Oh yeah, catch value, one of my staple feature requests to Alex ^^
(he is aware that it’s an issue for many people)
It’s not a very user-friendly machine, I’d say, but with time and effort, you can come up with really interesting textures (beyond regular FM cling clang)
I have created a CC cheat sheet for the Blast Beats. May be handy if you are planning to sequence externally.
Blast Beats MIDI Quick Reference.pdf (66.2 KB)
I haven’t completely written off the inbuilt sequencer, but I have been playing around with sequencing it using Vector Sequencer, Syntakt, etc. which is good fun.
Hey, I just found this video (not me) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwdFPyS0Beg
It makes me want to buy it again 
Yep, the BlastBeats is a difficult child. I have considered ditching it - largely due to the sequencer being quite unfriendly - and got my MnM out again. But I soon found myself missing the rawness and character of the BB.
This being said, I think it really takes time to get something interesting out of it, and move away from chiptuney realm.
Hi! BB has arrived today and it’s not working from the beginning. All lights blink twice and I’m aware that is a problem with the sd card. The original SD was inserted in the BB and tried a lot of times to insert again but nothing. The content of the card seems to be ok according the files that I’ve downloaded from its official page. I’ve checked the firmware and it’s the latest and finally I’ve sent an email to twisted electrons.
I guess this afternoon I’ll test the machine with another SD card and the as content downloaded from the official web page. I’m very disappointed but I hope there will be a solution soon… Sorry for the english
The manual does not describe how banks of kits work. There is nothing about kits working as 100 kits in banks of 10. There is nothing about accessing banks of kits. There is nothing about how kits or banks of kits relate to songs or folders. It’s very unclear what you can change in one context without messing up a kit being used in another context. I like the machine but it’s slightly irritating to still not have this documented.
I’ve returned my unit in exchange for a new one…
I would love to see an update enable a mode where the kit is permanently linked to the pattern to make it simpler to save your work and less likely to mess up the sounds of another pattern.
Especially on a device with no screen, and therefore no ability to name things, I think it would just be easier if kits weren’t separate from patterns.
In this mode the top10 buttons can change the bank of patterns, and the bottom row can select the pattern.
OK, that’s a point of view.
Personally I find it great to be able to quickly change kits - and even record kit changes in the sequencer - without changing patterns. I’d say that’s one of the strengths of this machine and it sets it apart from others.
You can factor this in in a creative way while building your patterns (e.g. design your pattern based on two kits right from the start, or change kits while performing)
Also, I don’t understand the rationale behind changing pattern bank rather than just switching between patterns of the same bank. This is not a rhetoric question, I genuinely don’t understand in what use case it would be more convenient to switch to a pattern from another bank than to change kits on the fly.
This being said, I agree that pattern management can seem obscure at first. But after a while you get used to it - well, at least I did.
Changing kits in one pattern is an awesome feature. The Erica LXR02 has it and it’s very very useful. You can make a live set while changing patterns on the fly and every pattern can have a different kit.
Having both options is what I would like, not changing the way it currently works. I know some people like the patterns and kits to be separate, I personally find it unnecessarily complicated when changing patterns or powering off, to have to worry about saving the kit. I like it better how the Syntakt works.
Part of why I sold the LXR is because I found saving everything a PITA. (you have to save 3 things before you can power off - pattern, kit, and project.) I understand they’ve added some auto save functionality recently which is nice.
OK, I see.
Yes, maybe changing the saving behavior would make things easier?
I just got used to saving both pattern and kit once I’m happy with a pattern, it’s just two button presses instead of one.
But, yeah, TE could offer a combo enabling both to be saved in one button press?
What I find more annoying is the need to stop transport before saving.
Changing kit on the fly with one button is one of the joys of blastbeats. I’d be happy if I just knew how kits actually work. And I think the way they work could do with a tidy. Maybe store banks of kits within songs? Then you wouldn’t need to remember that you used a particular kit critically in a thing you made forever ago to avoid destroying the old thing!
Enjoyed this video, does the BB take messages to change patterns? Couldn’t find the answer in the manual. I really want to team up the BB with an elektron box but would like to do all the transport and pattern changes from the elektron.
I never tried to be honest this is not something I use at all.
The official Blast Beats manual is incorrect about which midi notes map to which drum sounds. The manual says notes 20-25. This didn’t work on my Octatrack. The correct answer is in the table posted on Elektronauts here:
It would be great if the manual could be updated.
Ok thanks for the response. If it doesn’t accept program change messages for patterns, I’m ok to change the patterns manually as long as it stays synced up with the digitakt’s tempo (which it sounds like it should).
So my Blast Beats appears to have a bit of a mind of its own.
When I set the pattern to more than one bar, it seems that having real time rec enabled is resulting in “freeze” being recorded into the first 5 steps of the last bar of the patter.
I cannot remove them in step mode (i.e. STEP+FREEZE) however I can remove them by doing CLEAR+FREEZE to erase all freeze recordings.
I’m on the latest firmware (2.1). Anyone else encounter anything like this?
Hi there,
I don’t think I have experienced the specific bug you mention, but I did come across some other cousin bugs of this one, for sure.
But hey, there’s news!
A browser-based editor is on the way!
And a new FW update but I don’t know exactly what it covers yet!