Integrating BandHelper and DrumPerfect Pro

[Dov64]

I wanted to integrate BandHelper ("BH") and DrumPerfect Pro ("DPP") so that when I select a song from a BandHelper set list, the drum pattern and kit are selected, and the beat starts. I expected BH to set the Tempo via Ableton Link.

Intially, responded only to Program Changes messages (select Kit and Pattern), but not Control Change (Swing, Trigger, Start/Stop, etc). Ableton worked right away to set my Tempo.

After experimenting for a while, I found a configuration that works 100% reliably:
1) In DPP, enable only the DrumPerfect virtual "MIDI destination" on a specific channel (I chose 10).
2) In DPP, disable all the corresponding "MIDI source" options, including "Network Session 1" and "BandHelper".
3) In BH, create a MIDI Device with Port All (Arlo's recommendation so changes on the other side don't cause a problem) and your DPP channel.

Voila, completely reliable control of DrumPerfect Pro!

[arlo]

Cool, thanks for sharing your setup tips.

[Dov64]

Postscript:

I'm seeing that setting the tempo via Ableton Link isn't perfect with DrumPerfect Pro. DPP seems to play at about 20 bpm faster than requested.  When I bring DPP into the foreground, it pauses briefly, then resumes at the expected tempo.  Even as it pauses, it reports the correct tempo, so clearly Ableton is working.

I did a "controlled" test by trying this with another drum app, Rock Drum Machine 5, which produced the tempo I expected.

I've contacted Marinus, the developer of DrumPerfect Pro, to report the problem.

I will report the solution (I hope there is one) here in this forum.