I am very new to BeatBuddy, and am just now trying to make up a set list in Beat Buddy Manager. I want to do a song by Joe Ely called West Texas Waltz, and it is in 3/4 time. I noticed that there are very limited songs in the BeatBuddy itself for 3/4 time Is there a way to change a certain kit or drumset to 3/4 time or what you see is what you get? Thanks for your input!
The kits will all play 3/4 time. What you need is a midi file for the song, and then load that into BB manager. In the meantime, you can play with this:
Thanks, Phil! I’m not sure how to go about using a midi file. Is it complicated? I’m already swimming in deep water with learning how to create a set list. I could use some 1,2,3 kind of explanation if you have a little time. :-0 Meanwhile, I’ll download the attachment you sent and see if I can get it into my setlist. Actually, I got the file you sent into my setlist, but I changed the tempo from 102 to 170 and then synchronized it into my sd card, but it showed up as 102. Did I skip a step? Ok, I figured that part out. I had to go to the default setting for the tempo and change it there before I synchronized it to the card. Fair enough… Ha ha! I told you I was new at this! I noticed that the file only plays the one beat with no fills, etc. Is it just sort of like a glorified metronome or something?
It’s s sample of what you could do by building a Beat from scratch, I found a West Texas Waltz midi file sample on-line, and just extracted the drum part to create a 4 bar loop. It’s what it says it is, a sample.
And yes, creating a BB file from a midi is kinda complicated. I’ve posted instructions - at least twice.
Well, I think I’ll just try and muddle through my beginner stuff at first and then when I graduate from BeatBuddy Kindergarten, I’ll think about taking on some other stuff like midi, although it sounds really interesting, and could greatly enhance performances, obviously. Can you actually put loops of piano, etc. into the BeatBuddy and have it play them along with the drums with no other apps involved? I will definitely find your posts about it and read them just to give my brain a workout. Ha ha !
Yes, you can get keyboards in the BB. I have built kits that do that, and there are plenty of songs in the Resources section of this forum that use those kits. I don’t want to make this too complicated, but, a midi drum track can address up to 128 different instruments, or drum tones. Some folks wiser than me realized that you could take a frequently unused band of these 128 tones and assign bass notes to those slots rather than drum tones. After I saw that, I thought why not cut the drums down to essentials and add a keyboard, too. So, yes, it can be done, and it has been done. Songs on the forum usually have the required kit listed. Get those kits. When you have the right kit and a song that uses it, the BB can produce magical results.
Yes, I can see that I have a long way to go. Thanks for the input.
Right now I am struggling with just getting my set lists together, and practicing my chops on using the beat buddy itself. I did purchase a package of songs from the Beat Buddy Premium website called: The Most Popular cover songs of all time Vol. I…I was finally able to get it into my project, but the songs don’t seem to respond to fills, etc. Do you have any idea why that is? Some of them work better than others, but as I look on the screen, I don’t see the regular pattern of the other songs, like fills, etc. When I press transition on Brown Eyed Girl, for example, it just goes to a different beat. There are 7 beats altogether. It just seems weird, so I know I must be doing something wrong. When I press the pedal once where it should be a fill, nothing happens. On some of the songs it does, but the transitions are pretty squirrelly on some of them as well. Should I have downloaded a drum kit to correspond with the songs in the folder?
I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong on Brown Eyed Girl. The pattern that Singular built, as you note, has 7 main loops. The only one with a fill is loop 3, and the only one with a transition is loop 4. Personally, I find those Most Popular Covers to be difficult to use, owing to the many different parts. Brown Eyed Girl is designed for the Vintage Ludwig kit, so having that might help. Actually, both the Vintage Ludwig and the Standard Pro are good kits to have in your arsenal.
Another thing is to make sure that the Pedal’s Cue Fill Period setting is set to match your playing style. Some folks like the Immediately setting. Others prefer Next Measure. I think the Most Popular Cover Songs are designed to use the Immediately setting, but, depending upon the song, there will not always be a fill or transition for each main loop. You really have to go back to the original recording and listed to the drums in those songs to get some idea of what the pedal is trying to recreate.
Thanks, Phil. Well, I messed up and had to start over, so I’ll have to re-insert the songs I purchased and the Vintage Drum kit. I’m not sure what I did, but it was bad enough for me to go back and re-assign the files to the SD Card. I may have made a mistake when I did that, because now, when I’m loading my songs into the Set List folder that I’ve created, every time I synchronize it, I get this message over and over: Source file: C/Users/Owner/Documents/BBWorkspace/FINAL Content v120 - SD card files/EFFECTS/DC28F7A0.hash.bcf does not exist This is with a banner from Windows titled Copy Files, and it only has an OK Button and a Red X button for choices. When I hit either one, it just comes back to the message, but I can see the file synchronizing in the background. After maybe hitting the X or the OK 10 times, it finally goes to 100% and stays on the Card. Yikes! Any idea what’s happening there?
- In the future, after you resolve this problem, only use BB Manager to add or delete songs or drumkits. Otherwise, you get a real mess like you got right now.
- Since you didn’t have anything on there other than the default content and the content you purchased from Singular, I recommend you start from scratch. @persist - would you please forward Sam a link that goes through the starting from scratch process?
- Sam, essentially, you are going to delete all the files from your SD card, but not reformat the card. Also, delete your BB Workspace. Then you will reinstall the firmware files onto the card, and reinstall the default content. After that start up the BB pedal with the card in to make sure everything is OK. Then go through the restart process with BB Manager. Once that’s all good, you can reinstall your purchased content using BB Manager. I am sure I am leaving out steps, so wait to get the instructions from Persist.
Thanks, Phil. I already did a lot of what you said, but I know I will eventually have to start from scratch to clean up the mess. Right now, I am able to import my songs to the Set List Folder, but like I said, it is like pulling teeth to get that window to go away, but it eventually does. I will use the songs I have imported to practice for a while, and then when I get a little more confident with the process, I will re-do the whole thing and re-install my purchased products, etc. There is so much for me to learn. No question about that. Thanks so much for your help.
One other question: How would I hook up the Beat Buddy along with a TC Helicon Harmony Singer for my gigs? Would I have to use two separate inputs, or could they be linked together? The Harmony singer has to be sent to the mixer via one 1/4" cable for guitar and one XLR cable for the mic. I just don’t know how I would hook them up together. I’m thinking I might have to use a separate channel on the mixer for the Beat Buddy?
The BB doesn’t do any processing to a guitar that is plugged into it. If you have enough channels, I would plug it into the TC without worrying about plugging it into the BB. If the TC has time based effects that use midi sync, then you might want to get the midi breakout cable for the BB and plug the BB into that.
Here’s the steps:
[LIST]
[]use Windows to remove the BeatBuddy Manager (BBM) from your computer and confirm that that the bbworkspace folder has been deleted (to include all instances or duplicate folders)
[]download and install latest version of the BBM from https://library.mybeatbuddy.com/software-download/
[]use the BBM menu Tools to Set Workspace Location (should be to your bbworkspace folder)
[]plug your SD card into your computer SD slot reader and delete all contents from the SD card; DO NOT FORMAT the SD card
[]download Default BeatBuddy Content Update from the same link above; unzip the file and copy the contents to your SD card
[]download BeatBuddy Firmware v2.0.4 from the same link as above; unzip the file and copy the 5 files to the top level (or root) of your SD card; eject the card
[]with the power off on your pedal, insert the SD card and power the pedal on; allow it to complete the install of the firmware
[]set your foot switch and pedal settings using the pedal settings menu; power the pedal down and remove the SD card
[]insert card in your computer SD slot
[]from the BBM > File > Open Project and navigate to your SD card; you should be prompted to save your project to your computer and you should allow it to do so; it will begin to the process of loading the project from the card to your bbworkspace; when done, it will ask if you want to Synchronize your project; approve it
[]from the BBM > File > Import > Folder for the premium songs you bought
[]from the BBM > File > Import > Drum set for the Vintage Ludwig drum set and any other drum sets you either bought or downloaded from the forum
[*]in the BBM click the Drum Sets tab and click the check boxes for any kits that you want the BBM to use
[/LIST]
Thanks so much, Phil and Persist! I was finally able to get it back together after a lot of trial and error. I hope I got it right, and can move on from here. I already created a song in a new setlist and it seems to be ok, so I think I’m good. I’ll deal with the other stuff later. Again, thanks for your patience and help. I really appreciate it! Phil, I’m a Texas boy too, raised in Grand Prairie and went to High School in Pasadena. Born in Hillsboro. I noticed you’re in Schertz. Anyway, thanks again for everything. I’ve got a long way to go, but you sure helped a lot.
Were you wanting the file?
Haha i guess i missed that post as it was long before i started with the bb