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So, I'm sharing my thoughts, progress, and views on Beatmaker 3 on this thread | Drum Pad Workflow
Oh boy, here he goes again with another thread...
Hey everyone,
So, I've challenged myself to work on a few DAWs outside of Garageband. In this thread, I'm looking into Beatmaker 3. Why?
Well, ask this guy...
Yep, my alter-ego #DB has arrived. And he means business...
We're going into a sample based workflow using Drum Pad based apps.
Turns out Beatmaker 3 is very similar to Ableton...and by that I mean I can export projects to Ableton, but also arrange projects into scenes. Seeing a lot of similarities to Garageband that way, so it would be really fun to further explore this application.
With that out of the way, here's the dedicated playlist for my progress on Beatmaker 3. Looking forward to learning a lot about this application.
Comments
Good stuff! Interested to see how you find it.
DB will be all over that sampler! I got BM3 a year or so ago after it had that round of stability patches so I was pretty impressed with it once I worked out all the different views and had conveniently missed the crashy phase you talked about in the video. I don’t do any sampling so I did not benefit from perhaps its most powerful feature but I did like the scenes and song layout mode, plus I recall the audio routing worked well.
The thing that stopped me using it was its file management. After recording some audio I started finding temporary copies of samples all over the place and I could not see an easy way of maintaining my projects. I like either all of my project data to be contained in one file or have a button I can click to remove anything not active in the project (like Logic X has). I found some tricks to clear files up but I always felt I was one step away from opening a project to be told I had removed the wrong copy of a file and did not want to have to keep tidying up after myself.
I wonder how stable you will find it now compared to the last time you used it.
Thanks, @el_bo. Also, keeping an eye on your thread as well to see your progress with Cubasis and other apps. I really do like what Cubasis 3 is capable of, so I'm learning it in tandem with Beatmaker 3.
(i set this year aside to learn and try and appreciate different workflows, so I'm not as Garageband focused as I used to be)
@MisplacedDevelopment Been a bit. Hope your year's going well so far. Yeah, I see what you mean about the file management. Last time I tackled file management in Beatmaker 3 was when I made an iOS shortcut to make drum kits in Beatmaker 3.
I'll have to do some further tests on Beatmaker 3. Still curious about how the Scenes mode work, and backing up projects.
In terms of stability, it seems a bit more robust. Haven't had any dreaded crashes. Could have been because of the new iPad, or the updates to some apps, but so far it seems like a DAW which has Koala Sampler built into it, except with the possibility to store a ton more samples and pads.
Only time will tell how I can effectively use Beatmaker 3. But so far, it's great.
BM is extremely powerful. Each video i watch brings more understanding of what is achievable. Just need to deep-dive the manual to fill in the missing gaps.
@seonnthaproducer
One of the things that I did first with BM3 was to create
sub folders within the Samples folder for the samples that I imported.
As we can access the samples folder via the Files app
it’s actually really easy to organise and maintain
especially when you use a lot of samples.
The other nice thing about being able to access the BM3 sample folder via
the Files app is that I have almost all of my samples in one centralised place
which makes it much easier to export into other apps.
It’s highly efficient.
I see. So, the samples are kept in the Beatmaker 3 internal folder, and you’re able to work on your project based on it?
Yup.
Leave them in place and get the samples when you need them.
Bear in mind BM3 has 3 main folders for samples not including
the one it uses for presets which are Exports / Imports / Samples.
I keep all of my samples in the Samples folder and when I
create BM3 presets I make sure I don’t choose ,’Copy session samples’,
Reduces projects crashing, duplicate or missing files.
Makes BM3 much more stable.
I’ve also got the habit of making sure that whatever audio files I don’t use
when I’ve recording directly into BM3 are deleted as well which also
reduces clutter and maximises storage space.
Been a bit since I updated the thread. Uploading the full 20+ minute video as we speak but wanted to share some of my initial thoughts using the application. Been using shorts to share the journey during the month of February so the videos posted here are 1-2 minutes long.
I started exploring the drum pad style towards music making. I even tested the "free" Beatmaker Pro app once I found out that it had sample banks from The Chainsmokers (which is a band/EDM group that I'm a fan of).
Using Beatmaker 3 made me realize...why I HATE trap sample flips.
Between that time, i kept going back and forth between Beatmaker 3, Cubasis 3, and Garageband for iOS. I was inspired to make a song out of an idea. It's still in progress but here's the short clip
That said, I got overwhelmed. Learning a ton of apps caused me to lose touch with why I liked iOS in the first place. So I did a quick refresh. Went back to using only Ampify apps for a week, and it helped me appreciate what i liked about iOS apps.
Even challenged myself to make a song using Ampify apps...on my iPhone
Feeling refreshed, I went back to Beatmaker 3, and I was able to finish editing the video.
So, before the video finishes uploads, here's my thoughts on Beatmaker 3.
I really like the application. It's improved since I used it in 2018. Didn't have any instance of crashes during my run time. To be fair, I am now using a 2021 iPad Pro 11-in, as opposed to my previous 6th Gen base iPad.
Apps I used like Audiokit have been updated and seem to respond better. I haven't dived fully into them but I'm hopefully going to tackle a bigger project this year using Beatmaker 3.
Organizing files is actually easy using a combination of "Files" and the Beatmaker 3 menu. Shoutout to @Gravitas for the tip. I do wish for some small improvements, and I do have some ideas I want to test when I do have more free time to push some apps to the limit.
MIDI mapping is excellent in Beatmaker 3. I had a blast mapping my Novation Launchpad mk2, and my novation Launchkey mini mk3.
The sampler engine is insane as well. Auto slice, and a great time stretching algorithm.
MIDI and AUv3 audio effect are pretty cool. That's something I thought was well handled in Beatmaker 3, as opposed to Garageband.
Organizing sounds in banks and stacking AUv3 in banks is really fun. Reminds me a lot like Drambo.
The pads are super responsive, and I have a lot of fun just tapping on my screen and making drum patterns. Especially the repeat mode in Beatmaker 3...it's super fun to use.
BUT
That said, I'll probably only use Beatmaker 3 as a live performance drum pad application. Beatmaker 3 is super powerful, has a lot of great features but when it comes to production, I really like Cubasis UI. I still prefer apps like Koala, Segments, Reslice, and/or EG Pulse for the drum pad and sampling use whenever I need a quick solution, and Blocs Wave for audio stretching. Beatmaker 3 can definitely do them both but as a standalone app, it's pretty difficult to intuitively use it in my workflow considering I'll be using Garageband and Cubasis.
So, Beatmaker 3 won't be a production app in my workflow. But it'll definitely be a live performance app. I'm genuinely excited to try it with Ableton link based apps like Ampify Launchpad/Remix Live/Koala Sampler/Loopy Pro. Even Garageband Live loops... (if I get the chance to try them all out)
So, here we go. Here’s the video on How I use Beatmaker 3 | Feat #DB
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@seonnthaproducer
Glad the tip worked for you.
I actually like using BM3 as a DAW as well using it’s sampler capabilities.
It was the first DAW that convinced me that idevices are serious contenders
as music production machines and great all round music tools.
The most recent MPC device that I’ve used was an MPC Renaissance
and I preferred BM3 combined with my Launchpad X.
I’ve used other MPC’s in the past and BM3’s flow easily surpassed those machines.
Granted I haven’t used the more recent MPC offerings but a fully loaded BM3 and
a matching midi controller is really cool and the added DAW section gives it a great advantage.
I still haven’t used it’s clip functions but I don’t have need of that right now.
I like putting together loops from samples and arranging them as I would do
with any DAW and I also use it as a multi timbral sound source on one ipad
whilst the other one is doing the rest of the heavy lifting.
Also creating instrument banks in BM3 is so easy.
Drag from files, drop on pad, play.
For live performance I’ve got my dRambo rigs at the ready.