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Comments
I haven't purchased one yet so I can't comment on the BSP directly but I've pretty much always had better sync on iOS if an external hardware device is the clock source (including the original Beat Step).
Is it possible that Cubasis is listening to the two different ports that the BSP is sending clock on? Clock messages are pretty caveman (it just sends pulses)—if something is playing back at twice the speed that usually means it's getting twice as many pulses. On iOS that's often due to an app listing on both a Virtual and a Core MIDI port simultaneously.
I have found that using it with most apps works well i.e. DM1, iSem, Sunrizer. I have found an issue getting perfect sync with Drumjam. Drumjam seems to be slightly lagging but this could be as I am on old ipad2 and I have not looked into if I change latency settings in Drumjam.
I just got a Beatstep so that's good to know that it is solid in that area. Also, that's some "Illuminati, Black Magic Rainbow Unicorn, Scotland-bloody-Yard" level thinkin' about the clock coming around twice.
@syrupcore
Can i ask a couple of Qs about the original BS?
can you change the notes it sends out for the pads?
also the ccs it sends out for the dials?
when it's it's sequencing mode (for drums) can you also use the 16 dials to tweak midi ccs - or are they given over to the sequencer?
how many 'scenes' can you have for the dials/pad settings?
EDIT - is it also restricted to just 1 bar of sequencing? Or can it do like the iElectribe and loop through a second, 3rd and 4th 16 steps?
any other downsides?
I'm toying with either this or a NanoKontrol 2 to tweak iElectribe. But the BS has the advantage of being able to sequence it too (maybe)?
It's actually Cubasis that tends to send double clocks itself to particular hardware devices. Many Cubasis users have experienced the same frustrating issues when pairing Cubasis with most things in general. If only Steinberg would some day implement MIDI Clock In, I'd be a happier person roaming the earth...
On the other hand the Beatstep Pro is ace in my book so far! It's very adaptable to setups, especially when congfiguring custom settings with the Midi software.
Yes
Yes.
Yes
Yes.
The knobs do control the sequence step notes but you can have the sequence running and switch over to controller mode to send CCs. Kinda sweet.
16
Yes. You can halve and quarter the tempo so if you don't need high resolution you can sneak 4 bars in. This is a big reason I'm getting the BSP.
Yes.
As a pure MIDI controller, it's hard to beat on the price:features ratio. Super solid build and 16 presets already sort of sets it apart in its price range. Plus the sequencer and CV control? I love it. There are things that are far away from ideal though I don't think they'll mess with your current uses for it. Namely there's no tempo display and MIDI clock input and using MIDI to transpose the sequencer can only be done via the USB port (which is what you'd use with the iPad anyway).
Pad note (in controller mode) and knob CCs have to be adjust in the computer. Like every controller out there, pretty much. Meh.
@syrupcore
Thank you very much Mr Syrup. Very useful.
The BS is now edging ahead of the NanoKontrol for controlling iElectribe as a touchy feely drum machine. (Even though the NK maps automatically to every iElectribe control).
Last question: can BS send program change and bank change messages? That would be great for switching patterns on the iElectribe.
Actually I just found it in the manual and it looks like you can. Sorry.
One more ticket to the Syrupy help desk though.... (Sorry)
If you are using the BS sequence to sequence drums...
how do you do this?
do you need to create a custom scale for the pitch dials so they are restricted to just the 8 notes you want for your drums? I see that being an issue.
is it therefore monophonic (ie no 2 drums can hit at the same time)? That's a bit of a limitation if so.
have you tried it?
In sequence mode the knobs adjust pitch one semitone per click or will change the drums if on a drum kit.
Thanks @Martygras
So you can't have 2 different drum hits at the same time I guess?
Correct. Yet another reason for the BSP. It has two mono sequencers (like the original Beat Step) and a drum sequencer which polyphonic. If you're hoping to sequence drums on the BS, don't. You can do it but it's pretty restrictive. That said, Tweaky Beat is a mono drum sequencer and it's pretty rad so obviously it can be done.
I don't think you can restrict the note range on the BS sequencer dials.
I think it's best to think of the BS as a "performance" sequencer; the sort of sequencer that you are going to mess with in real time. It's not like the sequencers in gadget or NS or cubasis or {...}—it's the sort of thing where you set up a riff and then you riff with it live. There are times where it works as set and forget but for the most part, it's meant to be played (not unlike midiSequencer app).
Or maybe a "utility" sequencer that does a small part in a larger set up of things. One really fun thing you might dig is using it as a transposition source for iOS step sequencers like midiSequencer. Set it so it's playing at 1/4 time, set up 4 notes on steps 1/5/9/13 and let it transpose the other sequencer. Then you can mess with notes its sending and the timing to create interesting things.
At the moment, I use mine largely as a gate sequencer. I make a little sequence inside of my SH-101's sequencer and then connect the BS' gate out to the SH's CLOCK IN. Then, any pulse from the BS moves the SH's sequence forward one step. So if my SH sequence is 8 steps long and I set the BS to have 8 8th notes it sounds exactly the same. But if I set the BS to XOXX OOXX OXOX OXXO (7 "On" steps) weird shit starts to happen because my little 8 step sequence doesn't repeat 'properly' on each go around. Now I can mess with the positioning of on/off steps on the BS to create variations of my original SH phrase.
Bonus for the SH that isn't applicable to most other things: the SH's sequencer tempo is normally driven by its one internal clock. That same clock also determines the LFO rate. By using the BS as the clock source I can suddenly use my LFO again when sequencing (or using the arpeggiator). Think this is the sort of thing I mean when I say utility sequencer.
I wouldn't sweat the auto mapping from the NanoKontrol. You can set the same up in 15 minutes for the BeatStep and still have 15 presets left to do whatever you want with. I also own (and quite like) the NanoKontrol but there isn't much of a comparison quality wise.
One difference to consider is that the NK has fixed throw controllers where as the BS has infinite rotary controllers—when looking at the knobs you never know where you are. Without the controllers being automated they both have slightly different downsides. On the NK, once of you messed around a bit with them all on the same presets, the controllers represent the state of the thing you're controlling. On the other hand, as soon as you switch presets (or programs) they are lying to you and you have to sweep them around until it changes the parameter.
Wow. Thanks @syrupcore. Amazingly helpful as always.
It's looking like £40 for a NK or £60 for a BS. I know that's not a huge amount in the real world. But compared to the price of apps it's a big whack. And I don't use hardware much - so I vowed to stop buying it.
I'm thinking that it's unlikely I'd use the BS to sequence drums for the reasons you give. But I could use its dials to mess with all 8 drums in iElectribe while iElectribe sequences itself or is sequenced from something like Robotic drums or even ProMidi (as more 'set and forget' for rhythm) - then use the BS sequencer to drive some interesting synth app stuff (bells or plucks or something) and 'play it' exactly as you say. I just wish the beat flutter in iElectribe could be midi cc'd cos then I could assign it to my nanopad3 XYpad or something.
But the above is good.
Then I've had a revelation with Yahamas weird 'Synth and Dr Pad' app. It's ugly as hell, but I think it's the best drum pad app going. It has great 'roll' and velocity features and then you can also assign actual polyphonic midi sequences to each pad too (so it's a bit like switching abelton midi clips on and off). I'm thinking how I can have this running on a separate iPad mini (maybe) and use it to 'interrupt' the electribe sequence to create fills and rolls and variations (I just want to investigate how midiFlow could mute the original sequence on that drum when I trigger the roll). I could also point a pad or two at some synths - and have something transpose those pad sequences.
The possibilities are pretty crazy.
The result would be a 'live' set up with an iPad running iElectribe, an iPad mini running Yamahas crazy pads, a BS (for cc modulation) and various synths running in the background driven from BS and Yamaha. Maybe impackor on an iPhone too for good measure
.
One day
.
That sounds like mayhem. And fun!
Don't forget that the extra 20 is also getting you 16 nice playable drum pads for recording beats with the BS.
The NK edges it out slightly with available buttons (8 extra on the strips-24 total- plus all the transport stuff). I generally use the NK as a Loooy controller and do not want for toggles. Flip of that, of course, is that the BS has 16 presets (so 256 total) whereas the NK is fixed. You can also set the MIDI channel on the fly.
@syrupcore - thanks again
MIDI channel on the fly on which one? BS?
The pads are good but I already have the NanoPad2. (But those pads don't light up
).
I think the BS has it though, more flexible for things unknown to me now. And the continuous encoders presumably mean you don't get weird glitches when you change preset and grab a controller?
Yes, BeatStep. You have to load the desktop editor to change the MIDI channel on the NK. In the land of iOS port selection this may not matter often to you. It does mean you can have a few apps open all listening to the BeatStep port but only trigger one at a time via channel settings.
Just imagine what Beatstep Pro can do...beatstep x 3.... I am drooling already lol...till the 19th anyway:)
Me too. Thing is, the BSP is so much more than beatstep x 3. Transpose from the pads, tempo display, MIDI input, all of that CV, 4 bar measures, 16 sequencer * 16 projects, polyphonic third sequencer, note shift, swing, touch sensitive encoders... They really kinda crushed it. Trying to hold out until the end of this month but don't know if I can do it.
You're selling it to me
.
Midi In? Sounds intriguing.
Is that just very simply for the pads? Or could you do something like midi in to control the amount of note shift from another piece of hardware or an app or something? You could get pretty interesting that way.
Haha, sorry not meaning to. Just excited myself.
You can use MIDI IN to transpose the sequence (like you can with midiSequencer). You can actually do that with the original BeatStep but only via USB. It's kind of a key ingredient to stretching the musical usefulness of a 16 step sequencer like this. It almost turns it into an elaborate arpeggiator.
The addition of MIDI also means that the BSP will work as a MIDI Clock slave to non-usb MIDI hardware. Current will slave just fine over USB. The BSP also adds sync via CV.
You can also use the MIDI IN to go from MIDI->CV. Again, you can do that with the BS but only via USB. I think you can also capture sequences via MIDI on the Pro but I'm not 100% sure. Those recordings would of course quantized to 16 steps.
I like to use an Alesis MMT-8 to sequence MIDI these days so having the ability to do all of this from non-USB MIDI is a big deal for me.
I haven't looked into SYSEX dumps with it (for storing and restoring its sequence memory). Can any current users assist me in my laziness and just tell me?
Re: SYSEX dumps
Hi Mr. Core, I'm far from checking all this high level logics, however there's a guy who made a template for tb midi stuff sysexing the beatstep:
http://www.untergeek.de/2014/11/taming-arturias-beatstep-sysex-codes-for-programming-via-ipad/#more-1585
@syrupcore, The MMT-8 was my first sequencer. Got the drum machine and sequencer together when they first came out. Those are still 2 great pieces of gear. I miss them a lot. They were so easy to create with.
Yeah, I used the MMT-8 for years in the 90s and then get consumed by DAWs and staring at my screen. I dug mine back out a few years ago and it was dead. Decided I wanted another so trolled craigslist and found one for $50! I totally love it. Zero hassle recording plus super easy mute button action.
DUDE.
DUUUUUDE. Thank you!
That's not actually what I was asking about but it's ONE BETTER. That fella figured out what sorta sysex to send to the BS so that you can program the hardware from the freaking iPad—I feat Arturia still hasn't managed to do. Indeed, a feat basically no hardware MIDI controller maker has managed to do.
PS. It does have the bones of what I was hoping for (save/recall presets) http://www.untergeek.de/2014/11/taming-arturias-beatstep-sysex-codes-for-programming-via-ipad/#StoringRecalling_a_Preset because, you know, wow.
I reckon it'll be a little different for the Pro but
can be done?, check.No matter;)
Blown away. From the iPad!
That looks great, have you tested it out with the BSP?
Not yet. Underwater with work until the weekend (hopefully)!