My New Band Member

[FZiegler]

Just to answer my own question from a few months ago:

The BeatBuddy doesn't have a knob just to dial some swing feeling in. All sounds with all their imperfections (or not) are hard programmed MIDI files. But as long as you get the BeatBuddy and not its little brother, you can adjust any rhythm with a MIDI editor.

So no way to adjust to play a given rhythm in 55%, 60%, 66% or 70% swing on the fly. But you can choose from included, additionally bought, community driven or custom made beats.

Today, I got mine. And am happy with it. Maybe, it's true that the presets are a bit 'full' of hits. You have to look a bit to get beats that don't tend to make too much of a wind. But on the other side, that's exactly what you'll like in the beginning: having a lot of 'sound' even if you miss a chord on your piano. Will it help practising or not? - Don't know yet.

Thanks, Normhart, for the hint!

[JayDee]

FZ, Did you get either the BB or GrooveMonkey Libraries??

[FZiegler]

At the moment, I'm interested in some additional drum sets (which sum up to another 100 USD) and reflecting to purchase the BB Library even if I don't need a lot of their drum beats. I'm most interested in more delicate sounds and beats - namely percussion sets and cajons. For starting, I bought a number of GrooveMonkee beats - not the whole GM library.

But who knows - maybe, I'll just sample my own cajon and some perc sounds and them set up to a BB drum set.

[JayDee]

I bought the whole BB library last year. Yes, it was expensive, can't remember but I think a couple hundred bucks. They DO have both cajon and hand percussion beats among the offerings. For me, it was worth the extra expense, though I mostly use my acoustic drum set for beats these days. They have a whole section of jazz beats also. Good luck