I want to use two BBs so that I have more patterns available during live performance; how can o do this?
Use both feet?
What are you trying to accomplish? Are you hoping to run them at the same time?
You could connect two BB’s together via midi cables. You’d need a Singular midi breakout cable for each BB, and ONE regular midi cable to go from the Midi out of your master BB to the Midi in of your slave BB. You’d would make the appropriate setting in the Midi section of each pedal to have one send send clock and the other receive clock. There would be no need to have each pedal send notes or other data. You simply need to send clock to keep them in sync. Both BB pedal would need to be connected to the mixer board/amp. You could have a separate amp for each pedal, if you chose to do so. Be aware though, that the master pedal won’t stop playing when you trigger the slave pedal, you could set up a blank main loop that just keeps time when you are triggering the slave pedal, or, if your goal is to simply add additional tones to the mix, i.e., a drum kit on one pedal, and a Latin Percussion kit on the second pedal, there would be no issue with both playing at once. I guess it just depends upon what you goal is, but, yes, you could have multiple BB pedals in sync using the midi breakout cable and 5 pin midi cables.
I want to move between patterns in any order as I see fit during my performance; not simultaneous playback
Off the top of my head, I wouldn’t know how to do that. You can’t easily do that with 1 BB, so why could you do it with 2? With a midi controller attached to a BB you can pick parts within a song, so again, yes, with 2 you could pick parts within 2 songs. The issue then becomes the limited number of switches on the controller. And, offhand, I don’t know how to get clock from unit 1 to unit 2 without getting patch change signals from unit 1 to unit 2. I suppose it’s doable.
Thanks Phill,
I normally use the BB and the optional footswitch to make my performance closer to realistic; the two pedals are working great, but the next step is two switch between more than just two patterns in a song; what do you think?
You can have more than two main loops in one BB song. I once did a song that had, I believe, some where around 16 or 18 main loops. And, there is no issue with duplicating a main loop, so that you can have it more than one place. A song could go intro, verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, bridge, chorus with outro, as an example. You could lay that out as intro (INTRO section), verse, verse (Main Loop 1), chorus, (Main Loop 2), verse (Main Loop 3), Chorus (Main Loop 4) Bridge (main loop 5) Chorus (main Loop 6) Bridge, chorus with outro (OUTRO section.)
You are not bound by the construction of the song as you found it in the BB. You can copy parts from one song to another song, or within a song, and have as many piece available to you as you wish. With the foot pedal, you are limited by series of the song, i.e. section before, section after, but you have nearly unlimited flexibility with the layout within BBM, even being able to treat a fill as a full part, if desired.
Thanks Phill, I’ll look into that method…I don’t use the BBM; i like playing with sheet music mixed with improvising
I wonder if that makes any sense to you
I use two pedals all the time, sometimes three, sometimes four - even 5. While the previous response talking about syncing, I recommend not taking on the impossible. If I understand the question, it’s not so much about how to get both pedals in sync playing the same song at the same time like an actual band with two drummers. No.
I host online music sessions and have an elaborate setup and normally use two drum pedals, and sometimes a third. I prefer to use two DigiTech SDRUMs, and add the BeadBuddy at times.
- You will need a Mixer to support all stereo channels for all pedals. I use this because its simple and if you want, will run on batteries. XENYX 1002B
- You will need a stereo volume pedal for each pedal inline between the pedal the mixer. Boss FV-50L Stereo Volume
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You will need to be very organized with your drum pedal song presets and what songs are stored on each pedal. It helps to have a printout, so you do not have to move away from your tablet screen in case you were thinking of loading a PDF on it with your song list, per pedal. It sounds like you will use two BB pedals. This helps because in my case my SDRUM’s can load up to 32 songs patterns each which are way beyond my needs since most songs my in catalog overlap with the same beats. BB will show you your display too. I refer to a spreadsheet with all 32 presets per pedal.
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Here’s where the magic happens. Very easy. Volume Pedals down. Start Pedal 1 for your beat. Now, let’s say you’re coming out of the first song on P1 and the next song is on Pedal 2. Start P2 and increase the volume while P1 is still playing out, and you can give a soft transition into songs this way, while you decide how you want to either volume-down on P1, then stop the song, while P2 brings you into the next song, or just end it.
This requires coordination and with a little practice you can keep the beat going in your set list. Also, you can do some very creative things this way. And, no dance lessons are required.
In some of my setups, I had the BB as a third, SR16 as a 4th, and SR18 as a 5th. I’m not playing them together, but at one point I did chain everything together via the MIDI cable and it was insane the spaciousness you achieve with all of them at the same tempo.
Have fun
Thanks Jeff,
You explained your process very well…
What I’m trying to figure out is how to make both BBs function as one unit with two pedals; each one playing its pattern when pressed while stopping the other pattern___ why? because many songs have more than two percussion arrangements during the same song; plus I could then swap between patterns at will___why? because I do lots of improvising too and then don’t always play them with the same arrangement or length
Do you think you can help me with this Jeff?
If I follow, you want both pedals to play simultaneously, and the ability to control each one individually while maintaining the same tempo. This will require MIDI, and likely a third-party MIDI device that acts as the Master clock for both. Otherwise, when chaining the two pedals together, only one can be the Master. The other is the slave.
Worth a try first to see when making changes with the slave pedal whether it gives you the results you want and hopefully it will fall into sync and time with the Tempo the Master is sending.
A more sophisticated setup to control the pedal could involve a MIDI controller. MIDI solutions has several merge device options when connecting multiple MIDI capable devices together. MIDI Solutions Products
If you simply want both pedals to play in sync, the first thing to try is connect them via MIDI, and specify one as the Master.
Going further into this would be beyond my expertise since at one point I dabbled with midi connections and decided to go with my current setup.
Thanks Phill
I’m gonna try that; I’ll let you know how it works out…!