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Singular Sound | BeatBuddy Tutorial: How to Use the BeatBuddy Drum Machine Pedalplay button

Singular Sound | BeatBuddy Tutorial: How to Use the BeatBuddy Drum Machine Pedal

BeatBuddy VS BeatBuddy MINI 2 - Drum Machine Pedal Comparison Reviewplay button

BeatBuddy VS BeatBuddy MINI 2 - Drum Machine Pedal Comparison Review

collapse expand iconDescription

The BeatBuddy is a revolutionary drum machine pedal that puts professional, hands-free control of your beat at your feet. Featuring high-definition recordings of real drummers, the BeatBuddy provides over 200 songs and 10 drum kits spanning rock, blues, jazz, pop, Latin, metal, funk, punk, reggae, country and more. Creating a live drummer effect has never been easier thanks to the BeatBuddy's innovative footswitch, which lets you start and stop the beat, throw in drum fills that change each time, transition between different parts of a song, end the song and add accent hits with an optional second footswitch (sold separately). The BeatBuddy's massive onboard memory and optional SD card (sold separately) provide near endless storage for your own custom beats and songs, created using the included BeatBuddy Manager software.

Hyper-Realistic Drum Samples for Studio-Quality Sound

The BeatBuddy features 24-bit studio-quality samples of real drummers, not synthetic drum machine sounds, providing warm, dynamic percussion that sounds like a live drummer is in the room with you. With 10 unique drum kits and over 200 songs spanning 24 genres, you'll have no trouble finding the perfect beat for your music. The BeatBuddy's 32-bit floating-point processing ensures your beats always sound full and natural.

Full Control at Your Feet

Designed for live use, the BeatBuddy puts complete control of your drum beats and fills at your feet. Use the intuitive footswitch to start and stop the beat, insert dynamic fills that change each time, transition between song parts, end the song and add accent hits with the optional second footswitch. The BeatBuddy's LED screen provides a visual representation of the beat so you can see exactly where you are in the song and make on-the-fly adjustments. Hands-free operation lets you focus on your instrument while the BeatBuddy supplies the rhythm.

Create Custom Beats and Songs

While the BeatBuddy comes loaded with an extensive library of styles and genres, you can also create your own custom beats and full songs using the included BeatBuddy Manager software. Upload your own WAV and General MIDI files or use the software to combine beats, fills and transitions into complete custom songs. Save your songs to the BeatBuddy's internal memory or optional SD card for live use. You can also download additional beats from the BeatBuddy community and share your own creations.

Reliable and Road-Ready

Housed in a rugged metal chassis, the BeatBuddy is built to withstand the rigors of live performance. It runs on a 9V power supply for reliable operation in any environment. The optional SD card expansion slot provides up to 32GB of additional storage for your custom beats and songs. A 1/4" headphone jack allows for silent practice.

Open Box Singular Sound BeatBuddy Level 1
Open Box Singular Sound BeatBuddy Level 1
Open Box Singular Sound BeatBuddy Level 1

collapse expand iconFeatures

  • Compact pedal
  • 10 hyper-realistic drum sets
  • 200 songs covering many genres
  • Color LCD display
  • MIDI Sync
  • TRS L/R output
  • TRS L/R input
  • Footswitch input
  • 1.3 mm headphone output with headphone volume wheel
  • Volume and Tempo control knobs

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collapse expand iconReviews

4.43

60 Reviews

88%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend

Most Liked Positive Review

5

Where have you been all my life?

Great product! Stellar Customer Service! This baby is built sturdily. It gets a lot of hits from me and has never even hinted at missing a beat. I'm almost 62 and had just about given up on my playing days. I bought this pedal as a curiosity item, and boy, has it renewed my interest in playing again. I even have built up callouses again like when I was 20! It's a tad spendy, but find a way to get one. One thing to note - To get a full range sound, don't try to play it through a regular amp. Find something with a good frequency range, like an old stereo...seriously. What I have done for this bad boy is to buy a Harbinger APS-15 15" powered PA speaker with an on-board mixer and 5-band eq. I got it online from GC for $149 and it mates perfectly with the BeatBuddy. I can't say enough about my BeatBuddy, so I'll shut up now and go play.

VS

Most Liked Negative Review

3

Awesome pedal with extensive features, but with QC issues

I bought this to play my guitar along with realistic sounding drum beats. I run this at the end of my pedal chain right before my looper pedal which runs into my Blackheart Handsome Devil amp head. I originally purchased the Beat Buddy Mini, but the footswitch was defective so that gave me a reason to upgrade. The build quality of the Beat Buddy seems solid, however there seems to be issues with quality control. The Beat Buddy I ordered came with the packing beads ripped open inside the box and there were scratches all over the pedal like it had been used. The folks at Guitar Center ordered me another one, and it did not have that problem, however, when I got the pedal home the volume knob's inside sleeve had broke loose so the knob would spin around on the pot's shaft. It was not a deal breaker for me as I have this type of issue with MXR pedals in the past. It is easily fixed with a small amount of super glue or epoxy. Other than those issues, the pedal sounds great through my 1x12 Blackheart Cabinet equipped with a Jensen Electric Lightning speaker. I have not played it through a full range speaker system, but I would expect it sounds even better. There is more beats and things that can be done with the Beat Buddy vs the Mini, although they both sound great in my opinion. Basically the Mini is a drum machine in a pedal, but a great sounding one in my opinion. The Beat Buddy's beats are closer to real electronic drums and some real drum sets. I knocked off 2 stars for the poor quality control on my original purchase of the Mini and the scratched up Beat Buddy I received.

Filters
Best Uses
  1. Practicing36
  2. Back-Up19
  3. Concerts13
  4. Songwriting1
  5. Solo Acoustic1
Cons
  1. Difficult To Use3
  2. Not Functional1
  3. Poor Quality1
  4. Poor Loop Variety1
  5. Significant Time To Learn1
Describe Yourself
  1. Experienced32
  2. Novice7
  3. Professional Musician5
Pros
  1. Easy To Use38
  2. Good Quality37
  3. Functional33
  4. Improves Sound22
  5. As Complicated As You Want It To Be1
  • Stopped working

    2

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted10 months ago

    byParag

    fromHerriman, Utah

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    I used it along with my headrush core effects processor. It initially worked fine but then suddenly it stopped working and wouldn't power on. I returned it as a result.

  • Powerful, easy and flexible

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitteda year ago

    byMichael

    fromDallas, TX

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    Use primarily for practice. So much more fun than a metronome

  • Must have for guitar players!

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted2 years ago

    byToby

    fromGrand Rapids, MI

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    I use this pedal to develop rhythm and improve my timing with guitar playing.

  • Great Product

    4

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted2 years ago

    byHarry

    fromsan diego

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    Home jam sessions, recordings or for even live sessions, this is a kool sounding drum machine pedal. You can add new rhythms and also customize existiing ones. Would have been great, if we could download any drum midi samples and convert to beatbuddy version.

  • Love the beat buddy!!!

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted2 years ago

    byKarl

    fromFlirida

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    It makes practice a ton of fun.

  • Great way to explore your sound and create new licks

    5

    Verified BuyerVerified Buyer

    submitted2 years ago

    byJamie

    fromWest Lafayette, IN

    Submitted as part of a sweepstakes

    This is a great product to let the drums play and work on creating your own licks. Also great to set up for a song and record along with. Love it! #sweepstakes

collapse expand iconQ&A

Have a question about this product? Our expert Gear Advisers have the answers.

  • asked byflying ears man

    fromundisclosed

    how is it powered: via power supply include, does that mean batterys?

    how is it powered: via power supply include, does that mean batterys?

    Open Reply - Gear-Support
    No, the power supply is included. It won't run on batteries.
  • asked byJoseph

    fromMA

    How can i hook this up to an amp? Currently have 1/4 inch inputs

    How can i hook this up to an amp? Currently have 1/4 inch inputs

    Open Reply - Beau
    This should connect to an amp using two 1/4" cables.
  • asked byQueen

    fromSan Francisco, CA

    Hi,
I mostly play Spanish and Franch music. Is the BeatBuddy has Rumba, Chachacha, Walt, Tango, etc.

    Hi, I mostly play Spanish and Franch music. Is the BeatBuddy has Rumba, Chachacha, Walt, Tango, etc.

    Open Reply - Ronald
    Yes. They have 200 different songs including Rumba, Chacha, and various others. You can also tweak the beats per minute to modify the songs even further.
  • asked byVicente

    fromSantiago, Chile

    What is the weight of the Beatbuddy?

    What is the weight of the Beatbuddy?

    Open Reply -
    Vicente, the weight is 1.9 lbs.
  • asked byBilly G

    fromLawndale, CA

    How is it powered?

    How is it powered?

    Open Reply -
    Via power supply included.