MIDI Mapping for DAW

General Discussion
1

I have very little experience with MIDI and DAW so this might be a stupid question.

Quite a few of the user generated drum files include bass / keyboards/ brass, is it possible to have a DAW plugin which re-maps the DAW to positions used by BeatBuddy for playback?

At the moment it seems like, for example, a bass line has to be dropped two octaves in a DAW for it to be read by BB. Obviously, this sounds really bad when played in DAW. I often can’t figure where brass sections have to be moved to.

The reason I ask is that some of the excellent songs which have been submitted need to be changed to keys to match the limitations of my vocal range. As well as making songs easier to play on guitar.

So a secondary question is - how do you change the key of sng files ?

Any comments/ help
Thanks

Alan

2
  • Most of Phil Flood’s kits have a MIDI mapping file that accompanies the kits he posts.
  • You could probably find a plug-in for your digital audio workstation (DAW) but after a while, transposing becomes almost a part of ingrained memory.
  • Depending on the kit used determines the number of octaves raised or lowered. For example, NP StdPBass 63-91 would require raising the bass 3 octaves; Phil Flood’s kits require lowering the bass by 2 octaves. Hint: once I raise or lower the bass notes, I don’t listen to them on my DAW. I do verify that the bass notes fall in the range of the type kit I’m using though.
  • When transcribing the bass notes, I first make the rough pass which is to raise or lower the bass the required number of octaves; once done, and when required, I’ll transpose to get it in the preferred key (raise or lower the required number of steps). I usually try to transcribe the song as performed originally and include the non-edited MIDI source file that I used.
  • I use Logic Pro X and a rule of thumb that works for me for instruments other than bass (and especially for Phil Flood’s kits) is:
    • piano fits C3 - C6 range
    • organ, brass and instruments other than piano fits C#6 - G8 range
    • there are exceptions and that’s why you need to read the notes that accompany Phil Flood’s kits. GarryA’s kits are slightly different.
  • I usually do not transpose from an .sng file—I prefer to use the MIDI source file. If the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) Export to MIDI file capability worked properly (which it presently does not), you could use the BBM Export to MIDI file to get a MIDI file that can be edited in your DAW. What you get when you export to MIDI though is a file that has all of the instruments (regions or tracks) in a single file instead of separate MIDI regions.
3

In Logic Pro X, you can build an ESX 24 instrument to match a drum kit. It’s usually more trouble than it’s worth, as you could just build your track in Logic, get it sounding good, and then transpose the track to match the midi placement in the BB drum kit.

4

Thanks Persist and Phil,

It’s a shame there isn’t a ‘standard’ map so it’s easy to know what’s where

Alan

5

Russ at Groovemonkee supplied with with Beatbuddy mapping for Studio One. I’ve been making an extra track that I copy my song into then remap for the beatbuddy. So far I am dealing with Drums only so I am not sure how this would work with more instrumentation.