OPB: How to stay in tempo on a guitar intro without drums?

BeatBuddy Bugs/Help
#1

Hi guys,

i´m a guitarist and i have a problem.

Most of the time i use OPB Songs. I play some songs with a very long guitar intro without any drums (e.g. many of horror by Biffy Clyro, Everlong by Foo Fighters).
So i press the pedal to start the song, then after the count in i start to play…but its very hard for me to stay in tempo. Would it be possible after the songs was published as OPB to edit some hits on a very low volume during the guitar intro to help me to stay in tempo?
What is the best way to edit a count in on a OPB?

Thanks for your help.

ME

#2

When I make songs of that sort, I usually put a hi hat or stick count at low volume during those parts to give a “click track.” You can edit the OPB songs in a DAW, like Logic or Cubase to add those clicks, or, you could post a request with the song name and someone might help you out.

1 Like
#3

Thanks Phil,

where can i find the insturction to export/import a song to DAW and to alter a song there?

#4

On most BBM versions, right click on a part’s name within BBM. A menu will appear including an option for “Export midi file.” Select that, and export to a location of your choice. Open that file in a DAW.

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Above are General Midi mapping locations. As you can see, closed hat are at 42, F#1, and sticks are at 37, C#1. Add notes on the beat at either of these 2 locations. Use a higher velocity on beat 1, to emphasize the downbeat.

3 Likes
#5

or don’t start the beat buddy until after the guitar intro.i made a 4 beat count in that I add to op songs that don’t have one and I also use quiet rim shots to keep time if the song doesn’t have drums in the middle. this machine can do a whole lot just sometimes you have to think around it.

#6

Recently, I suggested making a click track in headphones in future BB releases. IMHO this could have been a solution for both the intro and the bridge where the drums shouldn’t sound.

#7

I’m on this as well. I have created three 2 Bar counts in to add into the songs I have on the BeatBuddy
One is Two Bars of side stick
One is Two Bars of Hi Hat
the last One is Two Bars of both [ Hi Hat (1 Bar) side stick (1 Bar)]

I used the same duration on the notes as BBM count-in midi

I add them to a song introduction in BBM, however all I hear is silence. The BBM count in will play

What am I missing please ?

#8

I always make a intro with click on reaper

#9

Zip up these files and attach them to a Forum post. I’ll take a look.

1 Like
#10

Old school me watches the metronome on the BB. It can be a tough task though.

#11

2_Bar_Count.zip (2.1 KB)

Thank You Phil

1 Like
#12

Cannot get this one press I madeLonely Ol Night.zip (2.5 KB)

to play either - it’s probably me missing one important step … but ?

#13

Your notes are overlapping each other. The end of you first hit extends past the beginning of the second hit. As a result the second midi hit, and subsequent ones, never get processed because the midi off from the first hit never gets triggered. It should look like this:

2 bar hit hat count in Phil.mid.zip (556 Bytes)

Lonely Ol Night had two problems. 1) The drums were placed one octave too high. Your kick drum should be at C1, not C2. After moving everything down one octave, it played OK., but, the 2nd problem was that the 1st beat of the measure was not correctly placed. The would cause the BB visual metronome to not line up with the song. The attached fixes both problems. You should look at this with your original side by side to see the differences.

Lonely Ol Night 2.mid.zip (2.8 KB)

#14

Thank You Phil, I appreciate your time and the simple answers.
It’s an interesting pedal, and I’m trying to catch up fast …

#15

In Cakewalk By Bandlab, when I move the Kick to (36) down to C1 all I hear is silence and when I transfer to BBM nothing comes out. Cakewalk plays from this C3 slot … and will play from your modified Lonely Ol Night midi but none of my other modified midis. The C3 slot seems to be where Cakewalk plays the drums - I don’t get it …

Is it to do with the TT1 synth I’m using for Drums.
I have Kontakt, should I learn to use that?

#16

Programs map midi differently. For the kick drum to play correctly from BB, it needs to be at midi value #36. In my DAW, Logic Pro X, this is C1. You should edit your drums in your DAW at whatever location they work in the DAW. Then transpose you drums up or down the necessary number of octaves to get the kick at midi #36. Then export to BB.

Likewise, if you bring a drum track out of BB and it does not play, you will need to transpose the notes up or down the necessary number of octaves to match the placement of the drums in your DAW.

#17

I’m on it - much thanks for your guidance. In Cakewalk your are correct, the Bass goes 3 octaves and the Drum set choice in BBM is VERY important in playing the correct drum ‘notes’ I’m expecting to hear.
I have successfully created my first OPB from ‘Suspicious minds’ and ‘Harvest Moon’ midifiles. From here I’m going to consider another layer of backing, perhaps keyboard and I’ll do a search on recommended transpose range for Keyboards.
My hopefully last question to set me on my way is about VELOCITY. In Cakewalk I’m getting the Bass settings as low as 25 to 'balance out the output. Is this normal?
Is there a recommended standard setting so the drums and bass are fully balanced together?
Thanks again for your help, it’s cut out the steep learning curve for me

#18

I’ve had situations where the bass had to be as low as 25 to get a good balance. If that’s what it takes, that’s fine. I try to be able to use the bass with a velocity of around 70. Sometimes I have to make adjustments in the kit, lowering the volume of each bass note. But, if you do that it impacts every song that use that particular kit. I think it’s just better to lower the bass note velocity in the song, even if it means going down to 25.

#19

The Weight [A].zip (2.1 KB)

BUT – this won’t play when I add an intro, do you mind giving me the wisdom to go forward please?

#20

Some observations:

  • Don’t use brackets or other special characters to name your song in the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM)
  • I moved the F1 to G1 so those low toms will be included
  • I reduced the bass guitar notes velocity to 25
  • I exported just the single MIDI track
  • I selected a kit in the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) with the bass in the upper octaves (I think but am not sure that this might have been part of your issue): SUB-Std Pro PL Bass 62-91

Here’s the exported song from the BBM along with the edited MIDI file
Archive.zip (13.7 KB)