I just finished my first major gig using the Beat buddy. It was an outdoor event with about 400 to 500 people. 24 songs - (used BB on 16 of them). Also used TC Helicon Acoustic Play, Firehawk, Variax, and a tablet using Songbook. The Beat Buddy was perfect. Seriously. I may not ever go back to using a real drummer. Lessons learned: The power supply for the BB scares me. It just seems so flimsy. I ordered a third-party supply over Amazon a few days before-hand as a backup. The BB screen was easier to see in the sun than any of the other devices including the tablet on full brightness. I will likely invest in the Midi Maestro when it comes out. Too many devices to set every song and too easy to screw up. Never will wear another tropical themed shirt in bright sun again during a gig. It reflects in the dang tablet screen. The black t-shirt was much better. People loved some of the modified BB tracks with handclaps, tambourines, etc. (Thanks Phil and others). My own tracks went over great which gives me more confidence going forward. The devices were really easy to mix and very clean. I was worried about the differing volume levels of some of the kits but it created no problems. My playing and singing weren’t great but I got a terrific response from the crowd anyway. I attribute much of that to how tight the sound was because of the BB. Those of you on the fence can rest assured that the BB is a serious tool for gigging.
Welcome to the ranks of people using the Beat Buddy to make music live! There are some great artists on the site with some videos to share. I’m looking forwatrd to seeing yours!
Joe
great to hear your experience! i am waiting for the opportunity to make a performance with BB, even when I have already used it in many rehearsals and as a composition tool. LOL on your tropical shirt XP… Good to know
I’ve been gigging for 3 years with the BB. Spent thousands of hours editing and creating music, few original but mostly covers. I’ve been slowly purchasing quality equipment with my earnings and it makes a huge difference. Most of my time lately has been spent on fine tuning the drum kits to be consistent with each other in volume as well as balancing out the instruments in the individual songs. Recently created a new set of bass guitar waves to add clarity to the kits. I use mostly one press songs and have nearly 300 songs. 180 or so that I regularly play out and the rest are in need of tweaking and practice. Without Beatbuddy I would probably be unemployed. Huge full sound and limitless possibilities. When the forum is a bit easier to use and more organized to share…I’ll put my tunes out there.
One question, do you create and edit your drum kits in the beatbuddy manager or in the Beat Builder?
So you have all your songs set up with just one click to start and one to end? Do you have all the fills and bridges programed in each song?
Since you brought it up, I’ve been gigging with Songbook outdoors in sun for about five years now. Reverse the display for black letters on white background. Simple button in the setup.
All fills and everything are all in there with one press. I put the main part of the song in the intro slot and a loop with no sound “Null” in the body of he song. When the intro ends, it just loops on silent until I hit the outer. There are other ways to do it but that way works for me.
I edit with a free editor I got off the internet. It works extremely well. https://www.midieditor.org/
I re read your question. I edit the drum kits in the BB manager. I edit the songs in the free midi editor. Sorry bout that.
THAT’S AWESOME! I’m very happy for you! I’ve been “tinkering” with my Beat Buddy for about 2 years and, to-date, I’ve done 2 full fledged gigs with it. The first one had a few issues that were overcome by playing without the BB but still well received. The second was nearly flawless! Practice makes perfect. I have my third in a couple weeks. You mentioned that the different volumes of kits was not a problem for you. May I ask how you overcame it? Thanks very much, again, congratulations!!
Thanks Andy. This gig went over better than I expected. I’m still getting email accolades. Now that I have some confidence with the equipment, I’m sure the next one will be at least be less terrifying and hopefully even better. I think I lucked out with the drum kit volumes. Most were fairly close in volume. I knew which ones were substantially off from the others and had a note on the tablet to adjust the mixer (that I had beside me) before and/or after the song played. I had similar problems with some of my firehawk lead patches. I should have dialed those in a little better beforehand. For 60% of the songs, I was using an acoustic setting on the variax but when I switched over to a lead sound in the middle of the song I was too loud or soft on a few songs. Someone on this forum suggested a Pfeiffer leveler. I think I’m going to buy one and see how well it works to even out the volume. I’ll report back on this forum after I give it a try. I probably should just do what Jim does and fine tune the drum kits.
Hey Jim…where do you play? What tunes are on your list? I’m just starting building lists so just curious what songs you’re playing.
Sorry this is so late to respond…I quit visiting the forum since the switch over. I live in Wisconsin and play quite often in my area. I have over 300 songs in various stages of playability. About 150 or so that I play regularly. I use 99 percent one press songs. I’ve got hundreds of hours of time invested in my sets. About 10 percent of my songs I have built from scratch. I’m going to try to start sharing my kits and songs soon. The songs and kits need to be used together. I have waves built in to cover some guitar parts such as the slide guitar in Sister golden hair. I record them and cue them in at the right time. What genre do you play?
Hey Jim no prob. I’m usually on the FB BB users group chatting there… rarely come here as well. Here’s a link to the group I’m in and the song list. Most are ready to play now but several are a bit rough still. https://www.facebook.com/notes/sojourn-live/set-list-updates/415424296051064/
I used to live in Waukesha… HS days. That was a lifetime ago!
Jim, I just went out and looked and listened to some of your stuff. You sound terrific. You are doing what I am aspiring to do. I’m trying to mix my favorite toe-tappers and singalongs in multiple genres. Can’t wait for retirement so I can devote more time to it. I’m looking forward to hearing some of the song files you share. I need to clean up some of mine and post those as well. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos as well.
Hey, just got my beat buddy 5 days ago, did my first gig today. Went very well - but I need help. I’m still trying to find the 3/4 time on it. Where’s the 3/4 time on the basic package ?? Thanks.
Try looking in Brushes and World. Also Jazz.
You might also find some of the 6/8s will work for you, depending on what you’re looking for.