Can I Use the BeatBuddy in Place of a Standard Drum Machine?

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The Original Question:

@mikeapaluccisr asks: "Thanks for the great review. I'm starting to record again, and I need a new drum machine. Does the BeatBuddy contain standard drum sounds, and can I use it with my Electro 6?"

Answer:

Hi Mike! The BeatBuddy contains standard drum sounds (i.e., sounds that sound like a traditional drum kit). And yes, it will work with your Electro 6. Although there is no "Master Clock" aspect with your NE6 to worry about, you can still wire it to the monitor input for the simple sound setup if you'd like.

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Here are the pros and cons of using the BeatBuddy versus a standard drum machine.

(BB = BeatBuddy)

Pros: 

1. The BeatBuddy is a "pedal," so it's easy to transition between song parts and provides realistic-sounding fills when pressed along with stop and start.
2. It sounds like real drums, and there are several kits to choose from. They pride themselves on the "sound" of the kits, and I think that is a well-deserved opinion.
3. The BeatBuddy is probably better for a one-man/woman band situation than a traditional drum machine because it's designed to transition hands-free.
4. The software can program entire songs (measure by measure); however, this can be tedious and requires a computer with beats stored on an SD card. (Unique measures can't be programmed on the unit itself). I see this feature as both a pro and a con.
5. It's excellent for rehearsal (to replace a metronome). Because the drums sound "real," you think you have your own on-demand drummer sitting in the room with you. Many of today's drum machines, by contrast, go out of their way to sound "unique or synthetic," which may be in vogue, but to my ears, I prefer traditional-sounding drums and not modern synthesized ones.
6. With the BB, there are many kits to choose from, including techno kits, world sounds, jazz, Latin, etc. These kits are all sampled from real instruments and not synthesized sounds.

Cons:

1. Standard drum machines make it super simple to "create your own beat on the fly" because they are typically laid out on a 16-beat or 32-beat grid. You can put the kick, snare, HH, and extras exactly where you want them and turn them on and off on the fly while the beat is playing. This allows you to be instantly creative with your beats if you are the type of person who likes to have full control over the beat as it loops through measure by measure. This is NOT possible with the BeatBuddy. Once you start a beat pattern with the BeatBuddy, you typically stick with it for the duration of the song, and changing from kit to kit or style to style mid-song will be very abrupt. If you are going to create a truly custom beat, you have to do that on the computer using their software and not on the unit itself.
2. If you're looking for that authentic Roland TR 808 sound from the 1980s that many artists crave, the BB is not your machine.
3. If you're looking for "synthetic" synthesizer-based sounds for your kit with control over the gate, frequency cutoff, and other various effects, the BeatBuddy is not your machine.
4. Because the BB is a pedal, it can be unusual/awkward to have it poised as a desktop piece of hardware. The form factor is more foot than hand. However, I do use my hand and keep the BeatBuddy nearby most of the time. The BeatBuddy can used with an external footswitch while you keep the main unit at arm's length. So, in that scenario, the form factor isn't too bad.

Summary:

The BeatBuddy is better suited for musicians looking to do standard songs with drums that sound realistic. The intention is that you will select a standard pattern and have that used throughout the song with an A part and a B part, and the occasional fill. Perhaps it's best for working club musicians who play well-defined tunes that don't change from night to night. It's NOT for the "creative type" musician who wants to experiment and create their own rhythm tapestries mid-song, building up a tune from a simple click at the beginning to a very complex beat by the end of the song.

Here is a video where I play an entire song with the BB. It will give you an accurate sense of what's possible (and what's not) in a real-world context. If you find that my use of the pedal is precisely what you need, then the BB is probably for you

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