Here’s the problem I’d like to see solved:
Many songs I play (this is echoed in other posts [ex1] in this forum btw) are need more flexibility than the
intro verse chorus outro format that BB provides by default. I have experimented with using long fills to give me more flexibility, but would prefer to have just a bit more richness in control. One example would be a song that has the following arrangement:
Intro
Verse
Verse
Chorus
Bridge
Verse
Chorus
** Jam on Verse beat
Chorus
** Jam on Chorus beat
Outro
In this case I’d need a way to do do the bridge part, and then move around between verse and chorus beats. I could do this by arranging the whole thing linearly.
I would prefer one of these ideas:
Be able to assign a button to behave like the main switch, except transition and go back one part in the arrangement instead of transitioning and advancing one part
Have additional structure available in BBManager to specify the song structure in block form, with sections that terminate after a programmable number of repeats (or loop indefinitely). Today, BB either loops indefinitely, or terminates after one time through (intro, outdo, fills, transitions). I would like to see this generalize out a bit.
Either way would give a good deal more flexibility.
Thanks for considering
Hi John - this is an interesting topic and one I have been thinking about for a long time. So far my solution s to use an iPad app (it runs on other devices too) called Set List Maker (SLM) which, amongst other features, allows you to create recorded midi automation which you can play back when selecting a song. Basically it will trigger certain midi events at preset times in the playback. In the new BB FW (1.79 available from support) you can send midi commands to transition from one song part to any other song part. So it would be possible to use SLM to record transitions as follows Part 1, P2, P1,P3, P2, P1…etc. I have tested this and it works really well. One advantage is that you could have just 3 song parts for the song on the BB but could have several arrangements for the same song on SLM (different order of song parts). I know this is not exactly what you are looking for because the SLM automation still progresses from beginning to end without the ability to change it’s course. I have discussed the idea of implementing markers within SLM automation with the developer. The idea being that you could jump between markers and therefore change the song structure on the fly. he may implement something like this. An alternative to using SLM would be to have a midi controller with dedicated buttons for each song part. Then you could move freely between parts and create any order you want on the fly. But in this case you would have to control everything and would be hard to incorporate any automation. I think the ideal solution is the best of both worlds and that is what I’m looking to achieve well.
I just got BB FW 1.79 and haven’t tried this but…
I was planning to update OnSong with the midi commands to change part on the Beat Buddy. In OnSong you can create sections e.g. Intro: Verse: Chorus etc. You can also set up your foot controller to go back and forward through these sections. Also, and most importantly, you can fire a midi command when you go to a section - so I’ll just add the corresponding MIDI command to change the part on the beat buddy.
In doing this I don’t have to remember which button plays the verse, chorus, bridge or whatever. I’m simply scrolling through the song in OnSong and the parts get selected automatically.
I like Johns idea . I ve been shying away from the ONE PRESS songs that have been created recently with concern that I may lose that flexibility of being able to jam out longer in some parts when I want to. Instead of just playing through a song and moving on to the next like a robot.
I have OnSong too and what you describe seems to be what I am looking for (I never tried the midi commands with OnSong). I have one question though: if you allow the song to play through without intervention, how do you accurately time the change from one part to another? There doesn’t appear to be any visible timeline in OnSong to peg the presets to.
I also have OnSong and am using it to pick the songs via the MIDI command at the start. I’d love a bit more into on how to change from one part to another using OnSong. Thanks in advance