MIDI sync (urgent - at least to me :-) )

#1

Hi,

I noticed the following problem:
I use my BB with a Boomerang III. There are songs in my set where I want to use the BB (and the Rang), and there are some where I just use the Rang alone. When I just use the Boomerang without turning on the BB, it still sends a MIDI sync to the Rang, even though I’m in a completely different tempo (there’s no song being played by the BB, ergo it stays on the tempo of the last or next song, depending on where I am in the setlist). Ergo: the Rang cuts off my loop because it syncs to the wrong tempo.

This is really urgent to me - I can’t play that song without unhooking the MIDI connection between the two devices.

Thanks,

M.

#2

This is indeed something I’ve been noticing myself. I know no workaround aside from actually setting the tempo for the songs where you play without BeatBuddy. Simply tapping the correct tempo will do it for you. As a bonus, all your tracks will be properly aligned. But you may have to be careful of when to start recording - probably you will need to monitor Boomerang indicator for a while before starting. Totally not an option for blind people though :frowning:

#3

I take it this is a master/slave issue where as the BB being the master, sets and controls the tempo for all the slave devices, like the Boomerang. In other words, it’s working like it should.

Option one, adjust firmware so the tempo clock isn’t sent when the BB is stopped. Problem with that is you won’t be able to set the tempo of the song on the BB unless the song is actually playing (or paused).

I wonder if the BB could be made to behave like some multi-track recorders where you press record once and it sort of goes into a standby state where you can set levels and such, before pressing record again to actually begin recording. If the BB had a full stop and a standby state, where as the full stop mode would turn off the tempo sync. Just thinking out loud,

Option two, make the Boomerang the master device and the BB the slave, then set and control your tempo using the Boomerang? I don’t have a Boomerang so can’t say if that works.

#4

Guys, don’t try to sell me an inconvenience as a feature! :slight_smile:

Regarding Scudd’s post:

  • Option one is the solution. It would be great if though the tempo was shown on the BB’s display - even when it’s stopped - with no MIDI signal going out. I already posted that as a feature request.

  • Option two doesn’t really work. If I press the Boomerang’s button a few milliseconds to early or too late (which I usually do),
    it will still be perfectly in time if the BB is the master. Now if I’m a little imprecise and the Rang is the master - the tempo on the BB will stay the same and there will be audible tempo issues. While a chord might be cut a bit at the beginning / end of a loop, this is never as bad as having a shortened measure every 4 or 8 measures.

#5

That’s how marketing works these days :slight_smile:

Actually, (I repeat myself) the only reasonable workaround is to tap BeatBuddy tempo of the song you are playing without it while still using BB as MIDI Master.

What scudd advices seems like a good solution, but then you realize that there appears too many “modes” for BeatBuddy - far too many for a user to cope with. I think that the team actually hit a sweet spot here.

And I would never ever recommend using a BeatBuddy as a Slave to Boomerang III Master. It’s like trying to hammer a nail vice versa - hammering a hammer with a nail.