Thanks for watching and commenting everyone! I appreciate it. The most common comment seems to be about comparing it to a laptop. My goal with all my videos is to demo them in-depth so you can make the decision for what's best for you personally. Hopefully this video helped you make that decision. I will just say that I personally am switching to B Beat for Spiral Cell instead of a laptop for live shows. My old laptop is from 2014 now, and since I'm programming the new show, I would need to upgrade my laptop for sure. Because I would have to upgrade the laptop, my $900 audio interface I've been using will no longer work with with the new laptop, so I would also have to invest in that, and my $900 audio interface is basically useless now. It's very nice not to have to worry about that type of stuff with the B Beat. Or when I update the OS on a laptop, now certain programs don't work. I love the idea of a single, stand-alone device (in a rack too), that does everything I need. That's personally why I'm switching, but again, make the best decision for you. A reminder that the B Beat and B Beat X are much cheaper than the Pro model (and cheaper than laptops), so figure out what your needs are and see which works best for you. Thanks again for watching and commenting! Cheers!
Bit curious as to what's under the hood - I mean its a computer right? So whats the OS, what's the CPU? They probably make that a bit opaque but i'd like to know Something kinda proprietary built on some flavour of Linux distro, or what?
Hey Scott nice video as usual. My band has just bought smaller none rack mounted b.beat . Great piece of kit. I want to control 2 quad cortex, running on Channel 1 & 2. How do I combine two separate commands files using two separate channels (1&2) in my daw onto one midi track and export as a .midi file? I use Ableton and Logic Pro . At the moment I’m running both QC on midi channel 1 and just using one .midi file to control both QC’s with the same commands, which isn’t ideal Hope that makes sense 🤔
Same with me. If I could get such detailed instruction on all the gear I own that I don't understand full capability ...... Very clear instruction and guidance with approachable examples. 🫡
I can see how putting all of this into a dedicated, stand alone device solves so many problems, not least of which is reliability. Brilliant product and brilliant explanation!
excellent. I bought the BBeat (small one) for our band and sold everything else (Cymatic etc.). everyone is super happy including myself (I am the guy who has to set it up). thank you so much with the depe dives. I love it. 100% relialble gear, easy to use and affordable.
I picked up the BBeatx and it’s been great so far!! Much less expensive than the pro and aside of the 2 HDMI’s…it’s got everything we need for a live show. Used it at 3 gigs so far and has worked perfectly. Love this thing and thanks Scott for doing this video. Super cool piece of gear in my opinion!!
I bought the B-Beat Pro 16 about a month ago and finally have time to convert my back live tracks from Ableton to to B Beat. I'm in Toronto, Canada, so nobody sells it in Canada, but I found and bought it from CMB Music in Florida. Great people and very helpful. Shout out to Elton at CMB Music for making it happen for me. Looking forward to diggin in, and also to when you review some new Midi to DMX converters as you mentioned at the end of this video for my lights.
I thought I wasn't going to think this was necessary, but after watching your video, I can totally see the value for having a device like this. Super cool.
I cannot fathom how we managed to complete gigs 50 years ago without this. All I can say is if I were still gigging regularly, this piece of gear would be a necessary addition to the band! Brilliant device.
This is absolutely perfect for a very specific type of organized pro musician. Not me though, I am far too much of a mess to utilize this to anywhere near it's potential. Neat product though.
Great review of a product I never imagined existed. I can see it's a really great piece of kit that solves everything around live performance, effects, lights sound, monitoring and cue sheets, click tracks - brilliant.
Hi Scott. Great demo! You're work is amazing. It's always a pleasure to watch you're demos in wich you put so much attention. You're channel is, certainly, one of the Best for musicians, performers and other professionals. 👏👏👏👏👏👏 Best regards from Portugal 🇵🇹 👍
Since Cymatic Audio was sold I had not seen anything like this, the device is very complete, perhaps a bit expensive for a certain market but it looks very useful to avoid the use of laptops.
@@jptaylor Good for you. My session has had glitches a couple of times. Nevertheless, Ableton has a looping feature that is very handy, and also, when I click on the next clip, it waits a full measure before starting. Which is great. These are the two biggest advantages of Ableton regarding playback.
Scott, thank you so much for making this channel. I love your breakdowns, brevity for the sake of not rambling, and all the help. Please keep doing this dude, it’s so helpful.
This is great. Can I also say that really appreciate that you link any and all relevant videos in your description. Not only the ones that you mention but others as well. It is super helpful. It's insane how many times someone will say in their video that they will link to something else down below and the description is just a ghost town. I appreciate the amount of time and energy you put into these videos including your descriptions. I know that's not always easy especially when you're ready to be done with a video and move on to the next but it is such a blessing to get all that relevant info. Thanks again Scott, you rock!
@@tonymcawesome thanks! And yeah that drives me nuts too! I’ve watched other videos where they say “I’ll link to that in the description” and they never do lol. Drives me nuts too. Thanks again
No doubt you have the best channel for music tech. This is fantastic. For seeing bands with a laptop on stage is kind of a turn off. It looks taky. I think this is a better option.
I love your channel Scott. I totally share your interest in the latest technology related to in-ear monitoring and live shows programming. All these new devices would have left me speechless just a few years ago. It is amazing how this part of the industry has changed in less than 10 years.
The quality of your backing tracks alone is a testament of your professionalism. I won’t be able to afford this, but is cool to see how tech is evolving and helping musicians. Hopefully stage traxx3 or another app adds video playback.😅
I never knew something like this existed. This could work very nicely in churches. Having your Lyrics, Chord charts and stems fully automated on a reliable machine could be the main selling point. Just wish it had DMX lighting control as well.
Agreed! Although at a church, if you want to repeat a part of a song or something like that, you cannot do that on this device. But if you don’t need that, it works great!
@@ScottUhlMusicI don’t know how seamless it goes from one song to another, but if I owned one, I would make each section of the song as one “song”. So, with a little pre-planning…if you wanted to repeat a section, perhaps make a duplicate of that section of the song and make it as part of the “show”. With some creativity, you could probably even greatly reduce the number of computers needed for the tech booth by creating lyric videos in FCPX, iMovie, or whatever movie editing software one uses…thus eliminating the need for a presentation computer, potentially.
Excelled video! I'm actually sitting in my studio programming my BBeat as I watch this. I thought I would fire up TH-cam while I cabled my snake in and then there you were!
Thanks Scott - it was an earlier video of yours that convinced me to buy this and ditch the laptop, and I'm so glad I did - it's working out great for our band as we play live to some keyboard parts and samples that we don't have enough hands to play live, and the click keeps us all in time without sounding robotic. Cheers!
Best Review and demos I've seen in a long time. Watched your Making backing track video too and that was just as well done. This is going to save a lot of hassle with my current process and the apprehension of having to perform with a live DAW. Thanks for all your hard work sent you a well deserved tip as well!
Super video Scott !! Here is a couple of comments: No need to name your song if your file folder is called by the song title. Bbeat recognizes the folder name and the song will be called the same. You forgot to mention that the outputs configuration of the tracks can be assigned via the track file name… “7 8 DRUMS” will be routed to output 7 & 8 Click or metronome is recognized by BBEAT and assigned to output 5 Not because of the filename (CLICK)… If you press LOAD when selecting a song on BBEAT the lyrics will load on the tablets and HDMI before you press PLAY. Also you will have a shorter delay time before the song starts. No matter if you drag MP3 or Wave files into the BBEAT it will always convert ALL files to its own internal file format - PCM (uncompressed) 48 kHz 24 bit So there is no way to save memory space on BBEAT by using MP3´s
Here is to another great video!!! thank you scott for keeping us all educated! (and our wallets empty!) You really help expand all of our knowledge bases!
For me the first time ever using backing tracks was with the regular B Beat, so I skipped the whole laptop phase. As an amateur musician, Scott's clear instructions was all I needed to make it work (Thank you Scott!) . I love the fact that I can leave B Beat attached to my hihat stand in a shared practice room, with other bands. I do not worry about the unit going missing, but I wouldn't dare leaving my laptop to a shared space though. Now I'm able to head to practice without having to bring a laptop, unless I need to upload new media to B Beat. Everything else (such as updating the routing, setlist order etc) can mostly be done with the unit itself. I am going to bring B Beat to a gig for the first time this month and excited to see if it all works out. I intend to control a couple lights with a MIDI track, through the DoreMidi. Wish me luck 😅
Looks brilliant - looks like the team that built this have tons of experience of song construction and gigging and have sorted out all the wrinkles that will get you ‘on the night’.
yo that's crazy I was literally talking to my band mates the other day saying that we should have a multi-media player that does midi, but we couldn't find one. this might be it. great video!
Very interesting thought but as a live performer I must say it lacks some very important in my opinion features!! 1. App acts also as a remote 2. Pitch shift for song 3.Speed alteration 4. Main EQ + EQ per multitrack 5.Main out so no need of mixer 6.Some XLR inputs and in a perfect world with some comp + reverb + EQ. That would make it truly complete!! Great video!!!!
It does have an app that acts as the remote. But you are correct, it doesn’t have those other features. Thanks for commenting! And the Divo has some of those actually, and is meant for more stuff like that 🤘
This thing is really incredible. I would love to run a big show with something like this but it's a titan work and my musicians are far from ready to that level of geekery :D
We run a similar thing for all our tracks and midi switching. It’s wayyy smaller than this but it doesn’t do all the other stuff this does. I think these types of products are awesome because laptops have a tendency to fail where these things do not. At least not in our experience and our friends who use them also tend to love them
This is actually pretty sick...a rack with an Axe-FX III, one of these and a wireless receiver or 2 could be basically everything you'd need. You can run 2 guitars and a bass off a single Axe-FX III and this thing could control it over MIDI. DONE! EDIT: Oh...well maybe not...surprised it can't do lighting, too...
I use my phone to run my backing, it's 99% only bass and drums, it hit my stage mixer as drums ,1 bass 2, for larger shows I hook in my 8 track with instant volume sliders in front of me, if the recording is done right which I ensure is steady with no surprises I can designate any of the tracks to mute even on the fly if needed when friends sit in or not etc...works beautifully, the drum track is not in my p.a. when I'm using live drums for certain gigs, the volume for the drums is handed over to my drummers ear bud in one ear at the cue volume he's happy with....keeps the bugger in time too!!!!!
"This Device can replace your laptop" Step 1: "Connect your laptop" 🤣 But really excellent video and overview! This is amazing all in one product. I could see it doing well for churches with live tracks if they program the looping sections of the songs correctly or add metronome sections after the songs. Being able to timecode sync different chord sheets and lyrics is also so useful. And I see it being fairly priced for the number of Inputs/Outputs
😂😂 well that’s true, but you don’t need the computer live after you program it. And the looping would be good for churches for sure, I could see that 👍
I'm currently in the process of setting up tracks for 2 different metal bands and I can IMMEDIATELY see how this could be useful there. Combine it with a splitter and you get still get your IEM sound and send everything to FOH that needs to go there. Gonna look at investing in this when I can. Having this as part of my rack would make it MUCH easier.
We’re currently looking into teleprompter wedges and trying to move away from the iPad/phone on a mic setup. There’s only a couple options. Maybe it’s worth it to go diy for awhile in my case. It would be cool to see a video of you tackling video wedges.
Get an App like BandHelper, a compatible foot-switch for paging down the lyrics, an iPad to HDMI cable, a 17 inch monitor, and a small guitar stand. It’s a lot cheaper!
I had most of that several years ago using midi for everything here shown except the auto scroll /vid link, including midi light control for 12/24 cans in programable sync with any part of the backing, it's a lot of work behind the scenes for sure, but it's quite streamlined when used live for sets, this new all in one unit is neat but I'd rather put my eyes on the audience and vibe it in the room on the spot within reason with live winging it, I'm too busy singing and playing my instrument to go dancing on foot switches or being glued to a controller, if you haven't learned the song like you wrote it and know every bump in it's fibre don't perform it live until you can without the distractions of the gear being used....nice to see it's a modern? option still for mad people though.
Dang! Pro kit for Pros like Scott! I really like dedicated equipment. Doin the homework on this really will make an excellent production! Nice edu-vid Scott🎉
Hi Scott, Thank you so much for the video! I found it really resourceful in my search for the ultimate playback machine. I was wondering if you (or anyone else) tested this: I've read in the manual that a scene can be looped. Have you tried this? I'm trying to find out if i can use this loop function to repeat part of a song over which I can introduce the band, say our thank etc, before continuing the same song. Something like: - scene 1: 2/3rds of song - scene 2: loop a small section of the same song (small section pre-made in DAW) until we are ready to continue (so loop needs to be played in full before entering the next scene) - scene 3: final 1/3 of song Guess what I'm trying to figure out is wether there is a buffer period/pause/break between going from scenen to scene or when repeating a scene. I'm hoping it's instantly but I rather know for sure before buying. Edit: I used 'Go Button' for mobile in the past, just for stereo audio playblack only, but had this wonderful feature, as well a fade in/fade out on go, etc. So I know that Qlab5 will get loop function i need, but i really rather don't want to use a laptop on stage. Thank you, Stefano
Wow! I'm gonna need to do more research and contemplation, but I think this is the thing I've been wanting - which I probably could build myself if I had enough time & money (but I don't).
The pricing is amazing. If you buy two loaded units, it's still way under $4000. If the parent company can get Sweetwater to stock them and overnight spares on-demand, it would be a very solid solution.
It's almost perfect. The one thing that it is missing is individual in-ear mixing. If it could do that, I wouldn't need anything else! I still need my 18i20, or some other rack mixer for that until it can do iem mixes.
It’s interesting how many people are asking for that. I’m not sure how you would be able to do wireless in ears from this unit, and it’s pretty killer that you can do that for the drummer already! It’s a great add on feature!
Thanks man! 🤘🤘 I sincerely appreciate that :) once summer slows down (it doesn’t feel like that happens until December/january now lol) I’m really going to focus on programming the new show for the new album. It takes quite a while to put together, but the B Beat is going to be the main hub behind it. Thanks again for checking out my original music 🤘🤘
Man, this is the most amazing piece of gear I've seen in a long time. It's like having an entire team at your disposal. I wonder if it's cheaper to get the small drive size and just replace it yourself. Has anyone opened one of these yet? The rack version, I mean. I'm just curious, as I've always built my pc's or replaced ram and storage for laptops.
WOW this box does a lot! Once I get off my butt about DMX programming it does look like I'm still destined towards a laptop solution for the moment, but this is something to keep an eye on!
@@ScottUhlMusic I'll be keeping an eye out for them! I've got some work ahead of me with the learning curve for the Chauvet GigBar IRC I've got to see how I want to segment things that it should be easy to map that onto one of the devices you might be showcasing soon. Cheers!
Really cool device, and of course excellent review Scott, good job. I'd definitely use something like this, if I could play with pre-made pre-produced tracks, however, I make my own, and I *must* be able to make quick edits in rehearsals, so laptop + Reaper is just a better fit for me. Pricing argument here is actually irrelevant, good laptop can easily cost more than this device (and I'm not considering macs at all).
Thanks! Great comment too. My goal with my videos is to always demo it so you can make the decision that’s best for you. So glad you know what works best for you and your needs 🤘 and yes, laptops with everything you need can absolutely cost equal to or more than this. Thanks again!
I’ve been using laptops for improvised shows and the reliability has always been an issue. I have to use an external looper to keep the show alive while I debug the laptop which most of time requires a reboot. Yes it’s expensive but reliability and the ability to fallback to another is a big plus
I was thinking about using Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 + laptop , so I could have 16+ outputs because I was thinking of sending 5-6 drum channels to FOH, + bass + keys, etc. Focusrite is now 450 EUR in Europe (on Muziker) and BBPro is 1200 EUR. If a laptop fails, or a interface card, its' a pretty cheap replacement, considering. However, the BBPro is a fantastic machine and implementing all those options separately, in a DAW, would be a total pain. Thanks for the review.
I have been in 4 to 5 piece working cover bands for 30+ years and also working solo, duo, and trio (with tracks) groups. For a 4 to 5 piece cover band (with a live drummer) that adds backing tracks the B.BEAT PRO16 is an amazing box and also doubles as a Multichannel Live recorder (kinda like having an Alesis 2496). Unfortunately for many band situations, I don't see the B Beat product line being practical even though it obviously raises the bar for a live show (amazing track quality, multichannel mixes, and the ability to add/remove tracks for needed band members on that particular show... no bass player tonight... unmute bass track). For a small duo, single, or trio the B-Beat (128GB) @ $752 not a solution that most will utilize. These smaller cover track based live bands will opt for iPads that link/sync together live, auto-scroll your lyrics, and are so easy to update backing tracks by dragging new tracks to a google drive/onedrive from a desktop PC/Mac and having the iPads instantly update songs and playlists with tracks that are already mixed to perfection, just sayin
For sure, there isn’t a product out there that is for every single person. I will be using this for my live original band and stick with my iPad for my cover band. There are a lot of people who will find this useful though
Subscribed! Hey man, amazing video! Ill defo consider buying one of these in nearest future! I saw those glowing laser gloves in your short vid from a show. What were they? Can you drop a link ? Thanks!
Thanks! I appreciate it. And that was from the snippets from a live show I did for a promo video: th-cam.com/video/wnqAsPLhsyg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=01p6BZhzK1NsWZvd
Looks fantastic. That said, whilst the purpose built hardware device is ideal for stability, you ultimately end up with a single point of failure. And then you either have to have a software alternative for back up or a second machine. Arguably, that somewhat defeats the purpose.
Eh, I see what you mean… but we have that anyways with amps or laptops or loopers or mixers or anything like that. Always have a backup plan with your gear! Thats best practice. Even if it’s a single file backing track panned one way and click panned the other way. Always be prepared. Thanks for the comment! 🤘
@@ScottUhlMusic I should mention that I used M-Live midfall players for nearly 15 years. I never had a breakdown, and other than a corrupted file, I can’t even recall having a glitch during your show. But I did two of them for redundancy purposes. So it’s definitely a brandy oh can trust.
Fantastic! the only thing is that usually my phone would be connected to the in-ears mixer so may complicate things if I need to be connected to the device as well...great video!
@@leopoldbluesky yeah good option in the end we will be surrounded by devices one for mixer, one for pedals, one for backing tracks let's see where this is going :)
Fascinating to learn of what is possible with this tech, though I, for one, could not envision ever wishing to go to such levels of complexity for the kind of performances I do (solo acoustic/electric plus singing without - and sometimes with - JamZone backing tracks mixed down to a WAV). It would be cool to have such a reliable setup (i.e. without using Bluetooth for playback, along with having to accept any glitches that may cause), but on the other hand, isn‘t it another kind of reckless leap of faith to place all one‘s eggs in such a complex device, with an entire show depending on it never acting up? Sure, laptops can also glitch, but sometimes they can be reanimated by a savvy user. Whether or not this cool device could be made to work properly when it glitches remains a big question. And if it doesn‘t, there would apparently be no backup plan, right? With a laptop, one could theoretically - and probably should - have a 2nd laptop with everything on it for a big show, just in case laptop no. 1 fails. After all, if lights, lyrics, backing tracks, clicks, etc. all depend on a working unit, I‘d be very, very hesitant to trust this otherwise cool device.
Hey Scott, thanks for your video and thanks to you I bought the B-Beat.... However I’ve noticed an issue with switching songs and metronome in scene mode (automatic mode also) which has been a bit challenging when playing live. When it transitions from a song to the metronome ( b-beat built in), there’s a slight delay of a few milliseconds. However, when it goes from the metronome back to a song, the song starts a few milliseconds early. I create all my stems in wav format with a click at the beginning (8steps), so this small delay throws off our timing and tempo, especially when we want to stay playing in loop (base) after a song finishes. I have tried using mp3 and noticed the same issue, however in mp3 is worse when the stems are exported as it normally adds a few milliseconds of silence at the beginning of the songs. Have you experienced this issue, or do you have any tips to manage it?
Excellent product and a video thank you so much. Do you think whether it's possible to pair B Beat with Voice Live Extreme 3 via MIDI clock, making VLX3 master and B Beat Slave?
Wow, I just bought a new laptop and spent the past two weeks moving all our stems over into Reaper so we could sync video and have more stem options than Stage Trax3. My only Reaper complaint is only 1 video out and this solves it. Wish I would have known about this before I bought my laptop lol
Thanks for watching and commenting everyone! I appreciate it. The most common comment seems to be about comparing it to a laptop. My goal with all my videos is to demo them in-depth so you can make the decision for what's best for you personally. Hopefully this video helped you make that decision. I will just say that I personally am switching to B Beat for Spiral Cell instead of a laptop for live shows. My old laptop is from 2014 now, and since I'm programming the new show, I would need to upgrade my laptop for sure. Because I would have to upgrade the laptop, my $900 audio interface I've been using will no longer work with with the new laptop, so I would also have to invest in that, and my $900 audio interface is basically useless now. It's very nice not to have to worry about that type of stuff with the B Beat. Or when I update the OS on a laptop, now certain programs don't work. I love the idea of a single, stand-alone device (in a rack too), that does everything I need. That's personally why I'm switching, but again, make the best decision for you. A reminder that the B Beat and B Beat X are much cheaper than the Pro model (and cheaper than laptops), so figure out what your needs are and see which works best for you. Thanks again for watching and commenting! Cheers!
Bit curious as to what's under the hood - I mean its a computer right? So whats the OS, what's the CPU?
They probably make that a bit opaque but i'd like to know
Something kinda proprietary built on some flavour of Linux distro, or what?
Hey Scott nice video as usual.
My band has just bought smaller none rack mounted b.beat . Great piece of kit.
I want to control 2 quad cortex, running on Channel 1 & 2. How do I combine two separate commands files using two separate channels (1&2) in my daw onto one midi track and export as a .midi file?
I use Ableton and Logic Pro .
At the moment I’m running both QC on midi channel 1 and just using one .midi file to control both QC’s with the same commands, which isn’t ideal
Hope that makes sense 🤔
I have no business with this kind of devices, but I watched it to the end because you are so good at it. 👍
Thanks man!
Same with me. If I could get such detailed instruction on all the gear I own that I don't understand full capability ...... Very clear instruction and guidance with approachable examples. 🫡
I can see how putting all of this into a dedicated, stand alone device solves so many problems, not least of which is reliability.
Brilliant product and brilliant explanation!
Agreed! It’s pretty killer what it does!
excellent. I bought the BBeat (small one) for our band and sold everything else (Cymatic etc.). everyone is super happy including myself (I am the guy who has to set it up). thank you so much with the depe dives. I love it. 100% relialble gear, easy to use and affordable.
Nice! Glad to hear it’s been working well for you guys!
Same here. B.Beat saved our a**ses
Are they releasing firmware updates regularly? Heard it was kind of buggy.
I picked up the BBeatx and it’s been great so far!! Much less expensive than the pro and aside of the 2 HDMI’s…it’s got everything we need for a live show. Used it at 3 gigs so far and has worked perfectly. Love this thing and thanks Scott for doing this video. Super cool piece of gear in my opinion!!
Nice! Glad it’s been working well for you 🤘 Thanks for commenting 🤘
It’s about time someone came up with this.
I agree! Pretty sweet!
Many items like this have existed for years in the AV pro-environment. Nothing new, just a cheaper price point in this one
I bought the B-Beat Pro 16 about a month ago and finally have time to convert my back live tracks from Ableton to to B Beat. I'm in Toronto, Canada, so nobody sells it in Canada, but I found and bought it from CMB Music in Florida. Great people and very helpful. Shout out to Elton at CMB Music for making it happen for me.
Looking forward to diggin in, and also to when you review some new Midi to DMX converters as you mentioned at the end of this video for my lights.
Nice! And I will for sure. It’s the MaestroDMX and MVP by 4 Cast. Both should be out this year sometime
I have to say that this is the best explainer video I have seen in a VERY long time. Your pacing and tone are perfect. Thank you for making this.
Thank you! I appreciate that. It took a long time to put together, so im glad you enjoyed it 🤘
This is the most amazing bit of kit I’d never heard of. And you sir are a born educator. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! And yeah it’s quite awesome!
I thought I wasn't going to think this was necessary, but after watching your video, I can totally see the value for having a device like this. Super cool.
I cannot fathom how we managed to complete gigs 50 years ago without this. All I can say is if I were still gigging regularly, this piece of gear would be a necessary addition to the band! Brilliant device.
It’s pretty wild how the tech had evolved!
Thank you Scott for removing a chunk of stress from my life!
Thanks man! That’s really kind of you, and glad to help!
This is absolutely perfect for a very specific type of organized pro musician. Not me though, I am far too much of a mess to utilize this to anywhere near it's potential. Neat product though.
FANTASTIC review! This might just the box I've been waiting years for.
Thank you! 🙏
Great review of a product I never imagined existed. I can see it's a really great piece of kit that solves everything around live performance, effects, lights sound, monitoring and cue sheets, click tracks - brilliant.
Agreed!
Hi Scott. Great demo! You're work is amazing. It's always a pleasure to watch you're demos in wich you put so much attention. You're channel is, certainly, one of the Best for musicians, performers and other professionals. 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Best regards from Portugal 🇵🇹 👍
Thanks so much! I appreciate that!
Since Cymatic Audio was sold I had not seen anything like this, the device is very complete, perhaps a bit expensive for a certain market but it looks very useful to avoid the use of laptops.
Basically a whole Ableton in a rack and mostly importantly no crushes. This is really good
🤘🤘🤘
My Ableton never crashed, good luck with editing your track content on this, versus having it all on your laptop.
Def think BB is crushing it … jury is still out on crashes, though!
@@jptaylor Good for you. My session has had glitches a couple of times. Nevertheless, Ableton has a looping feature that is very handy, and also, when I click on the next clip, it waits a full measure before starting. Which is great. These are the two biggest advantages of Ableton regarding playback.
Thnx Scott for responding so quickly. Really enjoy your in depth and detailed vids.
Scott, thank you so much for making this channel. I love your breakdowns, brevity for the sake of not rambling, and all the help. Please keep doing this dude, it’s so helpful.
Thanks Scott! I tried not to make this one too long, but there is so much that it can do 😅 I’m glad it didn’t seem too long
This is great. Can I also say that really appreciate that you link any and all relevant videos in your description. Not only the ones that you mention but others as well. It is super helpful. It's insane how many times someone will say in their video that they will link to something else down below and the description is just a ghost town. I appreciate the amount of time and energy you put into these videos including your descriptions. I know that's not always easy especially when you're ready to be done with a video and move on to the next but it is such a blessing to get all that relevant info. Thanks again Scott, you rock!
@@tonymcawesome thanks! And yeah that drives me nuts too! I’ve watched other videos where they say “I’ll link to that in the description” and they never do lol. Drives me nuts too. Thanks again
No doubt you have the best channel for music tech. This is fantastic. For seeing bands with a laptop on stage is kind of a turn off. It looks taky. I think this is a better option.
Thank you 🙏
I love your channel Scott. I totally share your interest in the latest technology related to in-ear monitoring and live shows programming. All these new devices would have left me speechless just a few years ago. It is amazing how this part of the industry has changed in less than 10 years.
It truly has! It’s pretty wild how fast the tech has been advancing
The quality of your backing tracks alone is a testament of your professionalism. I won’t be able to afford this, but is cool to see how tech is evolving and helping musicians. Hopefully stage traxx3 or another app adds video playback.😅
Thanks! 🙏
I never knew something like this existed. This could work very nicely in churches. Having your Lyrics, Chord charts and stems fully automated on a reliable machine could be the main selling point. Just wish it had DMX lighting control as well.
Agreed! Although at a church, if you want to repeat a part of a song or something like that, you cannot do that on this device. But if you don’t need that, it works great!
@@ScottUhlMusicI don’t know how seamless it goes from one song to another, but if I owned one, I would make each section of the song as one “song”. So, with a little pre-planning…if you wanted to repeat a section, perhaps make a duplicate of that section of the song and make it as part of the “show”. With some creativity, you could probably even greatly reduce the number of computers needed for the tech booth by creating lyric videos in FCPX, iMovie, or whatever movie editing software one uses…thus eliminating the need for a presentation computer, potentially.
Excelled video! I'm actually sitting in my studio programming my BBeat as I watch this. I thought I would fire up TH-cam while I cabled my snake in and then there you were!
Oh nice! Haha, perfect timing. Enjoy the B Beat 🤘
Thanks Scott - it was an earlier video of yours that convinced me to buy this and ditch the laptop, and I'm so glad I did - it's working out great for our band as we play live to some keyboard parts and samples that we don't have enough hands to play live, and the click keeps us all in time without sounding robotic. Cheers!
Best Review and demos I've seen in a long time. Watched your Making backing track video too and that was just as well done. This is going to save a lot of hassle with my current process and the apprehension of having to perform with a live DAW. Thanks for all your hard work sent you a well deserved tip as well!
Thank you!
I feel like an idiot... I'm gonna have to watch this a couple times to wrap my head around it all. Great video!
21:00 was my first question about editing spacing between auto track play and sure enough, you answered it. Cool stuff
🤘🤘
Super video Scott !!
Here is a couple of comments:
No need to name your song if your file folder is called by the song title.
Bbeat recognizes the folder name and the song will be called the same.
You forgot to mention that the outputs configuration of the tracks can be
assigned via the track file name… “7 8 DRUMS” will be routed to output 7 & 8
Click or metronome is recognized by BBEAT and assigned to output 5
Not because of the filename (CLICK)…
If you press LOAD when selecting a song on BBEAT the lyrics will load on the tablets and
HDMI before you press PLAY. Also you will have a shorter delay time before the song starts.
No matter if you drag MP3 or Wave files into the BBEAT it will always convert ALL files to its own internal file format - PCM (uncompressed) 48 kHz 24 bit
So there is no way to save memory space on BBEAT by using MP3´s
Thanks for the info 🤘🤘
Here is to another great video!!! thank you scott for keeping us all educated! (and our wallets empty!) You really help expand all of our knowledge bases!
Haha thanks man!
Holy cow, this device is exactly what I need for my band, thank you!
Glad to help 🤘
Yes, it is expensive, but it's super convenient. If I was running backing tracks, this is exactly what I would get. Thanks man!
Agreed! 🤘
For me the first time ever using backing tracks was with the regular B Beat, so I skipped the whole laptop phase. As an amateur musician, Scott's clear instructions was all I needed to make it work (Thank you Scott!) . I love the fact that I can leave B Beat attached to my hihat stand in a shared practice room, with other bands. I do not worry about the unit going missing, but I wouldn't dare leaving my laptop to a shared space though. Now I'm able to head to practice without having to bring a laptop, unless I need to upload new media to B Beat. Everything else (such as updating the routing, setlist order etc) can mostly be done with the unit itself. I am going to bring B Beat to a gig for the first time this month and excited to see if it all works out. I intend to control a couple lights with a MIDI track, through the DoreMidi. Wish me luck 😅
Awesome! I’m glad to hear it’s been working well for you. Thanks for the comment! 🤘🤘
Great video no one else is really focusing on this. Loving it.👍
Thank you! I appreciate it 🤘
Looks brilliant - looks like the team that built this have tons of experience of song construction and gigging and have sorted out all the wrinkles that will get you ‘on the night’.
Agreed!
Brilliant piece of hardware! Great video, this is very cool. Cheers
yo that's crazy I was literally talking to my band mates the other day saying that we should have a multi-media player that does midi, but we couldn't find one. this might be it.
great video!
Nice! Glad to help!
Very interesting thought but as a live performer I must say it lacks some very important in my opinion features!!
1. App acts also as a remote
2. Pitch shift for song
3.Speed alteration
4. Main EQ + EQ per multitrack
5.Main out so no need of mixer
6.Some XLR inputs and in a perfect world with some comp + reverb + EQ.
That would make it truly complete!!
Great video!!!!
It does have an app that acts as the remote. But you are correct, it doesn’t have those other features. Thanks for commenting! And the Divo has some of those actually, and is meant for more stuff like that 🤘
I wish there were a giveaway for this bad boy! Holy cow! And there really is a Rick Beato video for everything! 😀Great review!
Excellent video. You have a gift for teaching/training.
This looks like the best thing out there, expanding on what Cymatic uTrack24 could do
Wish I could afford the damn thing xD
100% Excellence in teaching. Thank you........
Thanks 😊
Wow, this is very, very, very cool. More companies need to start doing things like this… Maybe more affordable options too. Great video, Scott.
Thank you 🙏
This thing is really incredible. I would love to run a big show with something like this but it's a titan work and my musicians are far from ready to that level of geekery :D
Great presentation.
Thank you! 🙏
Brilliant. I love dedicated gear for a purpose. I love it
Agreed!
Great job on the video and the explanation. This tool makes total sense.
Thank you 🙏
We run a similar thing for all our tracks and midi switching. It’s wayyy smaller than this but it doesn’t do all the other stuff this does. I think these types of products are awesome because laptops have a tendency to fail where these things do not. At least not in our experience and our friends who use them also tend to love them
Agreed! 🤘
This is actually pretty sick...a rack with an Axe-FX III, one of these and a wireless receiver or 2 could be basically everything you'd need. You can run 2 guitars and a bass off a single Axe-FX III and this thing could control it over MIDI. DONE!
EDIT: Oh...well maybe not...surprised it can't do lighting, too...
Yup. That would be a killer setup! And I’m in the process of reviewing MaestroDMX and MVP by 4Cast for midi to lighting 🤘
@@ScottUhlMusic I'll toss you a sub...sounds interesting. I don't play live but I do play and I'm a big nerd...love this kinda stuff. Keep rockin'. 🤘
I'm into your previous advices....iPad, with stage traxx3 🤜🤛 and no laptop for playbacks
I use my phone to run my backing, it's 99% only bass and drums, it hit my stage mixer as drums ,1 bass 2, for larger shows I hook in my 8 track with instant volume sliders in front of me, if the recording is done right which I ensure is steady with no surprises I can designate any of the tracks to mute even on the fly if needed when friends sit in or not etc...works beautifully, the drum track is not in my p.a. when I'm using live drums for certain gigs, the volume for the drums is handed over to my drummers ear bud in one ear at the cue volume he's happy with....keeps the bugger in time too!!!!!
"This Device can replace your laptop"
Step 1: "Connect your laptop" 🤣
But really excellent video and overview! This is amazing all in one product. I could see it doing well for churches with live tracks if they program the looping sections of the songs correctly or add metronome sections after the songs. Being able to timecode sync different chord sheets and lyrics is also so useful. And I see it being fairly priced for the number of Inputs/Outputs
😂😂 well that’s true, but you don’t need the computer live after you program it. And the looping would be good for churches for sure, I could see that 👍
I'm currently in the process of setting up tracks for 2 different metal bands and I can IMMEDIATELY see how this could be useful there. Combine it with a splitter and you get still get your IEM sound and send everything to FOH that needs to go there. Gonna look at investing in this when I can. Having this as part of my rack would make it MUCH easier.
Nice! 🤘🤘
We’re currently looking into teleprompter wedges and trying to move away from the iPad/phone on a mic setup. There’s only a couple options. Maybe it’s worth it to go diy for awhile in my case. It would be cool to see a video of you tackling video wedges.
I have a small computer monitor (setup like a wedge) connected via an HDMI converter to an iPad running StageTraxx. This product would be much better.
Get an App like BandHelper, a compatible foot-switch for paging down the lyrics, an iPad to HDMI cable, a 17 inch monitor, and a small guitar stand. It’s a lot cheaper!
Bought mine thanks to your video.
Nice! Enjoy 🤘🤘🤘
I had most of that several years ago using midi for everything here shown except the auto scroll /vid link, including midi light control for 12/24 cans in programable sync with any part of the backing, it's a lot of work behind the scenes for sure, but it's quite streamlined when used live for sets, this new all in one unit is neat but I'd rather put my eyes on the audience and vibe it in the room on the spot within reason with live winging it, I'm too busy singing and playing my instrument to go dancing on foot switches or being glued to a controller, if you haven't learned the song like you wrote it and know every bump in it's fibre don't perform it live until you can without the distractions of the gear being used....nice to see it's a modern? option still for mad people though.
Nice! I've been looking forward to a dive into this one
Thanks! It’s such a cool system for sure 🤘
That device is sick, I saw the booth at Namm Show in January and is very easy to use
Yup! Works insanely well. And at NAMM they had the main/spare setup which was really cool!
I am about to start gigging with backing tracks. Was gonna use my Tascam 32 track digital recorder. Looks like this is the way I will go. Thanks.
Replay!!! Another thorough video Scott!! Way to go!!!
Thanks again Brian!
@@ScottUhlMusic Of course!!! Cheers!!
Thank for your videos as always. The last giveaway got here today. Thank you for giving back!
Nice! Glad it arrived safely. Enjoy!
Dang! Pro kit for Pros like Scott!
I really like dedicated equipment.
Doin the homework on this really will make an excellent production!
Nice edu-vid Scott🎉
Thanks!! 🤘🤘
Hi Scott,
Thank you so much for the video! I found it really resourceful in my search for the ultimate playback machine. I was wondering if you (or anyone else) tested this: I've read in the manual that a scene can be looped. Have you tried this? I'm trying to find out if i can use this loop function to repeat part of a song over which I can introduce the band, say our thank etc, before continuing the same song. Something like:
- scene 1: 2/3rds of song
- scene 2: loop a small section of the same song (small section pre-made in DAW) until we are ready to continue (so loop needs to be played in full before entering the next scene)
- scene 3: final 1/3 of song
Guess what I'm trying to figure out is wether there is a buffer period/pause/break between going from scenen to scene or when repeating a scene. I'm hoping it's instantly but I rather know for sure before buying.
Edit: I used 'Go Button' for mobile in the past, just for stereo audio playblack only, but had this wonderful feature, as well a fade in/fade out on go, etc. So I know that Qlab5 will get loop function i need, but i really rather don't want to use a laptop on stage.
Thank you, Stefano
I do not believe there is a way to loop part of a song. But in show mode you can loop a scene. But I haven’t tested that
Reminds me of the instant playback machines from back in the day!!!
thanks for the video man. Cool piece of kit.
Thanks for watching!
Cool device - price seems reasonable as well for the feature set.
Agreed! 🤘
Wow! I'm gonna need to do more research and contemplation, but I think this is the thing I've been wanting - which I probably could build myself if I had enough time & money (but I don't).
Yeah, that’s kind of how I felt when I first found it 🤘
Aww man . . . I never expected to be Rick Rolled on a Scott Uhl video! .😂🤣😂🤣
💪💪😂😂😂
Really good video explanation of this. Cool piece of tech. I'm glad I found this!
Thank you! 🙏
You “Rick Rolled” your entire audience during a review, diabolical!
💪💪💪😂😂😂
He warned us though… 😸
Brilliant as usual. I am dying to discover what will be your new toys to convert midi to dmx. My B Beat is waiting for you ;-)
Thanks
Thanks! And enjoy the B Beat. I’m checking out MaestroDMX and MVP by 4Cast. Both are pretty sick!
The pricing is amazing. If you buy two loaded units, it's still way under $4000. If the parent company can get Sweetwater to stock them and overnight spares on-demand, it would be a very solid solution.
It's almost perfect. The one thing that it is missing is individual in-ear mixing. If it could do that, I wouldn't need anything else! I still need my 18i20, or some other rack mixer for that until it can do iem mixes.
It’s interesting how many people are asking for that. I’m not sure how you would be able to do wireless in ears from this unit, and it’s pretty killer that you can do that for the drummer already! It’s a great add on feature!
Unrelated but: just downloaded both of your Spiral Cell albums on iTunes 😊
Thanks man! 🤘🤘 I sincerely appreciate that :) once summer slows down (it doesn’t feel like that happens until December/january now lol) I’m really going to focus on programming the new show for the new album. It takes quite a while to put together, but the B Beat is going to be the main hub behind it. Thanks again for checking out my original music 🤘🤘
Man, this is the most amazing piece of gear I've seen in a long time. It's like having an entire team at your disposal. I wonder if it's cheaper to get the small drive size and just replace it yourself. Has anyone opened one of these yet? The rack version, I mean. I'm just curious, as I've always built my pc's or replaced ram and storage for laptops.
WOW this box does a lot! Once I get off my butt about DMX programming it does look like I'm still destined towards a laptop solution for the moment, but this is something to keep an eye on!
I’m in the process of reviewing two midi to DMX solutions that are pretty sweet!
@@ScottUhlMusic I'll be keeping an eye out for them! I've got some work ahead of me with the learning curve for the Chauvet GigBar IRC I've got to see how I want to segment things that it should be easy to map that onto one of the devices you might be showcasing soon. Cheers!
Nice gear!!!
tremendous review
Thanks!
great vid as always man! :) Company seems to really be backing track users, very cool !
Thanks Jared! And yeah, it’s a super cool device. I haven’t seen anything else that does ALL of this before.
now they need to add dmx lighting controls
That would be sweet!
you can convert it from midi. clonky, but possible.
I would buy it NOWif had DMX
Works with Midi to DMX with programs like QLC+
@@floriankunde6699 but the whole idea is to ditch the laptop. if you run additional software on a computer, what do you need this device for?
Really cool device, and of course excellent review Scott, good job. I'd definitely use something like this, if I could play with pre-made pre-produced tracks, however, I make my own, and I *must* be able to make quick edits in rehearsals, so laptop + Reaper is just a better fit for me. Pricing argument here is actually irrelevant, good laptop can easily cost more than this device (and I'm not considering macs at all).
Thanks! Great comment too. My goal with my videos is to always demo it so you can make the decision that’s best for you. So glad you know what works best for you and your needs 🤘 and yes, laptops with everything you need can absolutely cost equal to or more than this. Thanks again!
I’ve been using laptops for improvised shows and the reliability has always been an issue. I have to use an external looper to keep the show alive while I debug the laptop which most of time requires a reboot. Yes it’s expensive but reliability and the ability to fallback to another is a big plus
Agreed completely!
awesome...!
This was the most elaborate rick roll in a long time!
😂😂😂
game changer 🔥🔥🔥🔥
🤘🤘🤘
I was thinking about using Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 + laptop , so I could have 16+ outputs because I was thinking of sending 5-6 drum channels to FOH, + bass + keys, etc. Focusrite is now 450 EUR in Europe (on Muziker) and BBPro is 1200 EUR. If a laptop fails, or a interface card, its' a pretty cheap replacement, considering. However, the BBPro is a fantastic machine and implementing all those options separately, in a DAW, would be a total pain. Thanks for the review.
I have been in 4 to 5 piece working cover bands for 30+ years and also working solo, duo, and trio (with tracks) groups. For a 4 to 5 piece cover band (with a live drummer) that adds backing tracks the B.BEAT PRO16 is an amazing box and also doubles as a Multichannel Live recorder (kinda like having an Alesis 2496). Unfortunately for many band situations, I don't see the B Beat product line being practical even though it obviously raises the bar for a live show (amazing track quality, multichannel mixes, and the ability to add/remove tracks for needed band members on that particular show... no bass player tonight... unmute bass track). For a small duo, single, or trio the B-Beat (128GB) @ $752 not a solution that most will utilize. These smaller cover track based live bands will opt for iPads that link/sync together live, auto-scroll your lyrics, and are so easy to update backing tracks by dragging new tracks to a google drive/onedrive from a desktop PC/Mac and having the iPads instantly update songs and playlists with tracks that are already mixed to perfection, just sayin
For sure, there isn’t a product out there that is for every single person. I will be using this for my live original band and stick with my iPad for my cover band. There are a lot of people who will find this useful though
Subscribed! Hey man, amazing video! Ill defo consider buying one of these in nearest future! I saw those glowing laser gloves in your short vid from a show. What were they? Can you drop a link ? Thanks!
Thanks! I appreciate it. And that was from the snippets from a live show I did for a promo video: th-cam.com/video/wnqAsPLhsyg/w-d-xo.htmlsi=01p6BZhzK1NsWZvd
@@ScottUhlMusic ah cool, do you know if I can get those laser hands anywhere 😂
Looks fantastic. That said, whilst the purpose built hardware device is ideal for stability, you ultimately end up with a single point of failure. And then you either have to have a software alternative for back up or a second machine. Arguably, that somewhat defeats the purpose.
Eh, I see what you mean… but we have that anyways with amps or laptops or loopers or mixers or anything like that. Always have a backup plan with your gear! Thats best practice. Even if it’s a single file backing track panned one way and click panned the other way. Always be prepared. Thanks for the comment! 🤘
@@ScottUhlMusicabsolutely.
@@ScottUhlMusic I should mention that I used M-Live midfall players for nearly 15 years. I never had a breakdown, and other than a corrupted file, I can’t even recall having a glitch during your show. But I did two of them for redundancy purposes. So it’s definitely a brandy oh can trust.
Fantastic! the only thing is that usually my phone would be connected to the in-ears mixer so may complicate things if I need to be connected to the device as well...great video!
How about buy another cheap phone or a tablet rather than trying to use one device for both tasks?
@@leopoldbluesky yeah good option in the end we will be surrounded by devices one for mixer, one for pedals, one for backing tracks let's see where this is going :)
Fascinating to learn of what is possible with this tech, though I, for one, could not envision ever wishing to go to such levels of complexity for the kind of performances I do (solo acoustic/electric plus singing without - and sometimes with - JamZone backing tracks mixed down to a WAV). It would be cool to have such a reliable setup (i.e. without using Bluetooth for playback, along with having to accept any glitches that may cause), but on the other hand, isn‘t it another kind of reckless leap of faith to place all one‘s eggs in such a complex device, with an entire show depending on it never acting up? Sure, laptops can also glitch, but sometimes they can be reanimated by a savvy user. Whether or not this cool device could be made to work properly when it glitches remains a big question. And if it doesn‘t, there would apparently be no backup plan, right? With a laptop, one could theoretically - and probably should - have a 2nd laptop with everything on it for a big show, just in case laptop no. 1 fails. After all, if lights, lyrics, backing tracks, clicks, etc. all depend on a working unit, I‘d be very, very hesitant to trust this otherwise cool device.
wow!
Hey Scott, thanks for your video and thanks to you I bought the B-Beat.... However I’ve noticed an issue with switching songs and metronome in scene mode (automatic mode also) which has been a bit challenging when playing live. When it transitions from a song to the metronome ( b-beat built in), there’s a slight delay of a few milliseconds. However, when it goes from the metronome back to a song, the song starts a few milliseconds early. I create all my stems in wav format with a click at the beginning (8steps), so this small delay throws off our timing and tempo, especially when we want to stay playing in loop (base) after a song finishes. I have tried using mp3 and noticed the same issue, however in mp3 is worse when the stems are exported as it normally adds a few milliseconds of silence at the beginning of the songs. Have you experienced this issue, or do you have any tips to manage it?
Oh weird… I don’t really use the metronome, so I’m curious what that would be. I’m honestly not sure
@@ScottUhlMusic Got it! thx!
I don't think that's too much money for what it does. I rely more on this kind of stage-wise standalone units rather than a computer.
Exactly 🤘
Great video- looks like the software on that thing is pretty decent.
Thank you 🙏
Thank you 🙏
Thanks for watching 🙏
"Keyboard players are going to wanna read sheet music"..... NOPE lol.
😂😂😂
Excellent product and a video thank you so much. Do you think whether it's possible to pair B Beat with Voice Live Extreme 3 via MIDI clock, making VLX3 master and B Beat Slave?
Thanks! And I believe so, I don’t mess with midi clock much but I’m almost positive 👍
Wow, I just bought a new laptop and spent the past two weeks moving all our stems over into Reaper so we could sync video and have more stem options than Stage Trax3. My only Reaper complaint is only 1 video out and this solves it.
Wish I would have known about this before I bought my laptop lol
😂😂 isn’t that the way it always works! Haha