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MY BEAT BUDDY IS HERE!

#282
Downloaded and installed... looks good but, My BB is not yet here so I cannot import content. The drum kits don't seem to be included in the bundle download (despite the comments in the Readme file i found in \BBWorkspace\default_lib\drum_sets)

I was keen to get some custom content sorted for a play list my band use ready for when mine does arrive (hopefully in a few weeks) - David is there any way I can get hold of the drum kits?
 
#284
Is anybody else using this thing with a looper? My MIDI experience has been hit or miss. At first, it seemed like there was some drift when I put the Beat Buddy third in a MIDI chain with my looper after that. So I just hooked the Beat Buddy right up to my Infinity (using the BB for master tempo) and it seemed to improve dramatically. However, after rewiring my board (not suggesting a connection, that's just what happened), it seems like I'm getting just a bit of drift, and also using the start/stop footswitch function, the Beat Buddy will play a full measure before the loop restarts. Any ideas?
 
#285
Adamixoye said:
Is anybody else using this thing with a looper? My MIDI experience has been hit or miss. At first, it seemed like there was some drift when I put the Beat Buddy third in a MIDI chain with my looper after that. So I just hooked the Beat Buddy right up to my Infinity (using the BB for master tempo) and it seemed to improve dramatically. However, after rewiring my board (not suggesting a connection, that's just what happened), it seems like I'm getting just a bit of drift, and also using the start/stop footswitch function, the Beat Buddy will play a full measure before the loop restarts. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Really curious to see how this works out Adam. We do a fair amount of looping in my band and even though we have a a pretty great drummer - we still sometimes we use some loops. With the Beat Buddy, we could load whatever loops into it and have them synced - because as you imagine, using a manual bass loop or organ loop with a drum loop with no sync, VERY quickly you fall out of sync. And that blows.

Ok - the new idea would cost the price of a Boomerang or Infinity and the Beat Buddy, but to stay in sync that would be worth every penny. Does anyone know of a DJ style deck that you could connect to a looper with Midi? Because that's usually how the drummer regulates speeds etc.
 
#289
Not until it arrived-they left a note saying to pay then I could have my package. Anyway, it's here and I love it. Tried it with my B7K and headphones and couldn't stop. I got it mainly as a practice tool and it's great. Pretty easy to learn. The Mac management software isn't out yet so I haven't tried that yet. This weekend I'll try it thru some amps and get that angle sorted. Very glad I got this.
 
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#293
Do i have to know how to drum to program the mybeatbuddy? Also how much time to set up a typical song with intro, verses, chorus, bridge and outtro? If 10-15 mins then it will take a couple hours for a small set, right?
 
#295
I don't remember if it was in this thread or the other one, but I reported some MIDI sync issues with the Beat Buddy. I have an update on what does and doesn't work, and why:

There are basically two ways that the pause function works---"pause" and "mute." In "pause" mode the Beat Buddy stops, and it stops my Infinity as well. In "mute" mode, the Beat Buddy stops playing while the Infinity keeps playing. The other difference is that in "pause" mode, when you unpause the Beat Buddy it restarts at the beginning of the measure; in "mute" mode it keeps track of the beat and when you unpause it, it starts playing wherever the beat is.

When not using pause/unpause, the Beat Buddy and my Infinity sync perfectly.

When using "mute" mode, I don't have any sync issues. The Infinity just keeps on playing, and the Beat Buddy comes back in where I expect it to.

When using "pause" mode, I have two issues:
(1) The Beat Buddy will play for a full measure before the Infinity restarts. I would rather both play immediately and simultaneously, although the way it actually works is the correct thing for intros, such as when you store a loop and start the song from the top---a full drum intro plays, then the Infinity starts at the beginning of the regular beat.
(2) On certain songs, the Infinity and Beat Buddy will lose sync after this pause; in addition to the full measure, the Infinity will come in slightly off.

After some research, I still don't know the answer to (1), but I understand what is going on with (2). There is a semi-solution and there will hopefully be a solution eventually.

Basically, check out this thread:
http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=582&sid=59e60a853b1cd3a3aa1a0bc6b125c652

There is a known issue on some songs that the intro is the wrong length; these are the songs where I have problem (2). This implies to me that the problem is with the Beat Buddy, that it is not putting out the "start" command to the Infinity until one intro length in. For non-problematic songs, this means you get a full measure of drums before the Infinity restarts. For problematic songs, this happens and you get unsynced slightly.

It sounds like the problematic songs have been or will be fixed and available as a future download.

If I have correctly diagnosed what's wrong with (1), then I hope that this may be a possible firmware fix as well.

Also, if @DavidPackouz is listening, I asked this in the Beat Buddy forums and might e-mail the contact address, but can we get more information on the MIDI implementation of the Beat Buddy? Which channel(s) it is operating on, what CC#'s it recognizes/sends/etc.?
 
#296
@Adamixoye

(1)Will the Beat Buddy pass MIDI THRU in addition to what it outputs? (So will it do THRU while also adding its own MIDI output or start/stop/clock?)

The BeatBuddy is not MIDI THRU because we output custom data from the Beatbuddy. The concept of a MIDI THRU is to send the same data that comes from the MIDI IN. We could add an option to change output between “Beatbuddy Midi out data” and MIDI THRU that would resend every data from the midi in. Would that be useful to you?


(2) What channel(s) is the Beat Buddy operating on for input and output (1-16/OMNI)?

There is no official channel for the Beatbuddy since the signal used are the “System Real-Time Messages” signals. Those signals don’t have specific operating channel since they are made to be use by all the channels (instrument) at the same time.


(3) What control codes (CC#s) and values control start/stop/tempo?

We don’t use control codes (CC#s) to control start and stop. We only use “System Real-Time Messages” signals. Controlling the tempo, like sending a command to set the tempo to 134 bpm, would be a little bit difficult since standard MIDI CCs control values range from 0 to 127. We need to use relative midi signals.
 
#297
SingularSound said:
@Adamixoye

(1)Will the Beat Buddy pass MIDI THRU in addition to what it outputs? (So will it do THRU while also adding its own MIDI output or start/stop/clock?)

The BeatBuddy is not MIDI THRU because we output custom data from the Beatbuddy. The concept of a MIDI THRU is to send the same data that comes from the MIDI IN. We could add an option to change output between “Beatbuddy Midi out data” and MIDI THRU that would resend every data from the midi in. Would that be useful to you?
Click to expand...

Well, what would be ideal is if the Beat Buddy did MIDI THRU + inject/"merge" its own commands. Because, for example, I want my Pigtronix Infinity controlled by the Beat Buddy in terms of all the things you mentioned (tempo/start/stop) and I would also like the MIDI clock/tempo passed on to other pedals, but the Pigtronix and other pedals will also respond to other commands (PC and CC codes). So I would like to plug my master MIDI controller into the Beat Buddy's "IN", then add the Beat Buddy's commands to the "OUT" signal, and send both of those to everything else (either chained or using a "split" box) without requiring some sort of extra "merge" box. From discussing this with other people, I realize that there may be a lot of hardware and firmware challenges to this if it wasn't your plan all along, and may ultimately be impossible/beyond the scope of the Beat Buddy. Not many other pedals will both do full THRU + merge/inject their own commands (though some do: like [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] or this). So I understand if it's not possible.

However, a normal MIDI THRU mode where there is no merging or injecting of the Beat Buddy's own commands but it will pass along all commands (as well as the Beat Buddy itself responding to relevant ones, like MIDI clock) might still be useful, and if that's a relatively easy possible firmware update, then I'm absolutely for it.

SingularSound said:
(2) What channel(s) is the Beat Buddy operating on for input and output (1-16/OMNI)?

There is no official channel for the Beatbuddy since the signal used are the “System Real-Time Messages” signals. Those signals don’t have specific operating channel since they are made to be use by all the channels (instrument) at the same time.

(3) What control codes (CC#s) and values control start/stop/tempo?

We don’t use control codes (CC#s) to control start and stop. We only use “System Real-Time Messages” signals. Controlling the tempo, like sending a command to set the tempo to 134 bpm, would be a little bit difficult since standard MIDI CCs control values range from 0 to 127. We need to use relative midi signals.
Click to expand...

Okay, I am still new-ish to MIDI but rapidly learning. I spent a good chunk of this week programming and testing a MIDI program on a mobile device to control some Eventide and Line6 pedals. After some fits and starts, I was able to get a really nice setup going. I am sending all sorts of PC and CC signals on different channels and controlling all sorts of details of my Eventide and Line6 pedals---it's pretty awesome. I have been wondering how MIDI clock gets sent. I'm not familiar with "System Real-Time Messages," so I will have to understand these better.

But I guess the important point is---if I somehow hook my Beat Buddy up to a bunch of other pedals, it doesn't matter what channel they are sending/receiving on, they will be able to communicate with the tempo/start/stop commands that you send? And, furthermore, I don't need to worry about the other PC and CC signals that I'm sending, they won't conflict with the Beat Buddy?
 
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#298
I made some videos to demonstrate the behavioral quirks between the BB and Infinity that I mentioned in some of my recent posts. I posted these in a "bug" thread over on the Beat Buddy forums, but since some people are interested in them here, I thought I would cross-post. They're on g****r, sorry, they are quick and dirty and I thought it would translate better on an iPad video.

It's kind of a two-part series (<6 minutes total):

Video 1:


In the second video, I talk about some "incorrect" length intros, you can read more about that here if you're not familiar with it: http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=582&sid=59e60a853b1cd3a3aa1a0bc6b125c652 Sound like a fix is coming, but it is a known issue. Anyway, here's the video.
Video 2:


I feel bad that the first videos I make are to demonstrate a quirk/issue, but I think the BB team should be aware of these things. The sync is potentially very powerful and fun, it just has a couple of issues that should be ironed out. And, to be clear, it's not 100% clear to me whether this is more of a BB or an Infinity issue.
 
#299
@Adamixoye -- we will have the THRU option for the next firmware update (coming very soon).

Seems like you figured out that the issue is that the infinity waits a full measure to implement the 'start' command after it is sent. This is something that needs to be fixed by Pigtronix. I'll let them know.

For everyone else, here is the thread discussing this issue: http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=823&start=10
 
#300
SingularSound said:
@Adamixoye -- we will have the THRU option for the next firmware update (coming very soon).

Seems like you figured out that the issue is that the infinity waits a full measure to implement the 'start' command after it is sent. This is something that needs to be fixed by Pigtronix. I'll let them know.

For everyone else, here is the thread discussing this issue: http://mybeatbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=823&start=10
Click to expand...

Right---I get why the Infinity does it that way, but it makes sense for them to offer an "override" option for start/stop.

So the THRU option will be just "plain" thru, i.e., Beat Buddy responds to and passes along commands but doesn't merge/inject its own?
 

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