My question seems very simple but I could not figure out to how to do it properly.
I am a big fan of the SingularSound products and so I have the “perfect” combo: MM -> BB -> Aeros.
What I am trying to achieve is pretty simple: record a loop for practicing a guitar solo: let’s say the iconic Hotel California one (can’'t do more iconic right?).
For sure I would like to reuse the “official” beat from the BB library, where the solo rhythm is part 6 of the song (I don’t remember the exact part number but let’s assume it’s 6).
But then, it becomes surprisingly tricky to start recording straight from part 6. So I have questions like:
Is it possible to have the BB starting from a predefined part (instead of the intro or part 1 by disabling the intro)?
Can I create a MM mode to select part numbers and jump directly to them (instead of up/down)? For example, go from the Intro to the Chorus, skipping the verse. The MM screens could display part1, part2, etc… Or even better intro, verse, chorus, bridge , solo, etc… and we could then chain them live in any random order.
Alternatively, can I create a MM mode to chose the BB starting part before starting the beat?
As an attempt, I tried to disable BB midi out sync commands, to avoid starting the Aeros on the first BB parts (I know there is request to be able to do this with a footswitch press). The midi clock and tempo goes through but not the start/next commands. Then I start the BB and I switch parts until reaching part 6 (the Aeros has not recorded anything but receives the beat). And then I press record on the Aeros somewhere during the previous bar, as I expect the recording to start at the beginning of the next bar (obviously the Aeros song is set with quantize on and midi sync on). Unfortunately, when doing this, the Aeros always starts recoding when pressed and not at the start of the next bar. Really frustrating.
I did not try too much after that and preferred to ask here directly.
I hope that such a basic situation has a simple answer.
Thanks for any help.
This is where the requested midi “park” mode would come into play. The idea is via footswitch you could tell the Aeros to ignore the BB commands (perhaps by going to the home screen or song selection screen) until you were ready.
As a painful workaround, you can unplug the midi until you are ready (uggh) or cancel out of/undo recording when the bb is on part 6 … and then press record on the Aeros.
This is a common use. Not sure why Aeros doesn’t work better with the BB.
FYI, I have seen cases where the Aeros starts recording immediately rather than waiting for the BB to complete it’s cycle. Think this is a bug.
Thanks @Quad
It confirms that I am not missing an easy setup.
One alternative is to create a new 1-part-only BB song with the BB manager and then use the standard BB -> Aeros workflow with this single BB beat.
But this is quite cumbersome, and precisely what I want to avoid by using the Aeros: don’t switch on the computer, edit things and or use the DAW to record or practice simple ideas live.
Also, speaking of live sessions, the idea of having the MM able to control the various song parts randomly (with dedicated labels) is I think very interesting, and what many users wish in the end. So I hope Singular Song will offer this ultimate feature in the future. It can start with MM -> BB, and then with MM -> BB -> Aeros. I think this is achievable, even without a MM mode per song, if we restrict a song to 5 parts (e.g. intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro) in order to match the 6 buttons of the MM (keep one for start/stop or enter sub menu).
Someone just posted one in my thread about disengaging the MIDI.
But yes @Imagine, good luck with your quest. Hopefully SS can add this feature soon as without it it makes performing live a bloody pain. They should just have it disengaged when on the home screen or something.
I’m going to move this to BB feature requests because that seems more apt, the Aeros already responds to part commands of parts that already exist. So this seems more like a BB request to me, lmk if I misunderstood or misread that!
I’ll also pass this request along
Yes you can do this, but not from a stopped state, the BB currently starts from one
This is tied to your request to start the part you want from stopped, so not currently possible unfortunately
You can try changing the Aeros MIDI Start command setting to only respond to MIDI Start for playback. This will enter the Aeros into a “scrolling” mode where it is playing back but did not yet start recording. You can also turn off playback in this setting to start Aeros in time with BB later on.
Thanks @BrennanSingularSound
Yes all your answers make sense.
I will try to figure out how to program the MM to propose dedicated labels for predefined BB song parts. I can probably “save” buttons (only 6!) by using the external switch for accents and stop.
By the way, is there a way to change the MM mode live (through BT or MIDI for example) as it’s not easy to reach the small button on the back while playing.