I’m having an issue using an external MIDI controller CC#113 127/0 command for next part transition fills. It happens when the beat is paused and I send a next part command, where it will play the entire transition fill from the beginning (rather than from a certain point in the measure) and then knock the entire beat out of sync with my loop pedal. Note: this only happens when sending MIDI with a momentary switch, it does not occur when holding down the main pedal to make a transition. Is there a reason it could be happening with the options I have set? Or is it a bug that can be fixed?
This might be specific and technical, but any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Then using BB itself:
5. Hold BB down for transition
6. BB plays full transition
7. After transition the looper adjusts itself to BB again
Using external midi controller:
5. Send the CC commands for transition
6. BB plays full transition
7. No effect on looper (looper continues out of sync)
Or another option for BB:
5. Hold BB down for transition
6. BB plays only part of the transition
7. Looper continues as nothing happened but it is still in sync with BB
Yeah. What happens with the external midi controller is that it seems to (now and then, only in pause) desync the looper by triggering the transition immediately from the beginning after the CC message is sent, rather than on a quarter-note clock sync pulse. It doesn’t seem to be related to any transition or pause settings, so I’m guessing it’s a glitch with how BB receives the CC.
So do you use mute pause or true pause? I mean that in true pause: isn’t it supposed to trigger it immediately? And true pause shouldn’t work with loopers in any case
So I’m deducting that perhaps you use mute pause and what you are describing is that with external CC the pause behaves like true pause and not mute pause
Yes! Mute pause is enabled. 85% of the time it works as it’s meant to by unpausing with the next part transition coming in partway through the measure on pulse, but other times it will act like “true pause” and unpause with the transition fill from the beginning, causing it to desync the beat with the looper.
To me this sounds like it could be actually a midi problem Say 85% of times only the needed midi commands are sent but 15% of times they are sent twice which could confuse BB to behave differently
If we can rule out the midi send twice option then this is most likely a bug that happens only occasionally
Do you have any means to record the midi commands sent while playing with BB?
Also, check that BB midi channel is not omni so that it reacts only to single channel commands I had weird behavior when it was omni while I thought it was using channel 1
It’s set to channel 3 for both In and Out in the settings.
I’ll try monitoring the MIDI and see if there’s anything peculiar. Wish there was a way I could replicate it consistently, but as far as I know it is pretty random.
Ok, I did some testing by monitoring BB’s MIDI during playback using Bome, doing a pause/transition with my controller several times, and based on the readout, there was no double message sending.
However, I did discover that there was an extra CC command (#102) being sent after every release event (CC#113, v. 00), which I hadn’t known about before. I figured out there is a setting enabled in Beatbuddy’s MIDI Out where it can send a “Next Part” CC#102 to let receiving devices know when the transition has ended. A thoughtful feature, though unnecessary for me, so I’ve disabled it in case I can rule it out as a cause. Can’t think of any reason why it should affect anything and put the loops out of sync, especially since my looper doesn’t receive any MIDI on Channel 3.
In any case, I’ll keep playing with that setting off and see if the issue pops up again while unpause-transitioning. Had it happen in a live setting recently, which was kind of embarrassing lol. Hopefully it’s not a bug, but if it is, hopefully it’s one that can be fixed!
But good if all the midi traffic has been as expected This means that the basic setup should be good
On the down side, if at this point there would be anything out of the ordinary then that could be very easy to fix
I’d say that all bugs can be fixed and if something can’t be fixed then it’s a system limitation
Edit: Not everyone is capable of fixing all bugs or it could cost too many working days to fix some difficult bugs. So in that sense bugs can be bad news
Happened again, which means I can rule out the Next Part setting being the culprit. One thing I think I’ll try now is enabling Transition Forgiveness. There’s a possibility the sync gets “unglued” right in that small frame while switching parts with a transition fill. I haven’t been observant enough to notice if it happens consistently during that window or if it has ever desynced while in the middle of a measure. Just another thing to test before confirming bug status!
I don’t know if I’m following properly, but based on your last message it sounds like it could be just the typical drift between a looper and the BB
Do you know for sure that it can’t be drift?
I mean that after a long pause the drift can build up and seem like BB is suddenly out of sync. But it could also be just me jumping to far fetched conclusions
No, that’s a good idea, but based on its abruptness, I’m confident it’s not drift.
Actually, I think I’ve found the reason now: the desync happens whenever I press the MIDI switch precisely in any frame between two beats while in pause. So, suppose BB is playing a measure with 4 beats and I pause it, let it run for a measure or two, then send CC113 (on/off) right between beats i.e. 2 and 3—BB will continue to play the transition fill out of pause, but because it was triggered in that small window, it knocks out the sync with my looper. I’ve been able to reproduce the bug fairly consistently this way.
Edit: I uploaded a video that demonstrates expected behavior vs. the bug when I trigger it between beat 1 and 2. I’m hoping devs can look at it and find a fix. Would be very grateful for the stability when playing live!
Without watching the video, this brings to my mind the setting that when does the fill start I think the options are immediately, next half measure, and next measure. So it sounds similar to the next half measure
After watching the video, BB does seem to behave weirdly If the fill start setting doesn’t help then I’m out of ideas Anyway, to me that looks like a bug
I’ve had it set to “immediately” this whole time, so I don’t think it would solve it. Thanks for thinking this whole thing through with me though!
I think it’s safe to officially call it a bug by now. I’m going to email SS support and include the video and this thread. Crossing my fingers they can fix it so I can put on a tight show!
Thought it would be worth adding that the glitch is repeatable even without an external MIDI controller. If you transition out of pause on the standalone pedal (by holding it down) in between beats, it can desync in the same way. Changed the topic title to reflect that.
I had weird behavior when it was omni while I thought it was using channel 1 
