Acoustic Players Using Drum Loops Live

[fcs101]

I did a small amount of youtube watching on the beat buddy, it seemed decent (and similar product to the Boss RC-10R).
Does it allow tap tempo (with a pedal) to set a tempo?

Absolutely. I got mine for live work, but it is now an indispensable practice tool as well; I use it constantly.

So for what you might want, you could start off playing just acoustically (no rhythm) while playing tap in your tempo and you're good to go. It also has count ins which can be disabled if needed. A bunch more could be said about it (large library of drum/percussion kits to include rock, jazz, even human beat boxes).

We all have those pieces of gear we would replace at any cost and for me this is one.

 

[BBN]

Absolutely. I got mine for live work, but it is now an indispensable practice tool as well; I use it constantly.

So for what you might want, you could start off playing just acoustically (no rhythm) while playing tap in your tempo and you're good to go. It also has count ins which can be disabled if needed. A bunch more could be said about it (large library of drum/percussion kits to include rock, jazz, even human beat boxes).

We all are those pieces of gear we would replace at any cost and for me this is one.

Great, thank you. Going to take a serious look at this today.

 

[solo-act]

Alcohol?

LOL...and a solo act able to read & work the crowd and make a steady transition from mellow acoustic to party music with electric and tracks. It still amazes me how many solo acts don't, won't or can't do that.

 

[fcs101]

Great, thank you. Going to take a serious look at this today.

BTW, I think the BB is superior to the Boss for the purpose of being a "drummer". It is much more flexible and has a lot of little nuances that a live drummer can provide that the Boss won't (transitions from verses/choruses which you can hold for as long as you like, on demand accent hits & fills, etc.). Also the drum sounds are from live drums/percussion.

 

[jarrett]

Have you checked out the Beat Buddy? Doesn't sound cheesy, has plenty of fills to keep it interesting. Songs include multiple patterns for verses, choruses, bridges, etc. You can fully control it with foot switches to include advancing to your next song. There are other interesting features such as pausing momentarily for dramatic effects. You can even program the drummer to be drunk (multiple levels)!

https://www.singularsound.com/products/beatbuddy

Was coming to post this.

I've been doing acoustic solo gigs with the Beat Buddy and accessory footswitch for several years now. I assemble my own beats ahead of time in the BeatBuddy Manager app and load them on the pedal. The song finder app on their site makes it easy to do it quickly.

I've kicked around getting their looper that auto syncs with the BeatBuddy, but lately, I've had players sit in and fill those parts out.

I've had lots of drummers come up to me after gigs and say the drums sound great and offer to join in, but its hard to go back to using drummers after you have one that's never late, always knows when to come in and stop, doesn't drag, doesn't rush at the chorus and starts on the exact right tempo every time. And he doesn't take a cut

 

[fcs101]

Was coming to post this.

I've been doing acoustic solo gigs with the Beat Buddy and accessory footswitch for several years now. I assemble my own beats ahead of time in the BeatBuddy Manager app and load them on the pedal. The song finder app on their site makes it easy to do it quickly.

I've kicked around getting their looper that auto syncs with the BeatBuddy, but lately, I've had players sit in and fill those parts out.

I've had lots of drummers come up to me after gigs and say the drums sound great and offer to join in, but its hard to go back to using drummers after you have one that's never late, always knows when to come in and stop, doesn't drag, doesn't rush at the chorus and starts on the exact right tempo every time. And he doesn't take a cut

Right on! Drummers are definitely a different breed!

Thanks for chiming in. I hated to overwhelm him with info and it's great to get it from other sources. There's so much more to the BB than a youtube video will do justice. It just feels like an actual drummer and there are so many little subtleties that other drum solutions don't bring.

I've been tempted by their looper, but I think it's just GAS. I use a Boomerang III which is awesome and works just fine. I would definitely consider the Aeros if I needed to replace it though.

 

[BBN]

Was coming to post this.

I've been doing acoustic solo gigs with the Beat Buddy and accessory footswitch for several years now. I assemble my own beats ahead of time in the BeatBuddy Manager app and load them on the pedal. The song finder app on their site makes it easy to do it quickly.

I've kicked around getting their looper that auto syncs with the BeatBuddy, but lately, I've had players sit in and fill those parts out.

I've had lots of drummers come up to me after gigs and say the drums sound great and offer to join in, but its hard to go back to using drummers after you have one that's never late, always knows when to come in and stop, doesn't drag, doesn't rush at the chorus and starts on the exact right tempo every time. And he doesn't take a cut

Thanks, i've been knee deep in videos, but more importantly (to me), I've read the manual. I want one.
Seems like an awesome solution (or at least fun to try).

 

[nprioleau]

What do you use? I've been doing more acoustic shows and miss having some drums behind it. I'm trying to avoid triggering loops in a laptop as I don't want to bring that much gear. I think I could live with 4-5 different patterns if I am able to tap tempo the beat before I start each song. I have a Boss RC20XL to loop my guitar (yes I have tried creating percussion loops by hitting my guitar, but would like something better). So I don't need a unit for creating guitar loops, just need drums in a box. My requirements would be - ability to access 4-5 presets (via footswitch), ability to tap tempo (via footswitch)....and I guess just the ability to start and stop (via footswitch) I've been reading the manual on the Boss RC-10R, and I think if I added 2 footswitch buttons via the cntr1&2 jacks, I can do all of that. Any acoustic players on here have a solution/option they'd recommend? Thanks!

 

[nprioleau]

I have been live looping for ages and have gone back and forth between triggered sounds and using my guitar and to be honest, I keep coming back to the guitar to try and find a way of making it sound better. I route my guitar through a Boss GBE-7 Bass Equalizer and then the looped track is routed to a channel on my bose tonematch mixer where I have some compression and effects.. I get a great sound out of it... BUT... When it comes to a lively, loud venue, things start to go wrong... The body of an acoustic picks up all the outside noise and this is recorded onto the track.
I recently bought a logjam logarhythm as I heard someone using it one night and his sounded flippen amazing. I have not been able to recreate the sound he had though... If anyone can suggest how to make this happen, I would be most grateful.

I have also used my iPad with a midi keyboard but this is less than ideal for a drum sound.

 

[BBN]

I have been live looping for ages and have gone back and forth between triggered sounds and using my guitar and to be honest, I keep coming back to the guitar to try and find a way of making it sound better. I route my guitar through a Boss GBE-7 Bass Equalizer and then the looped track is routed to a channel on my bose tonematch mixer where I have some compression and effects.. I get a great sound out of it... BUT... When it comes to a lively, loud venue, things start to go wrong... The body of an acoustic picks up all the outside noise and this is recorded onto the track.
I recently bought a logjam logarhythm as I heard someone using it one night and his sounded flippen amazing. I have not been able to recreate the sound he had though... If anyone can suggest how to make this happen, I would be most grateful.

I have also used my iPad with a midi keyboard but this is less than ideal for a drum sound.

I ended up buying a Beat Buddy and the Pigtronix Infinity Looper.
I tracked my own Cajon sample for the Beat Buddy and just use it for a 'thump'.
After lots of trial and error, that felt the most 'appropriate'. Using a full drum kit in the Beat Buddy was fun, but felt too fake. Started to feel like a Karaoke jam.
Using just a thump in the Beat Buddy, I have a nice tempo to lock to and it creates a pulse in the room.
The Pigtronix receives midi tempo from the Beat Buddy, which means I have 2 tracks of looping that are in perfect time with the Beat Buddy.
So far I like it....