Easy peasy midi editor to add bass and bring back into BB manager?

I am looking for an easy way to edit midi with bass. I would like to be able to export midi files with bass from the BeatBuddy manager into a DAW like Reaper or some other one that is easy to use. I need to be able to copy and paste the midi notes in the DAW or other software then bring the midi file back into BB manager.
I tried this withe Reaper and it strips out the bass midi notes. I tried the BeatBuilder and it also strips out the bass notes.
It makes me wonder how people create the One Press songs. Surely, there is an easier way.
I am using the Rock with bass drumkit. Please don’t link various threads. I have read and read and read different posts in this forum and only get a tidbit here and a tidbit there. I have logged many hours in here reading. I have watched about every video on YouTube on the subject TWICE. I would like a straight forward answer to this issue explaining exactly how it is done. I’m sure I am not the only one that would like a “step by step” overview of how to do this.
Thank you in advance,
dawnpgeo

PS I’m loving the beatbuddy and the bass adds even more! I have created one song with bass in the BB manager midi editor ONE NOTE AT A TIME. Luckily, the song only required one verse and one chorus that repeats.

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Hi. I’m glad to hear that you’ve been going through the “how-to” posts and videos.

Not so sure there’s an easy peasy method for editing BB files. Some users like and use Mixcraft and others report success with MIDI Editor. Although I’ve posted some tutorials for Reaper and since I’m a Mac user, I use Logic Pro X. Regardless, whichever DAW you choose will take some time to get the expected results.

I’m going to guess that your bass track is getting stripped out from Reaper because you might not have the export to MIDI process configured properly to do so yet. I’ll try to provide a couple of screen shots this weekend to show you what it should look like.

Thank you in advance for your help, persist!

Yes, the bass is getting stripped out in BeatBuilder and Reaper.

I will continue to research on my end on the midi configuration output.

dawnpgeo

As I was browsing the forum, I read that Beat Builder does not work for bass notes. Thought I had read somewhere that bass could be edited but I could not find those posts.

Here’s an extract from from my Reaper tutorial for the Export Project MIDI . . . : (these instructions are a part of the Reaper tutorial I posted to the forum; if you’ve already downloaded and watched it, you should be good to go but if you didn’t, here’s the link https://www.dropbox.com/s/pixqiuxsusjmnhq/How%20to%20transpose%20bass%20notes%20from%20BBM%20MIDI%20file%20using%20Reaper.zip?dl=0
Part 4. EXPORT DRUMS & BASS TO A SINGLE MIDI TRACK

  1. Highlight the drums track.
  2. Control-click or CMD-click in the bass track; both drums and bass tracks should be highlighted.
  3. File > Export Project MIDI . . . > press the Selected tracks only radio button; also press the Merge to single MIDI track radio button. Name the file you are exporting.
  4. Take note of the BPM; save the file.
    Here’s the screen shot of the Export MIDI Project settings: (make your settings match mine)

Thank you. I watched the video. I am confused as to why you moved ALL of the bass notes -3 semitones but then moved only the notes on line 61 up 12 semitones. Why didn’t you move all of the notes?

You’ll need to read para 4 of the Transpose BBM MIDI file bass in Reaper text file that accompanies the video.

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Hi everybody,

Belief me, there is no easy way to do drums with bass for BB! I love my BB and I’m a user from the very beginning, but this kind of midi and DAW stuff was too big for me, especially since I’m not a keyboarder and had no glue about midi.

But due to the current situation I have some time and so two weeks ago I downloaded REAPER, bought a small midi keyboard and started my try and error. I was in every state between euphoria and desperation, but last Sunday I managed to get my first OPB with bass working. Hurray!!

Tools I used:

  • REAPER
  • EZDrummer 2 (works fantastic as VSTi in REAPER)
  • Toontrack midi drum libraries (unfortunately not GM1 Standard)
  • Si-Bass Guitar (VSTi of Cakewalks free BandLab with a real nice bass sound)

Steps in brief:

  • record the original song, so I have all time measures, position of verse, corus, bridge etc.
  • do a beat track using my Toontrack drum libraries
  • record the bass line in another track with the little midi controller

Now the hard work starts:

  • do copies of the two midi tracks
  • change the midi mapping to be in line with the drum with bass drum set
  • merge the two modified midi channels
  • this work is really pain in the ass, because you can’t really control or listen to it

A BB VSTi (drum and bass) would be the solution! Does anybody have it?? I searched the Internet how to create an own VSTi but this seems to be really tough.

Now I’m a little bit heretical! When I had produced my original drum track (VSTi EZDrummer) and my bass track (Si_Bass Guitar) I rendered them to an MP3 file to add it as a backing track to my song texts in ONSONG which normally controls my BB. And the sound was amazing! Really much better then with BB! So if the trend goes to OPB, why should I use the BB in future??

As somebody already mentioned in the forum. A product is as good as its software is! And the BB Manager is not really state of the art.

So my advice to all who want to use OPB (with or w/o bass) and use the ONSONG App (or Songbook, etc): Do the arrangement in REAPER, export it to mp3 and don’t waste time and pain in additional editing to make it BB with bass compatible.

With friendly grooves from Bavaria

Karl

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Grüß gott, Karl.

Bavaria? I used that north of Hamburg once and everyone looked at me like I was from the moon. The wife is from Furth and nobody up north could understand her haha

Bamberg

Cool, I was in Nurnberg for 6 years, Bremerhaven for 4 and 50km north of Hamburg for another 4 while in the army :slight_smile:
Loved it over their then but a lot has changed since 1995

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