Integrating BandHelper and DrumPerfect Pro
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:59 amI wanted to integrate BandHelper (“BH”) and DrumPerfect Pro (“DPP”) so that when I select a song from a BandHelper set list, the drum pattern and kit are selected, and the beat starts. I expected BH to set the Tempo via Ableton Link.
Intially, DPP responded only to Program Changes messages (select Kit and Pattern), but not Control Change (Swing, Trigger, Start/Stop, etc). Ableton worked right away to set my Tempo.
After experimenting for a while, I found a configuration that works seemingly 100% reliably:
1) In DPP, enable only the DrumPerfect virtual “MIDI destination” on a specific channel (I chose 10).
2) In DPP, disable all the corresponding “MIDI source” options, including “Network Session 1” and “BandHelper”.
3) In BH, create a MIDI Device with Port All (Arlo, developer of BH, recommended so changes on the other side don’t cause a problem) and your DPP channel.
Voila, completely reliable control of DrumPerfect Pro!
Now all we need is MIDI selection of songs (random access please!) and navigation within songs.
Intially, DPP responded only to Program Changes messages (select Kit and Pattern), but not Control Change (Swing, Trigger, Start/Stop, etc). Ableton worked right away to set my Tempo.
After experimenting for a while, I found a configuration that works seemingly 100% reliably:
1) In DPP, enable only the DrumPerfect virtual “MIDI destination” on a specific channel (I chose 10).
2) In DPP, disable all the corresponding “MIDI source” options, including “Network Session 1” and “BandHelper”.
3) In BH, create a MIDI Device with Port All (Arlo, developer of BH, recommended so changes on the other side don’t cause a problem) and your DPP channel.
Voila, completely reliable control of DrumPerfect Pro!
Now all we need is MIDI selection of songs (random access please!) and navigation within songs.