. Can someone help me out?

I take it that you are trying to record midi from your BB and your keyboard simultaneously. To do this, first go into Audio Midi Setup. Its an app in your Appilcation>Utilities folder. Select the midi section, and verify that iConnectivity Cable/Beat Buddy and the Keyboard are both listed as midi items. Click on of them and then click on the computer icon in audio midi setup. Do this for the other one. You should see a system now that appears to have both devices connected to the Mac.

Next, within each of those devices you need to select a midi out channel. Do not use all or omni, since you have two devices. For sake of tradition, lets say you put the keyboard on channel 1 and the Beat Buddy on channel 10. For the Best Buddy, this is done in its midi out settings. Midi out from the Singular breakout cable goes to midi in on the iConnectivity cable.

Now in Garageband, you create two software instrument tracks. Make one for drums, and set its midi in channel as 10. Make one for keyboard and set its midi in channel as 1. You are now ready to try to record midi. Arm the two tracks for recording and have at it.

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Hi Phil, thanks so much for your response…I am a 30year Windows user on Mac for the first time so it’s kind of like landing on Mars for me… I did not even know that an Audio Midi Setup screen existed but I have it now.

Primary Persisting Problem now is that neither of the two midi instruments are showing up on that set up screen( …I am only seeing my monitor, headphones and interface…no MIDI’s at all…) I know the Mac sees them because I can record them (one at a time) on GarageBand and the GarageBand settings screen shows “2 Midi inputs”

Both BB and Keyboard play fine on their own tracks as long as only one track is armed. When both tracks are armed the keyboard plays BB rhythms on both tracks so …it looks like it’s the keyboard that is getting confused)…my idiot’s guess is that Mac always puts the keyboard on the same channel as the BB and even when I changed the BB channel the issue persisted. (and I can’t see what channel the keyboard is on or what it is doing…BTW, the keyboard is a direct usb connection there is no external interface for keyboard)

Singular Support techs have instantaneously checked out on this issue (“not our problem” …thanks for nothing) and I have a posting on Apple Board but have not heard anything. Probably gonna check with Sweetwater which is where I purchased BB and cable.
If by chance you have any other ideas please let me know. It would really help if if the instruments would register in the Audio MIDI utility app. My guess is I don’t see them because I am missing something small but I don’t know what it is… (BTW, I have clicked “reset Midi drivers” about 100 times…if it does anything I don’t know what it is)

Final BTW, I have confirmed that Midi out is and Channel 10 is enabled in BB (not “Omni”) and that BB out is connected to cable in.

UPDATE > ok, through random hacking I discovered the MIDI instruments are visible in Audio MIDI setup app on the MIDI Studio screen which is buried in the menu under “Window” (not exactly intuitive for a windows user :upside_down_face:). I still haven’t figured out what to do yet but I was able to find and Apple page that might help … Set up MIDI devices using Audio MIDI Setup on Mac - Apple Support

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The keyboard should have a midi channel out selector somewhere, or it should be on a fixed midi channel. Look for owner’s manual for your keyboard to find out. This would be tjis for both a usb connected keyboard and for a midi DIN connection.

I think I owe you an apology. I started up GarageBand today for the first time in many years. I recalled it being very similar to LogicPro, which I now use nearly exclusively. After playing with it for a few minutes, and looking at AudioMidi setup while in GarageBand, I’ve come to the conclusion that it does not support simultaneous multiple midi inputs. That’s probably one reason I moved over to Logic. It appears that the setup of GarageBand only want one midi instrument input at a time. This would mean you would first record the drums. Then, use that as a guide track and record the keys. Truth be told, that is how I usually work, although I do often create multiple midi parts at once using software plug-ins.

I searched the web for articles on how to record multiple midi tracks, and I got results that showed only one track at a time being recorded.

Thanks Phi, after I finally discovered the location of Midi Studio I hacked around a little more and came to the same conclusion…GarageBand can’t do that (at least natively it seems) which was my fear from the start. I guess the purpose of the Midi Studio is to allow you to sequence devices but they all have to be on the same channel, The IAC driver will allow you to create another bus but you can’t modify the device ports (grayed out) and it’s not clear to me how you would hook anything up to the second bus (or why you would need another bus to do that).

So my journey continues. I don’t think there is a software utility out there to address this issue…Apple’s control of developers took care of that…IMHO the Garageband DAW limitation is clearly by design …as such I guess the software solution is to upgrade to Logic Pro (or live with the limitation). I am also wondering if there is a hardware solution that would enable Garageband to see < 1 midi inputs…but I am not optimistic …if the DAW will only recognize midi on one bus that’s probably hard coded into the architecture. Gonna check with Sweetwater on that as I am sure they would be happy to sell me another piece of iron. I also thought of some weird “Rube Goldberg” work arounds like record one track to my iPad while laying the other on the Mac and then importing the ipad track (assuming I can do that)

For me, it’s not necessarily the $200 bucks for Logic, it’s the daunting task of learning yet another DAW…this is supposed to be a hobby for me. How much of a heavy lift would it be for me to go to Logic ? (I don’t know that much about recording per se but i am no stranger to software design …and GarageBand has afforded me at least a basic understanding of what I am doing).

Anyway, thanks for your help … and no harm no foul on the initial post…I learned a lot…I would not have even found Midi Studio without the attempt…

If you go the Logic route, feel free to call on me for help. That’s more my home field. I worked through the Nahmani book on Logic Pro. It goes through tutorials to get you up to speed.

I keep it simple and run the beat buddy headphone out into an audio interface. I only record one track at a time since I am playing and singing everything and this works fine for me. others can probably get you to a more professional sounding recording but this is the easy way.

That sums up all the automation we use for our music :face_with_raised_eyebrow: Once we invest in it, we must become tech savvy enough to manage it all.

Then having printouts of the song settings on BB, and another sheet for drum kits for OP songs… :confused:

When it all comes together, man, is it sweet! Then I can actually play my guitar! :musical_score: :musical_note:

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