After a rather laborious couple hours I finally successfully recorded the Beguine A/B/Fill patterns from my SR18 into SONAR X3 purchased specifically to create/edit MIDI files to use with the Beat Buddy…So now my investment in order to even try to use the Beat Buddy just went up and still have not been able to add it to a live performance. Anyway…
I now have 4 MIDI files…now what?
How does one get them into the BB
How does one create a Song within the BB with the new MIDI files?
So… double-clicking on the newly created folder does NOT allow me to rename it. Nothing happens when it is double clicked.
Also, your steps are vague at best.
Do I not need to import or copy the MIDI files into BB Manager? If so … how… drag and drop from the computer folders?
Again… this REALLY should NOT be this tough.
It is what it is and we all manage to work round the “issues”. It is work in progress and I am sure it will get easier going forward. The original concept changed considerably due to the huge interest in the BB and the supporters requesting features. Originally the BB did not have an LCD screen or Midi sync capabilities. There now is a Mac beta and windows I believe is also still in beta, my videos may help you in creating a new song.
When you import a midi file it adds it to a “song”, the midi file then is not required, just store it in a location for future use. The midi files are imbedded in the Song (.sng) file. Hope that helps. As for a midi editor different people want different things, personally I would like to be able to trigger the samples via midi, that would make creating drum beats easier and a quick midi editor for adding/changing midi notes.
I have already viewed your videos… multiple times. Nice…but not enough detail per what many of us are asking for.
So, to make sure I understand, one does not import a folder of MIDI files in BBManager. Instead you associate an individual MIDI file to a section of a song. Ok…I can do this. It still does not cover the part about naming the FOLDER.
Also, is it correct to assume that each part can only be ONE measure in length? The test I am doing has Transition Fills of 2 measure. However, they don’t play correctly.
Also, the Beguine MIDI files don’t play correctly in the BBManager. They are General MIDI and play just fine in the Alesis SR18 as well as playback through the General Midi configuration in the computer. However, all of the separate percussion drums do not play. Does BB only play certain General MIDI drums or ALL of them? Hope it’s all of them as that certainly is a limitation with this thing…
Yes you explained that better than me.
As for naming the folder I do show that in my video and I think it is a single click but even then it took a while to react. There should be an option in the drop down menus to rename the folder If not there should be!
Also, is it correct to assume that each part can only be ONE measure in length? The test I am doing has Transition Fills of 2 measure. However, they don’t play correctly.
Transitions I believe have to be 1 measure although from another post some stated that if it is longer you just have to keep the pedal pressed for the duration (not tested it myself). All the other sections can be any length (max 500 notes)
Also, the Beguine MIDI files don’t play correctly in the BBManager. They are General MIDI and play just fine in the Alesis SR18 as well as playback through the General Midi configuration in the computer. However, all of the separate percussion drums do not play. Does BB only play certain General MIDI drums or ALL of them? Hope it’s all of them as that certainly is a limitation with this thing…
The BB is general midi compatible but as it is designed to be a drummer stand-in it has the sounds in a typical drum kit. The drum kits are also limited to 100mb which could also explain why the full GM soundset is not supported. However the samples were recorded specifically for the BB and again getting a high enough quality accross the board may have been difficult. The Latin kit includes some precussion and the standard kit.
As with everything with a bit of digging and hard work you could create your own Drumkit which included the whole GM soundset but it would probably not sound as good and it would probably be too large for the 100mb limit anyway.
Below are the sounds in the standard kit, the others you can work out by editing the drum kit and seeing what midi notes trigger what sample.
BB Standard Kit
33 A0 Metronome
36 C1 Kick Drum
37 C#1 Cross Stick
38 D1 Snare
39 D#1 Handclaps
42 F#1 Hi-Hats Closed
43 G1 Tom 4 (Floor)
44 G#1 Foot Hi-hat
45 A1 Tom 3 (Low)
46 A#1 Hi-Hat Open
48 C2 Tom 2 (Hi-Mid)
49 C#2 Crash Cymbal 1
50 D2 Tom 1 (High)
51 D#2 Ride Cymbal
53 F2 Ride C. Bell
55 G2 Splash 1
57 A2 Crash Cymbal 2
59 B2 Splash 1
Yeah… I’ve seen your MIDI note list prior…however, I guess I was unaware that was ALL? That’s a huge miss if that is indeed the case. Or…are you saying that one can mix and match different drums from different kits?
Even though I have been a studio musician for many years as well as a career in computer science, this whole BB thing now just took on the “rocket science” aurora, which is really poor especially since one of the original videos (and one of the reasons I purchased this thing) explicitly shows the Alesis SR18 as being a beast to use in comparison to the BB. That is “totally” not the case!! As I have posted in a number of my posts here I still have not been able to put the BB on stage because of it’s clear limitations and lack of explicit tutorials. As I have mentioned I can whip a drum part out quickly on the SR18. In order to use the BB on stage I would at the “least” have to be able to have the same drum patters/fills etc that my group is presently using with the SR18.
I feel really sorry if you indeed feel that way. In my opinion, Alesis SR18 is a piece of shit swinging in the toilet when comparing to BeatBuddy.
Yes, I totally understand that right now programming your own beats can be a bit tough and requires you to use an external MIDI editor. But eventually BeatBuddy manager software will have this feature integrated.
wow…got to love your eloquence! Got to love how others have complained about your demeanor as well. However, we are not here to chat about that Actually, I have 4 drums machines, the SR18, 16, TR505 and Drumulator. ALL of them completely outperform the BB which actually should be hanging in the toilet as it’s the unit with the issues. As I have stated a number of times… it’s obvious the promotion verbage for the BB is/was not accurate as well as the device being released prematurely.
Well, you are indeed allowed to have your opinion, and I am glad you are also allowing me to stick with mine. I absolutely love my BeatBuddy. And I would love to help you if you have any problems using it! Sorry if my “french” offends you or anyone on the forum. They are also allowed to have their own opinion on the matter, all of which are extremely important to me
Possibly the Beatbuddy is not for everyone. If you are happy with what you have then that is great, why get anything else? It amazes me (not you specifically) that many are purchasing this without doing proper research on what the BB is and isn’t, what it can and can’t do. For instance I was fully aware that the BB would not have full midi implementation (I can’t use it as a sound module) however I trust one day it will and bought the midi cable in preparation.
The video in regards to other drum machines was to compare the ease of use of it in a live environment. Granted programming the thing is a pain however personally I don’t understand how anyone can program a drum machine from a tiny screen and I would just stick to the inbuilt beats or use it as a sound module… However as I understand midi and can create midi drum tracks I can use a sequencer to create the track (I use EZ drummer for the sounds), ensure the midi notes match with the BB’s so the correct sample is triggered, chop it up into usable loops, export them as separate midi files and then import them into a BB song.
Daefecator I dont think I would ever be able to lend my BB out to anyone, they would have to test it out here - to ensure I got it back!
With all due respect… I beg to differ. I did research this item as I stated. I looked at all the promotional detail and read all the articles as well as viewing the videos. My guess is that you are incorrect and that MOST people who have purchased it did so just like myself…so really not sure where you are coming from with that statement.
As stated, the BB was/is grossly misrepresented. Perhaps that will change some day…hopefully sooner than later…
The video DID NOT compare the use of the drum machines in a live environment. It compared them in general. I was actually really excited to be able to use software to completely manage my drums, beats, songs and set lists…that is a really cool concept. But the reality is that one cannot! At least as of yet. Again…misrepresentation.
One can program the drum machines I listed very easily regardless of the small screen. The small sceens work just fine if you are stepping through an MIDI sequence and the pads work just great playing live. So again… have absolutely no idea what you are referring to and obviously you have never used one.
I also understand MIDI extremely well and as stated in other posts have been a studio profession musician for over 20 years. I perform with 3 racks of keyboards, sound modules and 4 drum machines (not to mention drums from within the keyboards and modules) all of which are sequenced using 3 different sequencers.
I also know how to match un matching MIDI notes…have done it for years. One of the issues here is the limitation of available drum MIDI notes…
So, with that said… I can create a drum track from either the drum machines, or keyboards to a sequence…store the sequence along with all other parts…or just the drums and push back to the drums in live performance. Or use it straight from the drum machines. The SR18 has multiple different drum and percussion kits which can be called via SysEx which makes it FAR MORE versatile in sound than the BB…
Never said anything about “disliking” the marketing. I stated that it is misrepresented. And I am not asking for help with that. Try reading the posts…
Now what is your problem again I can help you with? An internal MIDI editor will be available in BBManager in one of the future releases. That should definitely help you create new beats. That’s for sure!
