Hi there, pre-newbie here! Meaning that I’m almost convinced to buy a BeatBuddy and I’m checking some features to see if it’s really for me (most likely it is).
For what I need live I’ve already seen that its pre-loaded drum grooves meet all my needs and then some, but there’s a particular song in my setlist which definitely needs the actual drum part, taken from the original tune in my CD (I have the mixing session so I have already extracted the stereo wav file).
By looking at the instructional videos and stuff like that, I seem to understand that I can load the actual sound file on the song structure, using the computer program, assign a precise role in the song structure to it, so when the time comes I will just need to launch it via pedal click, am I right?
So what I’m asking is:
Did I get it right? Is what I just explained, actually possible?
Are there length limitations on the sound files I load?
Do I need to load soundfiles that stick to a specified bpm? That’s because in a few instances I’d need to have “soundscapes” rather than grooves, so nothing that follows a click, so to speak. It just starts and plays. It shouldn’t be a problem right?
Thanks for all the help you can give me, and feel free to ask any question if I haven’t been entirely clear.
Generally, the BB is designed to playback midi files, and, of course, using midi the tempo can be adjusted at will. User @AashiDeacon developed the method that I describe in the above tutorial, with which you can playback a wav file on the BB. I haven’t found a length limitation, per se, but the BB does have a 100mb limitation on the drum kit, so the custom drum kit containing the wav would need to be less than 100mb.
You can use any BPM wav soundfile, however, but its BPM will not be adjustable in the Beat Buddy. This is a “hack” to allow playback of backing tracks, so you lose some of the BB capabilities, for that song. The wav that you create would need to be 16bit 44.1khz, and you will need some type of midi creation software to create the BB .sng file with the one long note as explained in the tutorial. I use Logic Pro, but anything with a good midi editor, i.e Ableton, Cubase, Audacity, etc., will work.
Also note that the BB seems to have issues with some meta tags that get attached to wav files from some programs. There are tag stripper programs to get rid of those problems, but I find that NCH Software’s Switch is great for this, and it’s real good for changing files from 48khz to 44.1khz, or mp3 to wav, among other things.
Whoa, thanks! I’m not worried about the bpm on that particular song, fortunately, so even if it’s not adjustable, on a sound file (as opposed to a MIDI sequence) it will work just as fine, for my needs. I’m gonna read the post thoroughly, 'cause it seems to be covering all aspects I mentioned, thanks again!
I did this first and loaded the song Reelin in the Years… it’s basically a full backing track of that song… i don’t see it on the forum anymore… if i can find it i will load it… it’s not really interactive… you basically just start it, and it plays the whole backing track and ends…
the next one i did was loaded 4 different backing track type parts for the song Fight The Power… so you could sing along with that song, switching between 4 different tracks for verse, chorus, break, etc… was pretty cool! here’s a discussion of that: Backing Track Option for Beatbuddy - #12 by JoeInOttawa
Thanks, I noticed that there are many approaches to this issue, and everyone points out that a loaded sound file won’t be interactive. Fortunately that shouldn’t be a problem, in my setup. (And it would be more of an exception than the norm. Most of the time I would be using Beat Buddy as it is intended)
I guess it depends on the definition of “interactive” is, since technically the with the song Fight the Power, you have to intervene to switch the parts. I made a fun “sound effects” song for Riders on the Storm that just loops a rain sound, and when you hit the Fill, it does a cool Thunderclap! So, that’s kinda interactive I did a backing track song version of Regulate that was somewhat interactive too, which was kinda fun, with those michael macdonald grooves. check it out – it should be out there still
I guess it depends on the definition of “interactive” is, since technically the with the song Fight the Power, you have to intervene to switch the parts. I made a fun “sound effects” song for Riders on the Storm that just loops a rain sound, and when you hit the Fill, it does a cool Thunderclap! So, that’s kinda interactive I did a backing track song version of Regulate that was somewhat interactive too, which was kinda fun, with those michael macdonald grooves. check it out!
Well, yeah, it’s kinda interactive, if you look at it that way! Good tips, regarding the sound effects! I might try something like that in a song or two…
I did a backing track song version of Regulate that was somewhat interactive too, which was kinda fun, with those michael macdonald grooves. check it out – it should be out there still