I agree with you Pineears. I use Onsong to send midi commands to my voice live 3, which changes pre-sets based on the song I choose in Onsong. So whatever song I play, the right VL3 preset is automatically picked. I am expecting my BB in the mail today. Would love it if Onsong could send a midi command to BB to pick the drum track for the song automatically. I usually play from set lists, but they are not always the same, meaning creating a new set list in Onsong, then again in BB.
Big plus for any iPad compatibality
I’d also love the ability to control song selection by Midi via OnSong.
I love this idea so, so much.
I have a long, long set/song list that I play from. About 300 songs in all. As I work six nights a week, this works for me, as I can keep my set loose and change it up every night.
Being able to have a signal from OnSong that’ll change the setting on the BeatBuddy?
Well, that’d be heavenly!
I’m intrigued by the possibility of controlling Beat Buddy with OnSong via MIDI. Wow, if you could select a song that has a tempo set up and have OnSong start the BB at that tempo and use foot switches to trigger fills and stops, that would be AWESOME. Maybe I’m just dreaming but that would be great. The OnSong BB duo would be a terrific combination. Tell me it’s possible…
Without an app for iPad that can be used to select beats on the Beat Buddy, I hold back from purchasing this device. I need to be able to pre-program beats for songs ( with tempos ) and select them from the same device and program that I am using for lyrics and set lists, without having to bend down to a pedal.
I like many features I see on this device but it seems that the development is still unfinished in order to make it a truly state of the art device.
There arent many hardware devices that have mac, pc and ipad support. They are having enough problems with getting the Mac version developed and everytime ios is updated they would need to update it - I just dont see it viable. Maybe someone with experience of developing IOS apps could take this on?
However, lets imagine that there was an IPAD app, how would it interface with the BB?
“However, lets imagine that there was an IPAD app, how would it interface with the BB?”
First off, I would like to clarify that I don’t mean an app that does all the editing etc that the PC and MAC editing programs are designed to do. What I and so many others are seeking is a way for our already resident song management programs (that we use on stage) to send our preset settings for each song to the BB. ( beat and tempo settings )
I agree, that there are some challenges, but, it is all within the realm of possibility. For example, Mackie makes the DL series mixers that can be controlled remotely through wifi. An external router must be attached to the mixer, but it works great!
For the Beat Buddy a similar thing could be accomplished via an accessory that interfaces through the USB port or MIDI port. The accessory could interface to the iPad through wifi, midi cabling or Bluetooth. I believe Setlist Maker has Bluetooth and wifi capabilities that would send such data. BB does not currently appear to have such capability to receive and understand such data. However, I don’t feel it’s that big a leap to make this work in a world where we can control our vehicles and home electronics through an iPhone app.
There are lots of ways to do this that are already being done with other modern hardware. It’s actually a great business opportunity for Singular or a third party that decides to take on the challenge. If such a device were available, many people would be purchasing it, including me.
It sounds like lots of people are loving their BBs, but the love affair is tainted by a serious communication problem. We are seeking a way to make it interface with the rest of what we already do in a live setting. Those of us who switched from music stands and song books to an iPad mounted to our mic stand are not going back. Period. It was a huge step forward. Now that we came that far and have this extremely powerful computer that is capable of linking our song management software with external hardware, why wouldn’t we want to make it all work together in one swoop? We select a song and the BB settings are transmitted to the BB. It’s a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t want that? The love affair would only grow deeper.
Now we have a great piece of hardware that comes closer to a real drummer than most devices out there.
( introducing the BB ) But he won’t play the right beats or tempos unless you bend down and poke him in the eyes and twist his nose into exactly the right position. How nice it would be to just call out to him which song you are going to play (by selecting it on your iPad) and he just starts playing the correct beat and tempo when you give him a simple tap of your foot on the BB pedal.
That’s the love we’re after.
It’s really just patch and tempo change messages that we want to send from our iPad to the Beat Buddy. Additionally, we want it to happen automatically when we select a song within our Song Management program. running on our iPads.
They’ve been using this type of control messaging for decades with midi devices. It couldn’t be that big a challenge. I believe BB can already receive this when connected via USB to a PC. We just need to be able to do this via wifi or Bluetooth.
Some may want a full fledged IPAD app - we should have changed the tile of this thread long ago as “Is It Possible to develop an IPAD app?” sounds to me like a request for the Beatbuddy Manager on the IPAD - which would be very cool, but also highly unlikely.
What people really want then is midi control of the BB from an IPAD, not sure how much of that is currently possible as I have not tested it myself but is something I would like too. All you would need is a midi adapter for which ever IPAD you had.
Thread title: Is It Possible to develop an IPAD app?
The answer is: Sure, it is! Are you willing to make one? 
I just received my BeatBuddy and am entering a learning curve. I have written several iPad musical apps including a performance playlist app and a jukebox app. I will research the possibility of developing an app to control the BeatBuddy with the iOS device as I gain more experience with BeatBuddy.
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I’ll add a bit here. I have unrealBook (a songsheet and playing app) on my iPad. It includes the functionality to send a MIDI message, as OnSong does. I have just tested it for sending a Start message when a file is opened. It works. (F0 FA F7)
If there is MIDI implementation of song selection and tempo, then these could easily be triggered.
I don’t think there is an official MIDI implementation chart, as it is very new. Can you trigger the different things on the pedal and somehow see what shows up on the wire?
I ran MIDI Monitor on my iPad, which I connected to BeatBuddy, to detect MIDI messages coming from the BeatBuddy pedal with pedal presses. Results: No MIDI messages are sent by pedal presses, nor any by the knobs. So the MIDI implementation is limited to Note On, Note Off, Start and Stop, and time clock. At least, as far as I can discover.
It may be that those are all BB sends out, and maybe it takes in more than those. CC 1-36 do nothing. Notes from B2 down (the first two octaves) trigger drums.
With the Rock with Bass drum set, notes from E3 to E5 can be played by a MIDI controller (in MIDI Monitor, a little keyboard).
Good info!
Wow, maybe we can wire the audience in so we know what song they want next as well. I pre arrange a set list of what I am going to do, match up the set list on my BB pedal, so I never have to lean over and change anything on the BB pedal. If I hit a song that I think will not go over with that particular crowd, then it is easy to fast forward through OnSong and BB to the next song. If I get a request that I do not have pre-programmed in, then I have a folder with every song that I do on the BB and it is pretty easy to scroll down with the foot pedal to that song.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use the other foot pedal button to go back in the setlist too?
Greg
You can configure the external footswitch to scroll both forwards and backwards through your song list
I do this. I think this works with folders too if you’re at that level.
I have also done the Norbert hack to add an external main foot switch which allows me to put the BB up on a stand within arms reach but still have all the foot controls at my feet. While tablet/mobile apps would be nice, I don’t have an immediate need given what I’ve been able to assemble.
I don’t deal with 300 entry song list. IIRC, each folder can only hold 99 songs so you need access to folders and songs, not just songs.