The nice folks at Singular Sound sent me a
BeatBuddy to test with, and I've been trying out some of the ways it can integrate with my apps. Here's a guide for how to send MIDI from BandHelper or Set List Maker to control your BeatBuddy.
General SetupYou'll only need to do this section once, to get everything ready.
- On the BeatBuddy, press the Drum Set and Tempo buttons at the same time to open the settings.
- Turn the Tempo knob to scroll down to the Main Pedal menu item, then press the knob to select it.
- By turning and pressing the Tempo knob, navigate to MIDI Messages > MIDI Out > Sync > Disable.
- Press the Drum Set button to go back, then press it to go back again.
- Navigate to MIDI In > MIDI Channel Number and select a channel number. You'll want each of your MIDI devices to operate on a different channel.
- Press the Drum Set button to go back until you exit the settings.
- In BandHelper, navigate to Repertoire > MIDI Devices, or in Set List Maker, navigate to Settings > MIDI Devices.
- Click the + button at the top of the list, then enter BeatBuddy as the device name.
- Set the port if you need to use multiple MIDI interfaces at the same time. Otherwise, leave it set to All.
- Set the channel to the same channel you set on the BeatBuddy.
- Set the numbering to 1-128.
- Click the back button in the top right and select Layouts.
- Select the layout you want to use and click Edit Details.
- In the Actions section, click Send MIDI and select Song Selection.
Selecting SongsWhen you select a song in BandHelper or Set List Maker, you can make the BeatBuddy select the corresponding song automatically.
- Find a song you want to select on the BeatBuddy, and note its folder and song number.
- In BandHelper, navigate to Repertoire > MIDI Presets, or in Set List Maker, navigate to MIDI Presets.
- Click the + button at the top of the list, then enter the BeatBuddy song name as the preset name.
- On the BeatBuddy row in the Program Changes section, enter values into the three fields. If you have fewer than 128 folders, this is easy; just set the first field to 1, the second field to your folder number and the third field to your song number. If you have more than 128 folders, you need to increment the first field for each group of 128 folders, then set the second field to the remainder. So if the folder number is 280, you would set the first field to 2 (because 280 contains 2 groups of 128) and the second field to 24 (because subtracting 2 groups of 128 from 280 leaves you with 24). By the way, the BeatBuddy manual says to subtract 1 from your folder and song numbers, because MIDI values are often counted starting from 0. This isn't necessary in my apps, thanks to the 1-128 setting you selected in the device setup.
- Click the back button and navigate to the Songs list.
- Select the song in my app that corresponds to the song you want to select on the BeatBuddy.
- Scroll down to the MIDI Presets section and click Add MIDI Presets.
- Select the preset you just created.
- Click the back button and navigate to a set list that contains this song.
- Select the layout you edited in the setup section above, then select the song you added the preset to.
- You should see the MIDI icon in the top toolbar blink, and the song should now be selected on the BeatBuddy.
- Repeat these steps for each song!
Setting the tempo and playing the selected songNow that a song is selected, you have two options for playing it at your defined tempo. The first option sends a tempo value to the BeatBuddy and starts it, but makes no attempt to keep the app's flashing tempo button in sync with the BeatBuddy. This would create a more stable tempo on the BeatBuddy and is best if you don't mind the app flash potentially drifting out of sync. Also, this stops the playback with a final fill.
- In the app, navigate to Settings > Tempo & Pitch.
- Turn on Send Tempo To BeatBuddy, and set Send To BeatBuddy Channel to the input channel you set on the BeatBuddy.
- Navigate to the Songs list and select the song you want to control the BeatBuddy from.
- Scroll down to the Tempo field and enter your desired tempo.
- Navigate back to the Songs list, or navigate to a set list that contains the song, and click the song's tempo button (metronome icon).
- The BeatBuddy will start playing at the tempo you entered. Click the tempo button again to stop it.
Alternatively, this method will sync the app's tempo flash in sync with the BeatBuddy, but might be less stable because of the additional MIDI communication. Also, this method stops the playback immediately.
- In the app, navigate to Settings > Tempo & Pitch.
- Turn on Send MIDI Beat Clock, and set Send Beat Clock To Port if you are using multiple MIDI interfaces at the same time.
- Navigate to the Songs list and select the song you want to control the BeatBuddy from.
- Scroll down to the Tempo field and enter your desired tempo.
- Navigate back to the Songs list, or navigate to a set list that contains the song, and click the song's tempo button (metronome icon).
- The BeatBuddy will start playing at the tempo you entered. Click the tempo button again to stop it.
Setting the tempo WITHOUT playing the selected songSome people might want to send a message to the BeatBuddy to only set its tempo, then start playback from the BeatBuddy itself. To do this, you can turn on Send Tempo To BeatBuddy and also turn on On Song Selection. Then when you select a song in the set list view, BandHelper will set the BeatBuddy tempo, but won't start playing it.
Setting the tempo in real time with Tap TempoInstead of setting a tempo in your songs, you can send Tap Tempo messages to the BeatBuddy.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list.
- Click the + button and enter BeatBuddy: Tap Tempo as the name.
- On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 118 and the second field to 128.
- Navigate to the Layouts list and select the More Controls layout, or any layout that contains the Multiple MIDI Buttons item.
- Scroll down to the MIDI Presets section and click Add MIDI Presets.
- Select the BeatBuddy: Tap Tempo preset you just created.
- Navigate to a set list and view it with this layout, then select any song.
- In the list of MIDI buttons, you'll see BeatBuddy: Tap Tempo at the end. Click this preset repeatedly to set the BeatBuddy tempo.
Triggering events in real time on the BeatBuddyThese steps will create a collection of MIDI presets you can use to trigger various BeatBuddy events as you play. You can skip any you don't expect to use.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Start as the name. Scroll down to the Raw MIDI field and enter FA.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Stop as the name. Scroll down to the Raw MIDI field and enter FA.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Accent Hit as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 111 and the second field to 128.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Drum Fill as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 113 and the second field to 128.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Transition 1 as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 114 and the second field to 2.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Transition 2 as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 114 and the second field to 3.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Transition 3 as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 114 and the second field to 4.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Next Transition as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 114 and the second field to 128.
- Navigate to the MIDI Presets list and click the + button. Enter BeatBuddy: Outro as the name. On the BeatBuddy row in the Control Changes section, set the first field to 116 and the second field to 128.
- Navigate to the Layouts list and select the More Controls layout, or any layout that contains the Multiple MIDI Buttons item.
- Scroll down to the MIDI Presets section and click Add MIDI Presets.
- Select all the presets you just created. Then drag them into the order in which you want to view them.
- Navigate to a set list and view it with this layout, then select any song.
- In the list of MIDI buttons, you'll see your BeatBuddy presets at the end. Click them to see what they do.