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Will the update erase any set lists I have in the BeatBuddy?
It shouldn’t. Make sure that you’ve synch’d your current project to your SD card and then proceed with the update.
What is the latest, least buggy beta version of BBM? Where can I find it?
Thanks
For the Mac, this is the only recent update When the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) doesn’t launch (or export a project to the SD card) in newer versions of the macOS and it resolves compatibility with recent macOS upgrades. It does not otherwise solve any of the other long-standing issues.
For Windows, there’s nothing new.
Please forgive me if what I’m asking is in a previous response but there is a couple of hundred replies above that are pretty time consuming to go through. Is the latest BBM software good to go for windows, are there any bugs/detrimental changes I should know about?
Yes, it would be great to know where we are headed today and now with:
BB firmware
BB manager
Guides
thanks!!
Nothing has changed since our latest update in this post. If there are any issues when using the BBManager in your Windows machine, please email me at support@singularsound.com
It is all still being worked on. When we have updates, we post them to the forum first. Regarding guides, I imagine you mean the updated manuals? If so, we update them when we release the official updates.
At this point (after far too many years of promises… almost comical) I’d withdraw any hope of enhancements, but I would LOVE IT if the bugs were simply taken out of the existing BBM. Maybe that could be a new focus?
Like the errors you get when you try to sync to an SD card but your song has an accent hit (you have to just keep clicking OK on the errors until it finally saves).
OR
An even more annoying bug, the BBM lets you insert midi files in songs and then randomly says a file can’t be parsed, preventing from any other midi files to be inserted. You then have to restart the program.
I know they’ve said the code is junk and a rewrite is necessary… but seriously.
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It’s a joke.
Nobody is that incompetent. Priorities lie somewhere else.
Very sad. I liked my Beat Buddy.
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I like the Beatbuddy and the software is a good theoretical idea, but it has a GUI that seems (oddly) pre-2016. It’s like something from the early 00’s (I keep expecting to hear the sound of dial-up internet).
Sadly, I think the high price point of Aeros for it’s limited features relative to competitors will do one of two things: A) Kill it and they will have time to work on their unmatched premium product, the Beatbuddy, or B) Kill it and they will become more distracted by the need to compete with a new product. Either one is not good for a company I like.
Here is an idea. Invest in yourself. Double down on the Beatbuddy (product family) and advertising for it while creating a premium editing interface. Game over for any pseudo-drum competitor!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.)
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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.
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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?
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