My apologies in advance if I’m being a klutz.
I Just got my beatbuddy yesterday. The pre-loaded songs on the SD card work fine. When I download an .sng file from the forum, that works too. However, sometimes the download is a zip file. I don’t know how to import the files in the zip folder into the beat buddy manager. Do I import them as a song or a folder? Do I important each element, e.g., midi or wav, separately?
Any advice or links to videos would be appreciated.
First, unzip the .zip file.
Then,iIt depends on what is in the .zip. Look at the instructions/descriptions that were posted with the zip. Songs files (.sng) get imported to BBM via File>Import>Song. Drumkits (.drm) get imported via File>Import>Drumkit or Drumset. Folders of Songs (.pbf) get imported via File>Import>Folder.
I will often include several versions of a song (drums only (DOP), drums and bass only (OPB) and drums, bass and something else, (typically OPBk, but is could be something else.) I also usually include lead sheet as a pdf, and sometimes the same lead sheet as a txt for those who use OnSong. Often, I will include a source midi that I used to make the DOP, OPB and OPBk.
Those other files, a midi or a wav is there for some other purpose. I usually post a midi along with a .sng if I want the use to be able to edit the song/midi to their liking. Those midis would then be added in place of an existing midi within a song. Wav files are usually posted to be included in drum kit as a special effect. The instructions usually explain that. If not, ask, referencing the particular song.
Thanks for the helpful advice. I’ll give it a shot.
Okay, so I downloaded the “Most Popular Cover Songs Vol. 1,” which is a zip file. Can I import them all in one fell swoop, or do I have to import them song by song?
As an example, one of the song folders, Rolling in the Deep. It includes 15 files, all of which have .mid suffixes. I can’t import them as a song, because there is no .sng file. I can’t import them as a folder because there is no .snf file.
Do I need to create a new song, name it Rolling In the Deep, and then add each of the individual files to different places in the song, e.g., main loop, drum fill, transition fill, etc.? If so, how do I know which midi files go where? For example, one MIDI file is named "rolling in the deep-verse 3 (handclaps).mid. Where does that file go?
If this information is already in a tutorial, please let me know the link.
Thanks in advance,
FastFingers
Isn’t there a pbf file in that collection? If so, you import that as file>import>folder and select the pbf file. Then the entire collection of songs comes in.
Ooh nice! I just had to copy all the files from the zip folder into a new folder. Then I could import all the songs at once using the pbf file.
Thanks so much! I’m encouraged.
FastFingers
I think, in general there are only 5 file types that you can import into the Beat Buddy SD card via Beat Buddy Manager (BBM). .sng is a song file which has all the (midi file) beats for the intro, main parts, fills, accents and outro all in one file. .pbf is a bigger file which has a number of songs in it, all imported at once. .drm is a drum kit (with all the .wav files for all the velocity ranges for each drum = complicated); .wav can be imported as an accent file which plays once on the accent pedal press. .mid files are midi files you can make in a DAW, other apps or the excellent, free Beatbuilder.jar app or find online separately, free of charge or for a fee these can be imported one at a time into a new song in the BBM. Some midi files might not work, it all depends on the file configuration and if the creator app puts weird tags in the file header. Correct me if I am wrong Phil_Flood because you know more about this than me. Also, if you hit a problem, there are lots of kind people on this forum to help you out, no matter how stupid the question might seem, just ask.
You can add a wav file to a drum kit instrument as well as using them as accent hits.
Midi files that have something other than drums need to be manipulated to work in the BB. Single track drums only files will play, but might not necessarily be mapped to the correct drum kit notes.
Phil,
You have posted the best explanations on this forum. I’m a novice and I tried to play on my beat buddy the song “Is this love” by Bob Marley, which I got on this forum. But it plays over and over and I can’t get the other instruments to play. What do I need to play the entire song along with the other instruments in my beat buddy? Thanks for.your time!!
Can you share a screen shot of what the song looks like in BBM? From your description it sounds like
Please avoid posting the same question in different threads. Thanks
The answer to your questions is in this post: Is This Love? OPBk (A) 2017-10-19 - Bob Marley and the Whailers
Hi Alex,
I found the song, downloaded it, tried it, and it works fine:
This is one of GarryA’s songs, and it uses one of his kits. This kit is very similar to my original Hammond with Bass kit. When you play the song, you should hear the drums, bass, and organ. That is all that is in the file. But you do need GarryA’s specific kit, to get to hear it the way he wanted, and the original links to those are gone. Fortunately, I have archived the kit. You can download it here:
After you download and install the kit (File>Import>Drumset), you’ll need to click the box in front of the kits name in the drumkit list to activate the kit.
Then, yes, I see Persist posted an answer to this, too, and his information is correct, as it almost always is. The song is set up with the one press file in the outro, so to get the song to play, you double tap the pedal. This triggers the outro, which will play through.
Wow!!! Thanks!!! It rock. This is a New wonderful world for me! Very thankfull!!!
Removed your post with your invoice. Please send a private message to Phil with the invoice attached.
sorry. Newbie here 