Syncing New Infinity Looper to my Beat Buddy...

BeatBuddy General
1

…and slipping hard on the “learning curve” !

Trying to get my new Infinity synced to BB. I upgraded to new Firmware on the IL and am running current FW on BB.

Having “day one” issues, but it might be in the settings - trying to suss it out. Synced to measure? Synced to note? Quantization?

After months of using a Boomerang 3, which you just plug it in and you are “synced”, this seems crazy.

My main use for a looper is to record a rhythm track to solo over in the middle of a song. With the Rang3, I just pressed a button, layed down verse or chorus chords, hit button again and soloed, hit stop and headed back into the “singing” part of the song.

With the Infinity, while in mid-song, I hit the record button and start to lay down the chords and realize the LED is blinking red awaiting the beginning of the measure to start recording. The only thing I can figure out is to press the record button a beat or two early, arming the track to start recording on “the one” of the next measure.

This is so counter-intuitive to me, as I am used to pressing the button and starting the recording on “the one”.

Who else is using the Infinity Looper? How do you have your settings configured? How can I start looping at the beginning of the measure?

2

I have both these but am only starting to explore so haven’t tackled this one yet, but I did read something I think in the Pigtronix Forums where someone pointed out about a setting in the IL software which allows you to set a time code. I think it determines on which beat in the bar the pedals will synchronise on. Perhaps a search on this or Pigtronix forums might reveal it. If you spot this before I do. Post your discovery.
Hope this helps
Cheers
David

3

Hi
Do you mean that you don’t want the arm feature?
Just select Full & All mode or All & Trail depend what you search?

4

Having just read the OP again, I think PunkyBoy is on the right track, on my brief play with the looper I like the fact I could used the flashing non flashing indicators to show me start of the loop as my pedal timing is pretty rubbish at the moment. However the flexibility in these devices particularly with the extension of midi on BB opens up all sorts of sync possibilities. Now if they can just add mind reader capabilities I’d be sorted lol.

Cheers
David

5

I want to be able to step on the record button and have it start recording immediately.

6

While synced, if you hit the record button BEFORE the beginning of the measure, the led blinks red and opens the loop on “the one” beat of the first measure.

If you hit the record button even a millisecond AFTER the beginning of the measure, the led blinks red for the whole Beatbuddy pattern and then opens the loop on “the one” of the following measure.

I seems like you have to be perfect with the timing of your “recording press” to hit that sweet spot of not “too early” or not “too late”. I want to find out long that window is and how I can change that peramiter.

I know it can be done. I have been using my Boomerang 3 this way for months now with no problem. The difference is the the 'Rang does not have to be “armed” before it can begin to record. You just press the button and it begins to record in sync with the BB.

7

I found this in the online interactive manual:

The MIDI actions of the Infinity are quantized to the measure when MIDI is running, by default in 4/4 time. Any action that is meant to obey MIDI clock will be applied at the beginning of the next measure (not necessarily the end of the loop cycle). So it’s best to cue the MIDI command within the bar/measure before you want it to occur, not right on the downbeat.

This just seems so counterintuitive to me! Is there a way around this?

8

You might want to contact Ben Artes and Dave Koltai at pigtronix@gmail.com and see if he has any suggestions. May take them a couple of days to get back to you but they’re always pretty helpful with the Infinity. :slight_smile:

9

Thanks @persist. I will email them and report back with the reply…

10

Thanks. I forgot to ask you to let us know what they say . . . .

11

I am curious about this as well! Just started using the same set up and I am having the exact same problem.

12

This is the text from the email I sent to Pigtronics:

Hey Guys,

I just bought an Infinity Looper to sync with my Beat Buddy for playing live. I have been using Boomerang 3 for the past few months, but wanted something smaller and maybe simpler to use but still midi sync-able.

I use it for one thing and one thing only. In the middle of a song, I record the verse or chorus chord progression, and then solo over it. I probably will never use the rest of the features, as amazing as they are, but I love the size, sound quality and the fact that there are only 3 buttons.

I’ve had it for a few days and am learning how to use it. I have run into a problem that the solution might be “just deal with it”. But… I am going to ask anyway as I might be unaware of a “built in” solution.

PROBLEM: I want to be able to step on the record button and have it start recording immediately. While synced to the Beatbuddy, if you hit the record button BEFORE the beginning of the measure, the led blinks red and opens the loop on “the one” beat of the first measure.

If you hit the record button even a millisecond AFTER the beginning of the measure, the led blinks red for the whole Beatbuddy pattern and then opens the loop on “the one” of the following measure.

I seems like you have to be perfect with the timing of your “recording press” to hit that sweet spot of not “too early” or not “too late”. I want to find out long that window is and how I can change that peramiter.

I realize the simple answer might be, “get better at starting the loop in time”, but I am pretty good at it from months of playing 4-5 hour gigs with the Boomerang. Maybe the difference is the the 'Rang does not have to be “armed” before it can begin to record? You just press the button and the Rang begins to record in sync with the BB.

Digging around for a solution, I found this in the online interactive manual:

The MIDI actions of the Infinity are quantized to the measure when MIDI is running, by default in 4/4 time. Any action that is meant to obey MIDI clock will be applied at the beginning of the next measure (not necessarily the end of the loop cycle). So it’s best to cue the MIDI command within the bar/measure before you want it to occur, not right on the downbeat.

This just seems so counterintuitive to me! Is there a way around this? Can the quantization somehow be adjusted or start the midi sync on the second best of the first measure thereby “widening” the window of opening the loop?

[I]This is their reply:

Hello James, this can’t be changed. Due to technical limitations, The Infinity can ONLY delay actions and thus to start recording users must hit record BEFORE the beginning of the measure. Trying to start a recording exactly on the downbeat will result in inconsistently delayed records.

Best,
Brett Perdie
Customer Service
Absara Audio LLC[/I]

13

So it appears that the only solution is getting used to pressing the record button, arming the loop, before the beginning of the measure you want to record!

I’ve been practicing this morning. Just takes see getting used to but the trade off for me is the smaller size of the Infinity.

14

I have yet to receive my BB, but I did get this email today from Ben at Pigtronix.

There are a few configurations for Infinity MIDI Control. First, with the Beat Buddy, you’ll want to make sure that “Ignore MIDI Notes” is checked under “Tools->Global Boot Settings.”

 The Beat Buddy sends two messages in addition to MIDI Clock.  When the Beat Buddy starts playback it sends a MIDI Start messages.  This MIDI Start message can be configured on the Infinity to be sent when the Intro starts playing, or when the actual drum loop starts playing.  When the Beat Buddy is stopped, it will send a MIDI Stop message.

 Then the commands that you'll want to understand are noted below:

[LIST]
[]MIDI Start Records: When Checked, If no loop is recorded on Loop 1 when the Infinity receives MIDI Start, it will start recording.
[]MIDI Start Plays: When Checked, Any loops that have audio recorded will start playback when the Infinity receives MIDI Start.
[*]MIDI Stop Active: When Checked, when the Infinity receives a MIDI Stop, it will stop playback on all playing loops.
[/LIST]
So generally for your use case you’ll want to set your Beat Buddy to send the MIDI Start Message at the beginning of the Intro, and on the Infinity Uncheck MIDI Start Records and possibly uncheck MIDI Start Plays.

15

After resetting everything and practicing for awhile, I finally came to “this is not gong to work for me”. I love the size and sound quality of the Infinity, but having to arm and press start/record BEFORE I actually want the loop to start is just so counterintuitive, it is a DEAL BREAKER “for me”.

The Infinity Looper is going back to GC and I am going back to the Boomerang 3. Even though it is a little bit bigger, It sounds great and works perfect every time. I have had ZERO problems with it syncing with the Beatbuddy.

16

Im on a Boomerang 3 and I watched this post carefully because while I do not like the size of the Rang 3 I love the features too. I eagerly watch the market place waiting for a smaller looper that has midi that will match the Rang. I personally could even do with a 2 track looper if it had the same features as the Rang. The Ditto 4 I thought was going to work but I read it has some short comings too. Thanks for posting your journey.

17

So agree! Maybe half the size of the Rang3, with only a couple of buttons…

18

Oh man. I’m glad this thread is here. I was losing my mind. I came from a Boss RC-20xl and have years of experience with it. Starting a loop anywhere but on the downbeat is like learning to play all over again. I don’t know if I can handle this. I’m all about the learning curve but this feels like switching to left handed guitar after playing right for years. My loops have huge gaps in them with extra measures etc and I can’t seem to get it right.