SINGULAR SOUND BeatBuddy Loader Software User Manual

: June 13, 2024
: Singular Sound

Table of Contents

SINGULAR SOUND BeatBuddy Loader Software
Introduction
Home Screen
Project Stats
Playlists Tab
Starting a New Project
Shortcuts
General Technical Information
Changelogs
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

SINGULAR SOUND BeatBuddy Loader Software

Introduction

Welcome to the BeatBuddy Loader! Get ready to take full advantage of your BeatBuddy content with easy-to-follow SD management options.
This application is meant to make organizing the BeatBuddy content easy and straightforward, like using your own computer’s file system.
Simply pop in your SD card to your computer and use the BeatBuddy Loader to organize your existing project or load existing, default, and/or Premium content onto an SD.
The software also allows easy renaming, moving, and exporting of all supported files. It also includes playlist support for BeatBuddy version 4.1.6! Read more about playlists on pg. 16.
Easily manage multiple projects seamlessly; back up your content easily and securely, never lose your stuff again!
This software is not meant to be a full replacement for the BeatBuddy Manager, the wav and midi files cannot be accessed, edited, or managed like in the BeatBuddy Manager, there is also no song or Drum Set creation/editing.

REACH US!
Support@singularsound.com
We love to help! 🙂

In order to benefit from all the latest features, it is necessary to have the most recent version installed.
To check the software version, go to the Home screen, you will find the version number at the bottom of the screen. As of the writing of this manual, the version is 1.1.1. Use beta version 1.1.2 if you are using an M1 Mac on OS Ventura 13.4.

We may release new firmware updates, the BeatBuddy Loader will alert you with a flashing info icon on the Home screen if updates are available. Read more about this in the BeatBuddy Loader Updates section, pg. 18.

Don’t have the latest version?
Download it here: https://singularsound.com/support/
For the complete changelog of firmware improvements, see the end of this manual.

Important note about SD card compatibility
The SD card must be a standard size (i.e. not the mini SD cards) and needs to be between 4 and 32 GB in capacity. Class 10 is recommended.
The SD card must be compatible with the BeatBuddy in order to get the full use of the features the BeatBuddy Loader has to offer.

Home Screen

Edit SD Card
• Move Folders, Songs, and Drum Sets
• Rename Folders, Songs, Drum Sets, Playlists, and Project
• Create Folders and Playlists
• Delete Content
• Import/Export Songs, Folders (Collections), and Drum Sets
Default Content
• Download, unzip, and load the default content to your SD Card.
• Backup your current SD contents (optional)
Load Full Project
• Load any BB project using a .bbp file
• Load the latest Premium Content from a .zip or .bbp file
• Backup your current SD contents (optional)
Check for Updates
• Click the info icon next to the logo to check for a new version, it should be flashing from white to blue if a new version is detected.
• Note: Mac users will have to uninstall the current version and install the newly downloaded version for this to work. PC users will be able to uninstall by using the .exe that is downloaded.

Edit SD Card – Edit Project
This screen will handle all of the SD management in the BeatBuddy Loader.

1. Home button
2. Tabs
3. Project Stats
4. Folder
5. Song
6. 3-dot Dropdown
7. New Folder Button
8. Add File Button
9. General Info
10. Search

Search for Content
Use the search bar in the top right of the screen to look up any content on the current tab.

Project Stats

The project stats bubble will contain all the general information of your currently open project and will be visible in all three tabs.

This section of the screen contains:
The name of the currently loaded project
a. Double tap the project’s name text and press Enter to rename it
b. You can also rename a project by pressing Cmd + R on Mac or Ctrl + R on PC
The name of the drive/SD the project is loaded from
The last date when the project was last updated
The total amount of songs and Drum Sets in the project
The total space used and available on the device
A 3-dot options menu
a. Make a backup of the current project
b. Restore the current project to a previous version using a .bbp file
c. Export all Folders and Drum Sets
An info icon

Songs Tab
On the first tab of your currently loaded project, you will see all your BeatBuddy project folders in order from top to bottom. If you click on the folder it will open and turn light blue. All your songs in the folder will display in order with an automatically generated number. The number is not part of the name and will update itself as you add, move, or remove songs. This number will not show on the BeatBuddy.

Anatomy of a Folder
A folder shows the folder name and the number of songs. Use the plus icon to add songs directly to the folder and the dropdown to access new options. You can also right-click the folder tile to see the options from the 3-dot menu.

Anatomy of a Song
A song shows the song name, the BPM, and the Drum Set being used for the song. You can access more actions using the 3-dot drop down menu. You can also right-click the song tile to see the options from the 3-dot menu.

Move Folders and Songs
To move a folder, click hold and drag the folder to a new location in the folder list.
To move a song, you must have its folder open, click hold and drag the song into your new desired folder. The destination folder will turn orange as you hover over it. The song will add itself to the end of that folders list.

Rename or Remove Folders and Songs
To rename a folder, click on the 3-dot menu of the individual folder. There you will have the option to rename the folder, a pop-up window will appear with an editable text box. You can also bring up these options by right- clicking the folder tile.
To rename a song, you must have its folder open, click on the 3-dot menu of the individual song. There you will have the option to rename the song, a pop- up window will appear with an editable text box. You can also bring up these options by right-clicking the song tile.
Note: You do not need to add a number at the start, this is added automatically in the BeatBuddy Loader and will not show in the BeatBuddy.

Create Folders
Click on the Create Folder option at the top left of the Songs Tab to create a new empty folder, a pop-up window will appear with an editable text box. The folder will appear at the end of the list (scroll to bottom) once added.
You can also create a folder using Cmd + N on Mac or Ctrl + N on PC.

Delete Song or Folder
Click on the individual song or folder 3-dot menu and press Delete. Confirm that you want to delete the item using the pop-up. You can also bring up these options by right-clicking the folder tile.

Import Song or Folder

Import Song or Multiple Songs
Import any .sng (song), .pbf (Collection/Folder), or .zip (standard compressed file format) of the content. You can download and import any song or collection directly from the library website in the format it was downloaded (.zip file).
To import a song file you can either import it as a new folder or into an existing one.
To import the song into an existing folder, press the ‘+’ icon next of the desired folder. This will add the song to the end of the folder’s list.
To import the song as a new folder, use the ‘Add File’ button at the top right of the Songs Tab. This will create a new folder that is named after the current date and time. You can always rename your folder using the folder’s 3-dot menu.
If you would like to import multiple songs either as one new folder or as part of an existing folder this is supported.
Drag and drop is supported for all the importing scenarios listed, simply drag the song file (.sng) or zip of a song file to the appropriate location on screen and drop it once you see a highlight on screen.

Note : Make sure when looking for a file you have the right type of file selected in the system browser pop up.

Import Folder
To import a collection (folder) as a new folder in the project, press ‘Add File’. Select one or multiple folders to add to the project.
Note: Make sure when looking for a file you have the right type of file selected in the system browser pop up.

To avoid the song being added using the default Drum Set, please make sure the Drum Set has already been imported into the project (read more about Drum Sets on pg.11).
If a song is imported and the Drum Set is not found, the name of the Drum Set will have an asterisk on it. The song will use an existing default Drum Set instead.
You can also drag and drop folder (.pbf) files, zipped folder files, or collections into the project.

Export Folder or Song
To import a folder or song, click the individual folder or song 3-dot menu and click on the option ‘Export’. A system browser will pop up asking where you would like to export the file and also allows you to rename it.

Export all Folders and Drum Sets
The BeatBuddy Loader can export all Folders (including songs within them) and Drum Sets to a location on your computer. This way you can have an easy way to find locations with all your .sng and .drm files to import into other BeatBuddy projects easily.
You can do this by clicking on the 3-dot menu and choosing the Export all Folders and Drum Sets option. You can also press Cmd + E on Mac or Ctrl + E on PC.

Add Songs to Playlists
To add a song to a playlist, you can click the 3-dot menu and select Add To Playlist from the drop-down. This will open a popup to select what playlist you would like to put the song in.
If you do not have any playlists (read more about playlists on pg.16) you can click on the Create Playlist button. To add a song to a playlist, it must be selected and either click the Add to Playlist button or double-click on one of the existing playlist options.

Create Playlist from Folder
To create a playlist from an existing folder, right-click the folder or use the 3-dot menu to select the Create Playlist from the Folder option. This will create a playlist with the same name and will contain all the same songs as the folder.
This is a quick way to make a playlist full of songs.

Drum Sets Tab
This tab handles only Drum Sets. You can use the search bar to find a specific Drum Set.

Anatomy of a Drum Set
A Drum Set shows the name and includes a drop down menu for more options. You can also right click the Drum Set tile to see the options from the 3-dot menu.

Move Drum Set Order
Click hold and drag to move a Drum Set and change the order.

Rename Drum Sets
To rename a Drum Set, click on the 3-dot menu of the individual Drum Set. There you will have the option to rename the Drum Set, a pop-up window will appear with an editable text box.
Note: You do not need to add a number at the start, this is added automatically in the BeatBuddy Loader and will not show in the BeatBuddy.

Add Drum Sets
Click Add Drum Set button to choose a .drm (drum) or .zip of the drum file, or drag and drop the file into the Drum Sets tab.
You can download and import any collection directly from the library website in the format it was downloaded (.zip file).

Delete Drum Set
Click on the individual song or folder 3-dot menu and press Delete. Confirm that you want to delete the item using the popup.

Playlists Tab

This tab handles all playlists: you can move, rename, create and remove playlists for use on the BeatBuddy. There are 17 total playlists. Playlists are a way to put any songs in any order without creating new versions of the song, a song can be placed in a playlist as many times as you’d like, playlists are limited to 128 songs.

Playlist order cannot be changed. Playlists function almost just like a Folder, just they cannot be exported or moved.
On the BeatBuddy, playlists always exist but either show or do not show. If a playlist is empty, it will not show on the BeatBuddy. The playlists can be added to and removed, and songs can be moved and removed from within the playlist using the BeatBuddy itself. Read more about the BeatBuddy in the BeatBuddy Manual on our website.

Move Songs within a Playlist
Click drag and hold a song within a playlist into another spot in the playlist or to another existing playlist. Once you move it, the song will appear at the end of the desired playlist.

Rename Playlists
Click on the 3-dot menu of the playlist and choose the Rename option from the drop down. A popup window will appear with an editable text box.

Create Playlists
Press the Create Playlist button to create a new blank playlist. Remember, blank playlists will not show on the BeatBuddy itself.
You can also create a playlist by pressing Cmd + Shift + N on Mac or Ctrl + Shift + N on PC.

Remove Playlists
Using the 3-dot menu, choose the Remove Playlist option. Playlists are never really deleted, they are just cleared and hidden.
You can delete all playlists by pressing the Delete All Playlists button in the top right of the Playlists tab.

Load Default Content
Download, unzip, and load the latest default content (V2) with just a few clicks. Choose the drive you would like to load it onto and choose whether or not to create a backup of the drive as is before it is wiped and re-written.
You must be connected to WiFi for this to work. You can always load a copy of the default content using the Load Full Project option in the Home screen without WiFi.

Load Full Project
Load any project using a .bbp (project) or .zip (compressed file) format. Choose the drive you would like to load it onto and choose whether or not to create a backup of the drive as is before it is wiped and re-written.
Make sure your system browser is looking for the appropriate file type if you are using a .zip file.
You can buy, download, and import the Premium Content directly from the library website in the format it was downloaded (.zip file).

Starting a New Project

Never made a project before? It’s really easy!
It’s recommended to load the default content onto your blank SD but you can also choose to open it without anything added yet.
To open the project on an SD, select Edit SD Card from the Home screen.

Load Any Singular Sound or Personal Content
Download, unzip, and load the latest default content (V2) with just a few clicks. Choose the drive you would like to load it onto and choose whether or not to create a backup of the drive as is before it is wiped and re-written.
You must be connected to WiFi for this to work. You can always load a copy of the default content using the Load Full Project option in the Home screen without WiFi.
Load another existing project or Premium content onto your SD using the Load Full Project option on the Home screen.
You can buy individual songs, full collections, Drum Sets and the Premium Content on our library website.
You may also find what you’re looking for on our forum where many users make requests for content and/or their own content

BeatBuddy Playlists

Using the BeatBuddy Loader and the BeatBuddy together is incredibly simple, easily edit the order and name of songs, folders, and drum sets. You can also create and edit playlists using the BeatBuddy Loader.
The best version to use with the BeatBuddy Loader 1.1.1 is BeatBuddy version 4.1.6.
Now, you can add any song you have on the SD to a playlist folder (1-17). To do this, simply select the song without opening it, and long-press the Tempo encoder. This will open a pop-up a to choose the Playlist you want to place the song in.
Playlists can have up to 128 songs in them. The songs in playlists are not copies, they are just a way to collect the song files you have on your SD in order quickly for the sake of a performance or session.
Playlists can be removed on the BeatBuddy by selecting the Playlist in the root folder screen and long pressing the Tempo encoder, a pop -up will ask if you wish to delete the playlist. Deleting a playlist will not delete the songs in the playlist.
Songs within the playlist can be moved in the playlist or removed by first selecting the song and long-pressing the Tempo encoder. The pop-up will have three options: Move, Remove, Cancel. Removing all songs deletes the playlist, but it can always be repopulated with songs.
To move a song within the playlist, select ‘Move’ and use the tempo encoder to choose the new location for the song and press the encoder to place it.
The playlists will be recallable using the LSB layers 111-127, sending a PC command will select the song within the playlist in order. This means now only the first 110 folders on the BeatBuddy will be mapped by MIDI. LSB layer 111 = Playlist 1, LSB layer 112, = Playlist 2, … LSB layer 127 = playlist 17, etc. Read more about song selection using the BeatBuddy manual on our support page.

Shortcuts

General Technical Information

V1.1.1 tested on intel Mac using Catalina 10.15.7 and tested on PC using Windows 10
V1.1.2 tested on M1 Mac using Ventura 13.4

Updates can be searched for using the info button on the Home screen. It will flash blue and white when an update is detected. You must be connected to WiFi for this to work.
If you find a bug while using the application, and the problem persists, please reach out to support@singularsound.com for assistance or report irregular behavior to us on our forum.
The Singular Sound forum is a great place to make requests that help us improve the products, we value your feedback!

Changelogs

BeatBuddy Loader 1.1.1 Changelog

Added drag and drop of outside files
Added Delete All Playlists button
Added Export all folders and Drum Sets function
Added ability to turn a folder into a playlist
Created shortcuts for the BeatBuddy
- Shift + Click a folder or playlist
  if the clicked folder is currently open, then all folders close
- Tab button pressed
  Cycle through the three tabs in the Edit SD card screen
- Press Enter to confirm pop-ups
- Press Esc to cancel/close pop-ups
- Cmd + N (Mac) / Ctrl + N (PC)
  New folder, if not on folders screen, the tab changes to folders screen
- Cmd + Shift + N (Mac) / Cntrl + Shift + N (PC)
  New Playlist, if not on playlists screen the tab changes to playlist screen
- Cmd + F (Mac) / Ctrl + F (PC)
  Start typing into search bar
- Cmd + R (Mac) / Ctrl + R (PC)
  Rename Project
- Right Click
  If clicked on folder, Drum Set, song, or playlist, engages the three-dot menu to open for that clicked item
- Cmd + B (Mac) Ctrl + B (PC)
  Backup project
- Command +Shift + E (Mac) Cntrl + Shift + E (Windows)
  Export All Folders and Drum Setets
Other improvements
Known issues:
BeatBuddy Loader v1.1.1 is not opening correctly on Mac OS Ventura 13.x
Cannot drag and drop sng. files into an existing folder

BeatBuddy Loader 1.1.2 (Beta) Changelog
M1 compatibility (v13.4)

Known issues:

Creating playlist from folder feature is partially broken, creates one unknown file for every song file in the playlist. You could choose to manually delete the unknown files. If the unknown files are present when using the BeatBuddy, the BeatBuddy will not work correctly when using the playlist.
Cannot drag and drop sng. files into an existing folder
No Catalina OS support