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MY BEAT BUDDY IS HERE!

#81
OK, got mine and guitard buddy showed up. So we played with it for a couple hours. I was a very good drummer at one time, turned into a "getting to be almost fair" bass player. So i was a little spastic on the cues at first. But it started to get petty natural after short time. Between the Blues, Rock, and Country beats we were able to play most of the simple stuff we know. All the sounds were good. We had it plugged into a decent size PA in stereo and had the volume on the beatbuddy at 70% and the PA was up a little more than I thought it should be for the volume we were at. I really didn't play with the volume much. So I'm gonna head upstairs tonight and check it out.

How are you guys finding the volume levels?
 
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#82
Feral Feline said:
This thread should be retitled "My Beat Buddy Is Near", it is the same thread as the other one...I'd hoped this thread would be more about the arrivals than about the waiting and complaining.

Nerve? Mandohack?

"Help us Obi-Nerve Mandohackenobi, you're our only hope..."
Click to expand...

Well.. I gave my quick mini review. I'm not one of those post a vid w/ everything I do kinda guys, so if one is going to come out of me, it may take a while :). Been actually just jammin along with it, and having a blast. It's great for inspiration, and I've recorded a few of the ideas I've come up with. Hopefully they'll turn into some full blown songs. I'll be more likely to post something then. Gonna be hangin with my parents the next 2 days, so don't expect much here. Maybe the weekend.

It's interesting learning to jam with this drummer, just as learning to jam with any other. The fills are sometimes not exactly what I'm anticipating, and I'm enjoying learning to be really tight with ever the box puts out. Can't wait till the software is out and we can start tweaking things. Looking forward to what others contribute too. This box is great for inspiration. I think I"m starting to repeat myself...
 
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#83
Joe Nerve said:
It's interesting learning to jam with this drummer, just as learning to jam with any other. The fills are sometimes not exactly what I'm anticipating, and I'm enjoying learning to be really tight with ever the box puts out. Can't wait till the software is out and we can start tweaking things. Looking forward to what others contribute too. This box is great for inspiration. I think I"m starting to repeat myself...
Click to expand...

Exactly... I can't wait till I can program this little guy to do exactly what I want him to. IMHO, that's what is going to make this thing in a league of its own. I know that's the "drummer" coming out in me...LOL
 
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#87
Mine came a few days ago, just plugged it in to make sure it works.

It's ok. In spite of the ad copy, the drum tones are pretty stale and lifeless, and you can easily make the fills sound awkwardly and obviously fake if you don't trigger them with some amount of musical intelligence.

I went through all the metal, punk, and rock settings and couldn't find a usable D-beat until I set one of the rock ones (I think Rock 2?) up at 300 bpm, which of course made the fills laughably unusable. Seems like kind of an obvious oversight to me, but then again maybe I'm overestimating the number of troo kvlt one man black metal projects who are going to be sending this pedal through a blown out Marshall combo.

This is all besides the fact for me, however, as what I really bought this pedal for is to abuse well beyond its intended purpose using the software, which I likely won't have time to sit down with for a while.

But even straight out of the box it's a nifty practice tool, well worth the $150 or whatever I payed for it 9 months ago. No regrets on my part, and I hope my contribution goes towards making the Beat Buddy 2 even more amazing.

I didn't really keep up with the dev blogs, I know the original prototype was done in Max, does anyone know if the final product still is or did they write a native app?
 
#88
callofcthulhu said:
Mine came a few days ago, just plugged it in to make sure it works.

It's ok. In spite of the ad copy, the drum tones are pretty stale and lifeless... ... sending this pedal through a blown out Marshall combo.
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If you send the sound through a regular guitar amp, you will make the sound stale and lifeless. This is because those amps don't play full range sound and roll off the high frequencies. Try it with a high quality PA to hear how it should sound.
 
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#89
SingularSound said:
If you send the sound through a regular guitar amp, you will make the sound stale and lifeless. This is because those amps don't play full range sound and roll off the high frequencies. Try it with a high quality PA to hear how it should sound.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I should have mentioned I was demoing it through headphones.

It's ok as drum machines go, but it's no Superior Drummer.
 
#90
callofcthulhu said:
It's ok. In spite of the ad copy, the drum tones are pretty stale and lifeless, and you can easily make the fills sound awkwardly and obviously fake if you don't trigger them with some amount of musical intelligence.
Click to expand...

Per @DavidPackouz's comment I was just going to ask what you were sending it through. This is a concern I have with the unit, I am not sure how I am going to set things up for my rig because I would really love that hi-fi sound. When I've listened to the on-line demos, I thought they varied strongly in quality from video to video and depending on what I was listening with.

Re: the triggers, that's one of the things I've noticed with the earliest demos, how awkward they can be. But they can also clearly sound very good. It's not surprising on one level. It's maybe not as idiot-proof as I was expecting, but I don't think it will be too difficult to obtain that skill.

Tracking finally says it arrived at and departed the nearest major city, so I should have it tomorrow...
 
#93
Mine arrived today. The post office decided to deliver it to my neighbor's house as opposed to mine. Fortunately they are good people.

I plugged it in to make sure it didn't get damaged in transit. Seems good in that regard, but I didn't have much time to try it out before my graveyard shift.

I plan on running it through my old home theater (Bose lifestyles from 1999). The system sounds good but has dated hookups on it (rca jacks, no usb) so I need to find the right cables at a decent length.
 
#94
nutdog said:
:confused:
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Maybe my monitors are better than his headphones? Maybe we just have different taste in drum sounds? Maybe he was expecting a lot more and I was expecting a lot less? Maybe he's comparing them to superior drummer where you can tweak your drum sounds for days, while I'm comparing them to some other drum machines I've owned? Maybe he's nuts? Maybe I'm nuts? Maybe everyone should make their own decision once they get theirs :).

I do agree on the fill thing, that it isn't idiot proof. You can eff up pretty badly in fact if you que certain rolls in the last beat of a measure, or if the roll programmed is a strange and lengthy one (some are). But for me right now that just makes it a bit more challenging and fun. And I know if I want I can tweak it all I want once the software is available. For now, it keeps me on my toes - literally. And the more I play along with it, the better it gets.

I can't imagine that everyone who gets this is going to fall immediately in love, but I'm thinkin most will, and at this price I'm not complaining.
 
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#95
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DT770pro

My headphones for those who were wondering.

I'd put the samples that come preloaded on the unit about on part with the AppleLoops that come with Logic (and GarageBand now too I think...). Which is about what I expected, since they serve a similar role - something you get for free on top when you buy a high quality machine.

Really, if you're buying this pedal for the sample library, you've completely missed the point of what a remarkable tool it is.
 
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#96
Great! This thread is finally delivering, as are more of the BBs, too.

If the sound is stale and dry for a few of you, maybe add a little reverb, just a smidge. I'll be running mine through my EA amp and speaker, which should have enough fidelity to sound good. Won't be seeing mine 'til late Oct/early Nov, so for now I'll continue to experience the BB vicariously.

Beat away, Buddies...
 
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#97
Mine arrived yesterday. I had just enough time to get it on my pedalboard before heading to church for practice. I love the sounds and the beats, but the management software is going to be absolutely essential. I'm itching to get a whole setlist programmed in there and customizing some beats (first step for me will be making an intro fill that's just sticks or hi-hat counting off the time).

Also, playing + singing + dancing with the BB is tricky. It's also fun, though, so putting in the work to improve shouldn't be much of a chore.
 
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#98
I really regret not jumping on one of these when they first hit at $150 or whatever it was. I had the chance to, I just did. Shame on me!! ;) THis pedal is so ideal for the guy who needs to get better and just cant find guys to jam with and hes stuck in his room/garage/basement. IMO, the reliable and non flaky drummers are the hardest to find. vocalists too. It would just be great for inspiration too, I can imagine. All I need is a good beat and the creative juices start a flowin.
 
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