Tutorial - Playbeat 4 and Logic Pro iPad: MIDI out and MIDI Export
This video expands on a previous video about using MIDI out with Playbeat 4. This video demonstrates using Playbeat 4 with Logic Pro for iPad, including MIDI export.
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Thanks, Ed. Wanted to add a couple of things. First, Playbeat 3 did come with both a MIDI FX AU and Instrument AU plugin, at least for the desktop version (not sure about PB3 for iPad). I have used Playbeat 3 as a MIDI FX insert to control other instruments (melodic instruments, actually).
Second, why did you add the pattern region on tracks 1 and 2? Did you do that just to identity which notes triggered which sounds, so that you selected the correct notes in PB?
I do think it’s important to acknowledge that Playbeat 4 is first and foremost an Instrument plugin, not just a MIDI FX sequencer to be used to control another instrument. It has a large factory sample set, and they sell expansion sets that are nothing more than samples. So it is really out of touch of Audiomodern to tell the users that purchased it that “last thing we want is for Playbeat to be a drum sampler”. I mean, huh? It is a drum machine that plays samples.
Lastly, in my opinon, the only update from PB3 to PB4 that adds significant value is the AI engine, which relies on… you guessed it, samples! So, it feels like Audiomodern is trying to gaslight its users by saying the only purpose of the MIDI Export feature is to use Playbeat 4 to control other instruments.
Playbeat 3 came with a a MIDI FX version exclusively for desktop, allowing MIDI output in Logic Pro, where VST/VST3 compatibility was lacking, Playbeat 4 now includes a MIDI AUv3 FX version for iPad as well.
Regarding the expansions, you’re likely aware that most of the expansions in the previous version were free. The reason we chose not to release them as WAV sample packs but instead in our proprietary format is that we’re not just providing samples, we’re structuring them within the sequencer. The engine that hosts these samples plays a crucial role in their performance, allowing users to rearrange or remix presets dynamically, generating hundreds of unique variations from a single preset. For us, the sequencer is the most important element.
The new algorithms utilize various combinations between them, incorporating both patterns and sounds, in some cases separately, in some combined.
And yes, this is how Playbeat worked since version 1.0, MIDI output is solely intended to drive other modules.
@oobesan - I hope it was helpful. Regarding the pattern regions on tracks 1 and 2, you are correct - those were the default region types that came along with the instrument when it was added, and I used them initially to find the default note mappings (for that instrument).
This video and the previous one came about after I decided to sit down and fully explore (for myself) the way the MIDI out and MIDI export works in Playbeat, because I’ve had Playbeat 3 for years, and never fully utilized those features, and this seemed like the perfect time to see what it could do for me. I hoped that it might help other users of Playbeat or potential users of Playbeat by sharing the information and some of the possibilities of those features. I have my own way of using Playbeat and what I find useful, but I certainly want others, like yourself, to get the most out of it in whatever way works best.
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