It arrived yesterday and I tried it out last night. All I can say is this pedal is just awesome. The BeatBuddy had been on the wish list for a while, but other things were higher up. I got by with the Android app Grooves Arranger for drums, it’s a great app but you are limited to playing to your programmed sequence, so no extra fills or extra choruses, etc. as the mood may strike. Well, I’ve got this new praise song I wrote and didn’t have the drums programed yet, so I let BeatBuddy accompany me on it. The validation that getting it was when my wife said that it sounds like I got real drummer in the music room. She never said that before. I can’t wait to play with it again. I’ve got load up my Groove Monkee beats yet and get him registered, too. Thanks to the developers for creating such an awesome pedal.
This may be of interest to you. It’s a quote from a post made by someone else a few months ago:
I’m also a worship leader in a small church. I purchased the full BeatBuddy ($300), because of the loadable playlists using the SD card, shareable files, and the community support – Most of the files and configurations users share can only be used on this device.
The mini will work as long as you keep the same beat/setting for your whole worship set – which doesn’t give you the flexibility the as BeatBuddy.
Here are my recommendations for P&W Leaders:
- Purchase the BeatBuddy (forgo the Mini)
- Purchase the Switch Peddle (allows for easy switching between songs in the play list AND accent cymbals)
- Join Facebook Group BeatBuddy Worship – A growing community of worship leaders with BeatBuddy’s, sharing experiences and files pertaining to Praise and Worship.
Hope this recommendation helps.
Thanks for the heads up. In fact, I will be using the Beatbuddy for Sunday worship when our drummer can’t make it. Always alot of guitar players, but no drummers or bass players, which is why I picked up playing bass. I’ll definitely sign up for that Facebook group.
I have the beatbuddy but have yet to use it live for Worship. If you are the leader and singer I can see it working as the other band members would be following your lead anyways, but I am only a guitarist with bass and piano and we have some one else that leads in vocals so I would be scared to try in this situation.
You shouldn’t have too much trouble using the Beatbuddy if you’re singers stick to the script and the band does some sort of run through or practice beforehand. However, if your lead vocalist is always changing things up and leaving the rest of the band playing catch up, I can see the challenge. A way to start off would be to set up a song with just beats for a verse and a chorus with no transition fills and no outro. Have the two button footswitch set up with one button for pause and the other one for accent cymbal. For the intro either do a side stick snare count in or none at all if guitar does lead in. This way you’re covered if you trigger the chorus or verse late since with no fills during transitioning no one will notice. Hitting the pause and accent at the end will give you a good finish and then with no outro fill you just double tap the main pedal to end the loop while you’re not under any pressure. If you have never had a drummer then getting the band to play to a set tempo might take a little practice. If your songs require changes in tempo then you’ll have to change that or get a real drummer due to the Beatbuddy’s set tempo setup. Don’t over think it or feel nervous, as the congregation is there to worship and is happy they are not singing some old hymn being accompanied by that donated out of tune piano with the keys that stick. Also, one more thing, if anyone says anything it’s always the singer’s fault.