Id be very much interested in your solution if you care to share
Im extremely interested in your solution for volume stability
The first thing is to make sure the files in the drum kit are good e.g; not clipping on recordings…not too quiet. Just good solid files. The SS content is professionally done and solid… User recorded files may or may not be.
You will have to go into each file in the drum kit to set your preferred volume for each part of the kit.
I use the same kit for my entire show for continuity. I want the drums to blend in…switching from a brush kit to a stadium rock kit may be a great effect…but it is a distraction to me and some listeners, I think. I want them to forget about my electronic helpers.
I then go into each song and find a volume point for each instrument. I tried to use the same level for each…but they vary depending on the song…e.g; side stick is more pronounced in some songs or parts of songs, so it’s never one volume fits all. I leave room to vary it up or down to allow for swells and dynamics as needed.
Some songs require very little adjustment in volume…some reqire hours of work. If you use bass guitar, piano, strings etc…it gets even more involved. The length of the midi notes are very important to make it realistic and smooth, and not sound choppy or muddled.
I hope this helped. It’s hard to explain how it’s done. I tried a video tutorial once but it didn’t get many views.
I use the free midi editor. I tried the others but couldn’t figure them out.
I can clear up any questions if you some.
Thanks for the info. The drum kit i use is just the standard one from SS. but to go into each individual song and check the volumes os far out of my realm. I have tried to use the BBM editor and i get lost in there. I think i inderstand what your doing but man that gotta be a lot of time cinsuming work. Probably a winter project for me. So for now il just turn the volume level down on the drummer output. Thanks again.
Do not use the BBM editor. Id have given up 6 years ago if that was my only option. Watch this tutorial. Lemme know if you can load it.
I have linked BeatBuddy to Songbook songs using midi commands. So far I have done beat selection, kit selection, and tempo. Have you tried using a midi command to set volume? It won’t help with balance, but it is simple and it will at least boost the very quiet jazz beats.
I have not done that. I have a pedal, a Pfeiffer Leveler, that is essentially a 5 or six position cut/boost. It does what it does well. Same idea, it doesn’t help with balance, but if I’m too soft, on or two up clicks can do the trick,
Where do you connect this pedalmm
It’s 1/4 guitar wire connections. I place it after the BB, between the BB and the amp. I don’t know if they are still making them.
I dont use amp. I connected bb stereo direct to the mixer . It would be betewn bb and mixer right?
Right, same idea. The pedal is just a combination boost and pad/cut.
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Here’s to that! I’d love it if they could level the volume across all the drumsets. As it is now, I’m constantly having to adjust when performing. Pain in the butt!! One more update they’ll never get to.
I say your right. Makes me wonder if they know enough as to how to do it.
This got so annoying on gigs (especially starting with a volume that is way too loud on a song) that I finally broke down and went through my entire Songbook library and added midi set volume commands to every song. It sure would be handy if in BBManager there was a “Default Volume” right next to “Default Tempo” and “Default Drum Set”, together with a toggle on the Beat Buddy itself to “Load Default Volume With Song Y/N”.
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Wholeheartedly agree!
Please urgently introduce >> “Default Volume” right next to “Default Tempo” and “Default Drum Set”, together with a toggle on the Beat Buddy itself to “Load Default Volume With Song Y/N”
No one has ever commented to me at gigs that the drum volumes are that different, though I’ve noted all the comments. We use a set-up that doesn’t need monitors (or so I thought) and even when we’ve used someone else’s set-up (and monitors) I haven’t appreciated a noticeable difference in volume. Maybe we just have crap ears.
I’m playing in a duo/trio situation where we cover a mixture of Jazz standards, Latin, R’n’B & Yacht rock classics (Steely Dan, Chrisopher Cross etc) & I always need to bend for significant more volume on any of the Jazz drum beats (and hopefully not forget to turn down for the other beats - else ears are exploding) … so - yes indeed - very noticeable difference for a setup like ours I’m afraid - hence see above 
Why don’t you increase the velocity of the jazz beats in BBM? …actually where the “instruments” sit in the drum set as apposed to in the song. ie Volume,
Definitely a thorn for many of us. Most of the night we use stock kits (in our trio we switch instruments on many songs) with everything fed into our mixer and BB fed in stereo. A handful of songs add bass and keys. I tend ot use only a few kits that have worked well - Phil Flood’s Santana & organ and Bosendorfer are common.
On others and my own efforts crafted from MIDI downloads I’ve tinkered with adjusting MIDI velocities for parts of the drum kit or keys, etc in REAPER often just exporting direct from an existing BB .sng and exporting from REAPER when done. Some I record as .wav backing tracks out of REAPER and try to make an LUFS assessment against ‘known good’ tracks. Some frequencies are hard to corral and correct it seems. Turning down the overall volume won’t fix where parts sit in the live mix.