Sorry if this has been asked before, but do people create songs that include bass parts as well, that still allow song parts to be controlled by BeatBuddy. Is there a specific acronym for this type of song. Not interested in OnePress stuff as it defeats the purpose but wondering if basslines can be created along with drum beats in BB manager for a verse for example, and then just use one of the existing kits that has bass sounds as well. Any help would be appreciated.
The problem is transitions. If you create parts with Bass you can’t determine where the user will trigger a transition. So, no, we don’t do that.
There are some songs that have what you described. It’s a bit trickier but I know Midnight Rider, Hey Joe, One, Blue on Black are all things in our set that have a bass line with different parts.
Not sure how that is the case? How does when a user selects a transition affect anything? If the bass notes are correct for the verse section, are correct for a transition section and correct for a chorus section…why wouldn’t it work? It’s not like it’s a one press - it’s a song with clearly defined sections.
It’s all just MIDI note patterns after all…
It’s an issue of musicality. Since the transition in the BB ends at any point where the user lifts his foot, the full transition may not play, or it may play multiple times. Do those bass notes then still make sense with the piece of music. Yes, they fit the midi, but the phrasing may now be very awkward since the transition piece was incomplete or repeated. Now, one can write music strictly to match the BB’s limitations. If you look at the Digo 2x2 Aeros demo, you see that he just has nothing other than drums for the transition. That can work. But, if you are taking a commercial midi file, and chopping it up into BB main loops, transitions and fills, you will have parts of music that may not flow correctly from one to another when taken out of their original context.
Wasnt really thinking of the transition parts but I hear what you are saying. Worst case just throw a single root note of the progression in there for the bass during the transitions. I use an App on my tablet and phone called ChordBot that builds backing tracks based on a a simple progression that you enter in and it creates an entire band with variations etc, with many instruments. Great practice tool but I have even used it to create entire songs sent to a DAW. It has MIDI export so been thinking I should be able to send MIDI of Drums and Bass out of it to manipulate in BBManager
And, of course, fills present another problem. Since fills can go anywhere, you can’t really add pitched music to a fill. In the “with bass” context, this means you either have the bass drop out entirely when you use a fill, which could sound inconsistent, or if you kept the bass in the fill, you run the risk of having the bass play something outside of the intended chord harmony, which will sound like crap.
@Phil_Flood yes I get what you mean, I suppose if you had no transitions and the full bass melodic structure in a single variation (eg verse) it may work, but would still be dependent on good user timing. But yeah, generally not very do-able.
Right. I was thinking if the transition section had just one chord, you could have something like a repeating bass 1/8 note, but if there are chord changes, like some vamping transitions would have, then you have issues.
Yeah. My intent was to use as a practice tool so all those issues would not be a huge concern for that use, but for a live performance seems like it would be a stretch.
all of the songs i created were interactive… i don’t really care for the “one press” stuff, because you might as well just play along with backing tracks.
because of the issues with triggering transitions, etc, i was the one who was advocating for autopilot–which would allow a song to transition after a certain number of loops, etc, but still be interactive.
i’m not sure what the state of things are now as to the archives of old songs, but playable non-onepress songs with bass exist out there.
We have several songs that use bass and extra instruments that I’ve added to drumbeats. Yes, you have to lift your foot at the right time, etc, but that’s what getting good at a musical instrument (in this case the BeatBuddy) is all about.
I have to side somewhat with the OP.
First, hats off to Phil. Your tracks are excellent.
BUT - I use my BB as a busker. Otherwise, I have a band. To me, all I want is a beat, a beat I can play and play around with as I jam (or play a song).
Maybe a drum machine would have been a better choice for me. I have no time to use a DAW or MIDI editor to create - I do that on my guitar. The BB has sufficient beats, but the fills (IMO) are terrible for what I do. I want a (click track) button ON and OFF.
My 2 cents (for my style). Thanks
P.S. - my genre is hard rock.
Yeah - even created a click track - (Urei sound) for practice. I find for practice I pretty much am just using the Simple Beats 1.1 beats as I just want a fun rhythm as I flesh out guitar stuff. On one of my other posts I even made the recommendation that there be a way on the BB to just access all the beats directly one after another by scrolling, like a regular drum machine, as I find the Song format is sometimes cumbersome to find a good beat to practice with when you have a start of a certain guitar rhythm/progression and just trying to develop it. Wish they had a mode that just accessed all the beats directly and you could scroll them while they are playing to find a good beat - Maybe then has a way to reference the source song its in so you can go to it later for all the fills and such once you get the guitar part fleshed out a bit more.
Speaking for myself - if I auditioned a drummer that played fills like those on the BB, he would NOT get the job. And I dont have time to fix/recreate new ones. Disclosure - yea, I know what I am doing - I made a hell of a living a long time go as an A&R guy in the “record business”.
PS - again, I am NOT discounting others who like to develop their one-button tunes!
Guitar1969!
Yes, I made few of not OP. It was important for me to have freedom for improvisations. Try those out, it’s here:
Click to “My songs from the old forum”. There are more.
Will do - What Drum set with Bass did you use for these, so I can make sure I have it right.
Yeah - I was a drummer before a guitarist so if I really wanted to dig deep, would create a handfull of my most used Go-to fills(Same as a guitar player does with licks), and program them in, but Im too lazy.
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I posted them on old forum before. You can write titles to searcher there and you’ll find all informations. Here is the link of the old forum:
http://forum.mybeatbuddy.com/index.php?resources/message-to-love-standard-tuning.3099/update&update=4549