Since I am working on some songs at the moment transferring midis I’ve created in Logic to the BBManager I looked for some news regarding updates on the BBManager in this forum. I’m only logging in twice a year just to find out that still there hasn’t been any changes for ages an tons of people being upset. Dear developers, I spent a good amount of money for both BB an Maestro (about 700€) and one can expect to get not only proper working Software but also hardware. Pleas get your things straight. And whatever is going wrong in your company, there’s a german saying: don’t make your problems may problems.
1 Like
Quite frankly at this point I think the only reasonable approach for Singular Sound is to look for a suitor that would do a buyout and have the resources and expertise to expand these hardware products and modernize them into the current world of technology.
Clearly hardware looping and hardware drum machines are not where the market action is. The market action for the foreseeable future is in DAWs and plug ins. However there could be a case made for having something like the Beat Buddy hardware as an external component for a plug in DAW drum system. In other words, tight integration with something like Studio Drummer in which you can compose your drum session and have it exported directly (drum kit and all) to the Beat Buddy allowing you to have your drums on stage without the need to bring a laptop. Likewise the same could be true for the Aeros for integrating MIDI, audio or guitar clips as stored loops. This would be specially true were it to be a DAW company that already has a viable audio warping capability for transforming audio to different BPMs.
I have to say I love my Beat Buddy and I’ll stick with it as long as I can, but it pales in comparison to the capabilities of DAW plug in drums systems and I really doubt Singular Systems has the expertise or resources to do that kind of integration.
3 Likes
I agree with you… I love my BeatBuddy, it has changed my playing and sound for the better… but as an original investor the only part of it that’s gotten better since it’s inception is my ability to program and use it. Nothing about its capability or the software to mange it has changed. Even the bugs are still there in BBM. Such a disappointment and failure to live up to potential.
SingularSound to me feels like the garage company that found its groove to move into an office building after we all invested in them, and then lost focus and understanding of what the investors actually wanted. So sad. I don’t bother using the beats they create… because they are too generic. I always create my own so they actually sound like the song I’m playing. I also can’t use much of what’s created from the forum because OPB has taken over, which in my mind defeats the entire purpose of why it was developed in the first place (but no slight to those that use OPB’s… good on ya to adapt it to what you want).
I just think this whole situation is a missed opportunity of such huge potential. I’m not sorry I invested in the product, but can’t see myself ever investing in their ideas again. I can’t even remember how long it’s been… a decade… a dozen years… more??… without any improvement? So sad. Oh wait… there was a change… they changed the way they wired the pedal so that the Norbert hack doesn’t work any more. Took me half a day of soldering and testing to figure out how to accomplish the same thing on a newer backup pedal I bought second hand from a guy who had given up on the company.
What I don’t understand is how they can read the forum comments and still hold their head up… honestly more time spent creating those super dumb email stories that are so infuriating… oh and a drum set made of office supplies… what a great use of time.
1 Like
Hi everyone, you have all brought up very good points. I do see that a few different topics were brought up here, so I am going to address them each separately.
First, the BBManager:
So this actually has been our focus for the past few years, starting in 2017. We were constantly fixing up bugs (and dealing with new ones that would pop up in the process). As any software developer will tell you, fixing bugs is like a game of whack-a-mole. Unfortunately with the spaghetti code that the BBManager is written in, it has proven to be way more complicated than anticipated.
Some of you may recall we also have BBManager versions 1.66, 1.67, and 1.70. Only the 1.66 is acceptable for use, and 1.67 + 1.70 are super problematic. So we realized that the whole thing must be redone.
We then dedicated about 1.5 years to a whole new version of the BBManager, our goal was to match all the features that the current BBManager gives (or is supposed to give), and that project flopped. We hired an external team of developers to do this.
Too many issues came up (including one in which we might have needed to redo the entire way the BB functions in order for it to work, which means all of you would need to get all your content replaced as well as redo all your customized setlists, and we did not want to put you through that). It hurts but that is what happened.
And now we are starting from the ground up, with only the basics in mind (to start with) so we can have a solid foundation for the revamped version of the BBManager (the one currently in development is called “BB Loader”).
Our priorities lie with satisfying customers. Where else would our priorities lie? We are a business and you are our only source of money. How would it serve us to piss all of you off?
We could only benefit from keeping you guys happy. There is literally no reason in the world to not have you as our top priority.
Now I will address the Aeros:
We are not going to kill the Aeros. Although yes you are correct it needs to be improved, it is far from a flop. The Aeros is a premium looper and despite its current shortcomings, we have a very low return rate. If that is how it is now, we can only expect that return rate to be even lower and general satisfaction to improve once the Aeros itself improves, and it will.
Regarding DAWs and plugins:
This is actually very interesting that you mention this, as we are looking to expand (in the future) into the plugin market. It will be incorporated into our BeatBuddy+Aeros ecosystem, highly increasing the usability and experience with both.
Regarding the general use of our time:
We always keep an eye on the forum, and of course we are never happy to see dissatisfaction. It is definitely hard for us to see some of these comments, but the way the comments make us feel does not deter us from moving forward with what needs to be done: improving the products, fixing bugs, staying on top of things, etc. It frustrates us just the same when things drag out waaaaayyyyy longer than we expected. But sooner or later we always deliver.
And while it is true that some people gave up on us (like the person you referenced in your response above), we are not going to give up on you.
Regarding the minor gags we do like the ASMR drumset for April Fool’s and silly newsletter emails, these are completely different people doing that stuff. Those type of things are done by the marketing team, and they are not involved in any fashion with the development team. So the time spent by the marketing team has no effect whatsoever on the speed at which the development team produces results.
1 Like
I think the BB Loader is the way to go, making it really easy and intuitive. Think Boss Rhythm converter only way way way better (There GUIs are also rather laughably dated). Here is what I’d like to see:
-
External MIDI creation that loads with ease into the BB Loader: drag’n drop (without crashing). No need to export, rename, reimport. We don’t need BBLoader to create MIDI, but I sometimes use it b/c the import is so difficult sometimes (Please, no super-users flippantly say how easy it all is…Stephen Hawking having been able to calculate quantum physics in his head does not help the rest of us).
-
Midi names default to file (e.g., Forever Young Intro.mid, Forever Young Verse.mid, Forever Young Verse Fill 1.mid, etc.), but the ability to rename individually and also rename all in one go, like you can in most DAWs by renaming to the track name plus placement (i.e., Intro, Main 1, Fill 1, etc.)
-
MIDI arrangement, similar to BBManager, but ability to name part categories per song (e.g., Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, etc.), which would aid in the name in 2 and display on BB.
-
USB pluggable for transfer rather than SD card.
Hmmm, what else…I’ll be back. Others?
Hopefully this will be done after the gaps and bugs in the current set of products are finished and polished?
Working on too many (variations of) products at once can stretch a small team to the point where nothing gets done.
Thanks for the update.
P.S. My two cents on plugins. I use pedals for many reasons, and I think those differentiate BeatBuddy from the competition. As a plugin, you compete with Superior Drummer, Band In a Box, iReal, and a lot of other ones I’m not aware of that have some pretty advanced features and UI’s. Expensive/rIsky to move to that market. Certainly plugins are nice in terms of margins, inventory, shipping, parts shortages, etc. I know there are many other people who use/love plugins. YMMV.
P.P.S. I’d love to have a BB plugin on an Aeros II looper with 1-2 more buttons (but not at the expense of the current products).
P.P.P.S. The current BBManager is close to a plugin. Presumably there’s not much difference between it running as a plugin versus just mixing the sound on the bus in some way. My guess is it just needs a a midi mapping for foot pedal. Interesting question as to how many people are using the software to produce music (versus setting up the pedal).
Indeed, SS has a corner on the drum pedal market. Competition does not come close. There are two kinds of artist without drummers: Those using a BB and those who don’t know they should use a BB (The latter includes those using terrible Casio-ish sounds).
Adding to the previous list. You MUST keep the ability to create you own kit (even with separate software or a simple name it right in the right folder scenario) or you will lose half you current user base.
Any project plan will have an end date defined. What is the end date for the BBM? Just so that I know how long I may have to wait?
Even if the first cut release testing beta version can be made available, what date is that planned for?
2 Likes
No
1 Like
Longest
thread
ever,
and
still
no
updates
since
2016
4 Likes
hey guys, i recently bought the beat buddy and… what can i say, i love the product, it’s just amazing.
What i don’t love is the software it comes with, the beat buddy manger. which unfortunately is almost as important as the piece of hardware.
this software really does not work well, it’s clunky, it’s old, it is missing basic features like copy/paste, it crashes VERY frequently on newer Mac OS…
seriously, 350 euro worth of product and then i’m stuck because of a 2016 junk software, it’s pretty sad 
Is there any information about updates, new releases… anything?
Thanks!!!
1 Like
@mrosati
Welcome to the BB community. You’ll find out pretty quickly (or slowly depending how you look at it) that development on the BBM (BeatBuddy Manager) is pretty much non existent. Every so often they chime in to tell us that it’s a complicated project and that they care, and that a new version is being worked on. But if you just read backwards through this ridiculously long thread you’ll see it’s been a decade or more of false hope. To be honest I love the product but I agree with you and everyone else that the software is junk. Best of luck!
1 Like
Well everything you said and then you’ll also sometimes see somebody popping in and defending them and pretending it isn’t a big deal. But it iS a very big deal for the prices they charge.
In fact you should be able to run any new software on an iOS/android… and any new hardware they make should include Bluetooth and the ability to run everything from an app remotely… in addition to being a song manager. All Remotely.
THAT would be the minimum of what is expected in 2022. But that is unlikely.
I was slightly interested in their looper. Now I am not interested at all. An expensive product like that with their current history of update support on their flagship product? Nope.
3 Likes
Fantastic manager! Works great! But still some requests for maybe update:
When using your computer, the mainpedal doesn’t work, you have to work with mouse and board. And than to try out, no hands are free.
Is it possible to leave the function on the pedal itself on while edeting on the computer, instead of plug it out and in again…
Thanks for great work! Michel
After several years with the BeaBuddy in the Box i yesterday tried to Export MIDI in BeatBuddy manager. It was a commercial song and the first i tried.
One of the files in the song did export but was empty so thats the way it is. Its full of emptiness.
You dont have to play to feel the Blues. Just look att the BeatBuddy and there it is.
That’s the BBM copyright protection in action.
What’s the point of your post?
At the rate your guys are proceeding, it’ll be another 10 years before BBM is updated. Hire a couple of programmers, will ya? Stop making excuses and get this thing done!
4 Likes
Seriously Singular Sound, I just bought the beat buddy and premium collection. I went elsewhere for a midi controller based on the software development on This. If I had know the software was this bad Not sure I would have bought at all… You are killing your own sales. The software is Terrible. There is still not much in terms of competition for BB (for NOW) and its worth the investment now. If someone decides to to develop software and release a another pedal, too late.
3 Likes
what is very annoying about bbm is the fact that you can’t hear a song or beat playing from any point you want. This for those who only use OPB is horrible.
1 Like