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Worlds First Drum Machine in Pedal Form!

#961
I'm also looking for some good midi drum software too. I'm pretty new to this but for me sequencing my own drum patterns is how to unlock the full potential of the BB.

Currently I'm using a mix of Cubase 7 Elements and Izoptope's iDrum and exporting the audio to MP3 to use as backing beats for practice and jamming (when drummer not available). Cubase's drum editor feels quite limited and iDrum a bit cumbersome. I'm not super impressed with the accoustic drum kits on them either - although less of an issue when i get the BB and use it's naitve kits.

That being said I would like some better software to create my own midi files, if i have a budget of around $150 any recommendations? Anyone have any experience of Jamstix3 or EZ Drummer 2?
 
#962
Moley13 said:
Errm, I haven't received any emails from BB, but I've ordered (months ago). Should I be worried?
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I'm not sure. At this point "months ago" might still be not in the first shipment. There was a point at which they switched their announcements from Indiegogo to a plain e-mail mailing list. I would write [email protected]---either David or Eli will probably write you back within 24 hours.
 
#965
BassClefJean said:
For the truly lazy (e.g., me), can I buy midi drum tracks? Bass is challenging enough, I don't think I'll find time to learn drums.
Click to expand...

(1) You can program them without playing them.
(2) I assume there must be MIDI tracks available for download/purchase somewhere.
(3) Beat Buddy is planning to release additional content, it's my understanding some will be for free, some will be for purchase.
(4) Beat Buddy has also said they will have forums (like the software, there is no real recent word on this) where users can share content.
 
#968
scm_Bass said:
I'm also looking for some good midi drum software too. I'm pretty new to this but for me sequencing my own drum patterns is how to unlock the full potential of the BB.

Currently I'm using a mix of Cubase 7 Elements and Izoptope's iDrum and exporting the audio to MP3 to use as backing beats for practice and jamming (when drummer not available). Cubase's drum editor feels quite limited and iDrum a bit cumbersome. I'm not super impressed with the accoustic drum kits on them either - although less of an issue when i get the BB and use it's naitve kits.

That being said I would like some better software to create my own midi files, if i have a budget of around $150 any recommendations? Anyone have any experience of Jamstix3 or EZ Drummer 2?
Click to expand...
The software you're looking at seems to be DRUMMING software (much like the BB ) more than a midi editor - they're focused on great drum sounds and feel, not file creation. Cubase is a good way to go, but make sure you're using the midi editor (sounds like you might be in some sort of proprietary drum programming thing - again, the only bit we're interested in is the midi!).

If that doesn't make sense, pm me.

Also, if you're more of a notation guy, or do a lot of arranging for bands, Sibelius will do just fine for creating your files, particularly if you start digging into the 'live playback' and velocity options.
 
#969
BassClefJean said:
I was hoping you guys could help me narrow it down to 30 or 40 thousand options.
Click to expand...

Get yourself one of these, practice the 40-odd essential rudiments about 30-40,000 times, then you'll be good to go to record anything you want!

ludiwg-classic-maple-sunset_diamond-drum-kit.jpg
 
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#970
With you, I was using the midi drum editor but had to use a VST to hear the play back and export to mp3.

I downloaded the demo's of the software I mentioned and had more of a play with Cubase so I'm getting more comfortable and a better understanding now.
 
#971
scm_Bass said:
With you, I was using the midi drum editor but had to use a VST to hear the play back and export to mp3.

I downloaded the demo's of the software I mentioned and had more of a play with Cubase so I'm getting more comfortable and a better understanding now.
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Sweet as. Good luck! Midi is really pretty straightforward once you grab the basics. Out of interest, do you ever write drum notation? Or read standard notation for Bass?
 
#972
I'm pretty certain this has been covered before, but I'm even more certain I'll never be able to locate the answer... so Imma gonna ask again.

Could we load an entire song into one pattern? Like, can I program a 3 or 4 minute midi file, and just play that as opposed to clicking back and forth from verse, chorus, bridge, fills, etc... AND, if so, I was just kinda wondering why I or anyone wouldn't just do that for every song? Unless of course it's a jam.
 
#973
Joe, you can do this if you want. Somewhere back in the thread the creators have verified this. I've done it a bunch in "garage band" myself. The problem for me is it takes a lot of time to count measures and program each verse, chorus, bridge, and fills etc in the entirety. I'm hoping with the beatbudy i can program the beat for each part, some fills (specific if needed) and control changes with the pedal. So far it has taken me at least an hour a song or more to get one single file for a song. That plus the fact there is absolutely no room for mistake or improv etc makes me hope this pedal will make life easier. I hope that helps a little... And I am sure there are people that can do this faster. I'm just an average guy with computers though.
 
#974
Joe Nerve said:
I'm pretty certain this has been covered before, but I'm even more certain I'll never be able to locate the answer... so Imma gonna ask again.

Could we load an entire song into one pattern? Like, can I program a 3 or 4 minute midi file, and just play that as opposed to clicking back and forth from verse, chorus, bridge, fills, etc... AND, if so, I was just kinda wondering why I or anyone wouldn't just do that for every song? Unless of course it's a jam.
Click to expand...

My understanding is pasmithy is right. Basically, you can make any "part" as long or complex as you want. And if that's what you want out of the pedal, that's up to you. But it kind of misses what the pedal was made for---the improv aspect, the "live" fills, etc.
 
#975
Joe Nerve said:
I'm pretty certain this has been covered before, but I'm even more certain I'll never be able to locate the answer... so Imma gonna ask again.

Could we load an entire song into one pattern? Like, can I program a 3 or 4 minute midi file, and just play that as opposed to clicking back and forth from verse, chorus, bridge, fills, etc... AND, if so, I was just kinda wondering why I or anyone wouldn't just do that for every song? Unless of course it's a jam.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can do this. But please note that currently there is a 500 note limit to a midi file.

And as Adam said, that does defeat the purpose of the BeatBuddy - which is live control and improv. At the risk of losing a customer, I would say that you might as well just play to a backing track.
 
#976
Joe Nerve said:
I'm pretty certain this has been covered before, but I'm even more certain I'll never be able to locate the answer... so Imma gonna ask again.

Could we load an entire song into one pattern? Like, can I program a 3 or 4 minute midi file, and just play that as opposed to clicking back and forth from verse, chorus, bridge, fills, etc... AND, if so, I was just kinda wondering why I or anyone wouldn't just do that for every song? Unless of course it's a jam.
Click to expand...

A few years ago I was in a jazz band....me on bass, a guitarist, and a loop combining his recorded rhythm guitar merged with drum beats. We played background ambiance at wineries etc. The resulting mix was pleasant and was what it was. But we had to always play exactly the same thing at the same time to synchronize with the loop. I ended up hating it for it was the antithesis of jazz and provided no opportunity for improvisation, no room for the music to breathe, and even required me to memorize and play against mistakes the guitarist has recorded into the loop. Beat Buddy would at least enable some freedom from playing against a rote loop. Otherwise you might as well be "playing with a record" at a performance. Which one can hardly merit being called "performance" if you have any sense of actually being a musician. I'd rather play with a real drummer (and am grateful to have an excellent drummer and percussionist in my current project, Link Removed). But if you don't have a live drummer, it seems like Beat Buddy is the next best situation. Guess we'll find out whenever we finally get one to experiment with this invention. Hoping it will at least be a fine partner in my home studio. :)
 
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#977
SingularSound said:
Yes, you can do this. But please note that currently there is a 500 note limit to a midi file.

And as Adam said, that does defeat the purpose of the BeatBuddy - which is live control and improv. At the risk of losing a customer, I would say that you might as well just play to a backing track.
Click to expand...

I plan to use the BB a few different ways, including w a looper, but I realized yesterday that one of the main things I want to do with it is bring it to acoustic gigs to add a drummer, without having to pay a drummer :). My original intention was to program all the parts of a song individually, but then thought, duh, we're not going to be rearranging any of the covers. Why not just put the whole song in. 500 note limit might make that not possible though. The "currently" in your response makes me think this might change. If that does change will the change be in the hardware, or software?
 
#978
Joe Nerve said:
I plan to use the BB a few different ways, including w a looper, but I realized yesterday that one of the main things I want to do with it is bring it to acoustic gigs to add a drummer, without having to pay a drummer :). My original intention was to program all the parts of a song individually, but then thought, duh, we're not going to be rearranging any of the covers. Why not just put the whole song in. 500 note limit might make that not possible though. The "currently" in your response makes me think this might change. If that does change will the change be in the hardware, or software?
Click to expand...

We are looking into extending this limit -- it will be a software fix. MIDI files are tiny so the hardware can easily handle it.
 
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#979
Joe, you can do this if you want. Somewhere back in the thread the creators have verified this. I've done it a bunch in "garage band" myself. The problem for me is it takes a lot of time to count measures and program each verse, chorus, bridge, and fills etc in the entirety. I'm hoping with the beatbudy i can program the beat for each part, some fills (specific if needed) and control changes with the pedal. So far it has taken me at least an hour a song or more to get one single file for a song. That plus the fact there is absolutely no room for mistake or improv etc makes me hope this pedal will make life easier. I hope that helps a little... And I am sure there are people that can do this faster. I'm just an average guy with computers though.
Click to expand...

What could be useful is if I play the song through, tapping the beat buddy at the changes throughout the song, and the beat buddy records it all as the midi file for that song. That way you don't have to build the song manually, just play it through once the normal way and the beat buddy captures the whole thing.
 
#980
I had some similar thoughts when looking at loopers (whether or not they store loops), but to me, it always came back to this:

What's the point of doing something an iPod can do?

There are already hundreds of cheesy iPod backing track bands out there. Plus, if you're not altering forms, the beatbuddy is actually a little "limited" as far as a backing track player (barring wild ideas from Pages ago about loading non-drum sounds, and even then, why go through all the pain).

If you're wanting to make your own backings, maybe recording the BB output could be an easier way than programming.

I just don't see the point however, of using it as a one-shot player. Use your cassette deck :P
 
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