Hi BeatBuddy buddies!
We’re really excited about this new firmware update! This is NOT an April fools joke
Here’s an overview of the new features:
Download BeatBuddy MIDI Manual
Version 1.85
Sobriety function: Control how drunk your BeatBuddy is! One of the things BeatBuddy fans always tell us is that they love how their BeatBuddy never gets drunk (or shows up late, or drinks your beer, the list goes on…), but sometimes it’s kinda fun to jam with a drunk drummer! So we’ve included a Sobriety setting (just press the Drum Set and Tempo knob at the same time to enter Settings - it’s the fourth option down). When Sober, BeatBuddy plays perfectly as always. When Tipsy, BeatBuddy’s had a few beers and starts drifting on the tempo a bit. When Drunk, BeatBuddy has had way too many beers and a few shots and starts drifting on the tempo A LOT as well as throwing in some random fills. When Wasted, BeatBuddy is probably a danger to himself and to others, especially your musical sanity – he’ll be all over the place tempo wise, throwing in random drum fills, transitioning to other song parts when he’s not supposed to and just banging on the cymbals in the most annoying way. Luckily, unlike your human drummer, BeatBuddy sobers up instantly. Just change his setting 
Sleep Mode: You may have noticed that like most guitar pedals, the BeatBuddy does not come with a power button. The only way to turn it off it to unplug it. So we created a sleep mode that puts the BeatBuddy in a low power state. Just press the Drum Set and Tempo Knobs at the same time to enter Settings and select Sleep Mode. This will put your BeatBuddy to sleep until you’re ready to jam with him again. Don’t worry, unlike most heavy sleeping drummers, the BeatBuddy can be woken up with a touch of any button or knob.
Visual Metronome while stopped: Many players have told us that they begin some songs by playing alone and then bringing in the drums after an intro – but it’s hard to play that intro to the right tempo without the drum going. So we made the visual metronome active while in stopped mode so you have a visual cue of the tempo of the drums when you bring them in. And since some intro fills aren’t full bar fills (they may start on the second or third beat of the bar, instead of the first), the beat where the intro fill starts is darker than the rest. But if you like the way your BeatBuddy was without the visual metronome active while stopped, you can adjust it in Settings > Main Pedal > Visual Metronome.
Hands free folder navigation: You can set your footswitch to go to the next song or to the last song in a folder, but until now there was no way to use the footswitch to enter or exit the folders themselves. So we added the capability that when a footswitch is set to Song Advance or Song Back, holding the footswitch down enters or exits a folder. Please note that this will only work with Momentary (unlocked) type footswitches, not latching (locked) ones. We changed Official BeatBuddy Footswitch from latching to momentary around 1 year ago. To test the type of footswitch you have go to Settings > Footswitch > Footswitch detector.
Complete MIDI Control: One of the most common requests we have gotten is for full MIDI support so that the BeatBuddy can be integrated with other systems, programs and devices. We have worked extensively to map (with MIDI CC Controls) practically every function of the BeatBuddy to MIDI so that you guys can have the most powerful possible tool and use it in creative ways. You can control the Volume or Tempo with an app like MIDI Designer. Or you can set a MIDI footswitch to trigger an outro fill with a single press or to skip from song part 1 to song part 3 and then back to song part 2 – you can skip to any part at will! This is especially useful for Keyboard Players who would like the BeatBuddy to sit next to them on the keyboard instead of on the floor so they can see the BeatBuddy’s screen. For full details on MIDI Mapping, see the User Manual.
Instant song selection with Bank Select / Program Change: Now you can use Onsong or other apps to instantly go to a certain beat when selecting a song – this is especially useful for musicians who have hundreds, if not thousands, of songs in their repertoire and don’t want the hassle of search for that one beat on their BeatBuddy when the audience requests a random song. Just select the song in Onsong, and your BeatBuddy will instantly go to the beat you have set to that song!
Technical Detail: To select a song, set your app to MSB 0 (make sure this value is always 0), LSB (0-127) selects the BeatBuddy song folder where 0 is the first folder, 1 is the second folder, etc. – we know this is confusing, but that is how the MIDI standard works, beginning at 0, not at 1. And Program Change selects the song in the folder, where Program Change 0 is the first song, Program Change 1 is the second, etc.
MIDI Merge: The BeatBuddy now has the capability to merge MIDI commands it receives with the MIDI commands the BeatBuddy generates and output the merged commands through the MIDI Out port. This allows you to use a tablet to control the settings on your BeatBuddy and other devices in your MIDI chain while at the same time using the BeatBuddy as a source of MIDI clock and other MIDI commands. The MIDI Merge protocol we developed has the lowest possible latency. To Enable this feature, select: Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI Out > Output Type > MIDI-Merge
[B]Added additional settings:
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Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI Out > Sync > Always On / While Playing / Disable:[/B] You can now set when the MIDI Clock signal is sent out by the BeatBuddy. This is useful for if you want to play with your MIDI connected device (like your looper or effects), but one of your songs doesn’t include the drums, so you don’t want the BeatBuddy’s tempo affecting your other device.
- Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI In > Control Change (CC) > Enable / Disable: You may want to pass CC MIDI commands through the BeatBuddy to your other devices, but not have the BeatBuddy be affected to them.
- Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI In > Notes Off > Choke Notes / Ignored: BeatBuddy now chokes notes when external notes are received with a velocity of 0. This allows long notes to be cut short. -
Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI Out > Notes > Enable / Disable: Some devices (notably the Pigtronix Infinity) have trouble when receiving MIDI Notes, so we have set this default to off. If you wish to turn on MIDI Out Note streaming so the BeatBuddy’s MIDI notes are sent to another device (such as your DAW), change this setting.
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Settings > Main Pedal > MIDI Messages > MIDI Out > Next Part & Time Signature > Enable / Disable: Some devices (notably, the Eventide Timeline) seem to have problems when receiving certain MIDI Messages, such as the the time signature midi message or the Next Part Midi message (CC102).
Many bug fixes:
- Critical bug that was causing the BeatBuddy to reset after 2 to 3 hours of playing
- Bug that caused a reboot of the BeatBuddy when no accent hit was present and footswitch was pressed
- USB connection bug that prevented correct operation when BeatBuddy is in Folder / Drum Set / Song Selection window
- Various minor bugs
[B]Upcoming Feature(s):
Autopilot Mode: [/B]Because of the BeatBuddy’s new capability to respond to CC commands, it is possible have the CC commands programmed into them so fills and transitions are played automatically. We will be releasing new versions of the Most Popular Cover Songs packages in the BeatBuddy Library which the BeatBuddy will play the way the original song was played – but you will still have the capability to improvise using all of the BeatBuddy’s live control functions. Stay tuned for the announcement regarding this new content.
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