Beat Mapper isn't doing it for me.

[Jackjackdaw]

I gave Beat Mapper a good run in today. I don't think I got a single beat out of it that I liked. When I tried to go minimal it disintegrated and when I thickened it up it was a bit of a cheese fest from the uncanny valley. Anybody getting what they want out of it? I will be sticking with Quad Note and Drum Seq for generative beats.

[PhillipOrdonez]

I'm getting what I want out of it. ‍♂️

[joeyluck]

I really like it. It's a great tool to have. And like every tool, it doesn't have to be used in every project.

Others really love it. Here's what they had to say on Sonic Talk:

[guitfnky]

I’ve gotten spotty results with it too. I think it’s great, but for drums, it’s not for me. I think it will be interesting to use for melodic material.

[Jackjackdaw]

I'm glad some people are jiving with it. I was just surprised because I thought it would be right up my street. More maps would be welcome. Probably coming along right after the Combinator 2...

[guitfnky]

my problem, as with all of the drum players to date, is that they just don’t give any real life to any of the grooves. even when I find a beat that works for me, it still sounds lifeless without having to do extra editing/processing afterward. at that point, I may as well be doing it all manually (which I usually do).

the beats it comes up with can be awesome, but I’m not interested in having to spend that much time in the weeds on the backend.

[demt]

awesome really, yet so am i

[dvdrtldg]

I like the drum Players I've tried, but only for percussion. They're too stiff for a solid drum groove, but great for around-the-edges stuff

[Loque]

I had only a short time playing around with it and good some cool things out of it which i will work out at some point. I hope to get some good and different ideas from it and than know how to build such things from scratch without Beatmap.

I also tried it with a synth, which was not that successful. Might be quite interesting with some glitchy samples or percussion, which i did not yet tried.

[Spaceship]

I like using it for one instrument, usually with round robin style samples. It is really great once you add some modulation.

[Catblack]

Once I found out that the map displayed had no effect on the beats I kind of lost interest. I felt it was kind of a bait and switch. You'd be wowed by the cool interface but might never know it's not actually doing anything. Yes, the map is good for determining the x and y in their algorithm, but it won't matter what is displayed under each map point.

Might as well let users load their own photos into it.

[motuscott]

Might as well let users load their own photos into it.

Latest dic pic just broke the levee

[adfielding]

I love using it to get a basic idea going, and then embellishing that idea with additional percussion. I also really like using modulating the X/Y values via CV to introduce subtle variations.

One thing I don't recommend, however, is hooking it up to a Klang kalimba.

[TritoneAddiction]

I like Beatmap. Sure it might not give you a perfect beat that you're satisfied with right away, but with some adjustments here and there you can get some pretty dope stuff.
What I like most about it is that you'll try out beats/rhythms that you otherwise wouldn't come up with. It's great as an idea starter.
Also very easy to work with and it looks FUN.

[OverneathTheSkyBridg]

I thought it was ok, but I had more luck firing up a Redrum and randomizing the pattern till I heard something worth fine tuning. The solution has been there since the beginning!

[TheGodOfRainbows]

Regarding the comments about it sounding stiff, it shouldn't any more stiff than a drum machine. Maybe it's just the particular style of rhythms it is generating that make it sound stiff, because I agree, there's something about it that could use an injection of life. I do agree with the comment about using round robins for non electronic drums. That makes it much more interesting to me.

Which brings me to my next point: when are we going to get a ReGroove player? It seems like everyone, including Reason Studios has forgotten about regroove. I still use it when I just want to put in some straight 16th note hats or shakers. It's so useful for that. But man, where is the ReGroove player, and/or where is the new set of regrooves booster pack for 2020 for the regular regroove built in?

[StephenHutchinson]

I like the drum Players I've tried, but only for percussion. They're too stiff for a solid drum groove, but great for around-the-edges stuff

Not sure if this would help but there is always the ReGroove Mixer at the bottom of the transport bar....

The GROOVE button is on the extreme left side... below the KEYS BUTTON

https://www.reasonstudios.com/en/reason ... g/regroove

[Jackjackdaw]

Regarding the comments about it sounding stiff, it shouldn't any more stiff than a drum machine. Maybe it's just the particular style of rhythms it is generating that make it sound stiff, because I agree, there's something about it that could use an injection of life. I do agree with the comment about using round robins for non electronic drums. That makes it much more interesting to me.

Which brings me to my next point: when are we going to get a ReGroove player? It seems like everyone, including Reason Studios has forgotten about regroove. I still use it when I just want to put in some straight 16th note hats or shakers. It's so useful for that. But man, where is the ReGroove player, and/or where is the new set of regrooves booster pack for 2020 for the regular regroove built in?

Mulling over this thread makes me realise that what I dislike about Beat Mapper is it's groove. Not so much the stiffness, but kind of the lack of groove. I like my beats kind of robotic and arhythmic so stiff is fine but BM throws in little ghost notes that ruin a stiff beat but are too random to form a more drummerly groove. That's what I meant when referring to the uncanny valley, like when a robot talks with a robot voice it's fine but when you have the robot trying to sound like a human it sounds bad.

I might try it again with the velocity turned down on the Kong pads.

[xboix]

Regarding the comments about it sounding stiff, it shouldn't any more stiff than a drum machine. Maybe it's just the particular style of rhythms it is generating that make it sound stiff, because I agree, there's something about it that could use an injection of life. I do agree with the comment about using round robins for non electronic drums. That makes it much more interesting to me.

Which brings me to my next point: when are we going to get a ReGroove player? It seems like everyone, including Reason Studios has forgotten about regroove. I still use it when I just want to put in some straight 16th note hats or shakers. It's so useful for that. But man, where is the ReGroove player, and/or where is the new set of regrooves booster pack for 2020 for the regular regroove built in?

Mulling over this thread makes me realise that what I dislike about Beat Mapper is it's groove. Not so much the stiffness, but kind of the lack of groove. I like my beats kind of robotic and arhythmic so stiff is fine but BM throws in little ghost notes that ruin a stiff beat but are too random to form a more drummerly groove. That's what I meant when referring to the uncanny valley, like when a robot talks with a robot voice it's fine but when you have the robot trying to sound like a human it sounds bad.

I might try it again with the velocity turned down on the Kong pads.

Capture its output and then mess with it.

[Faastwalker]

Not tried it yet. Initially I had little interest. I I thought it looked kind of ridiculous, especially with all the build up and eventual ‘big’ reveal. These kinds of devices are good for getting something going quickly. On the other hand it’s all very painting by numbers to me. What you end up with is like someone has has done it. Until you edit what you’ve got into something that’s truly yours. Which begs the question why bother with it? If your going to edit anyway.

I guess it’s just another way of getting to where you want to be. Maybe that’s enough. Everyone likes something new to play with. I felt the same about the quad note thing. I had it on TRY. Was fun. But I often ended up with very similar sounding results. It was an effort to make it do something that didn’t sound like it was Quad Note doing it. I imagine Beat Mapper would be much the same.

[joeyluck]

Not tried it yet. Initially I had little interest. I I thought it looked kind of ridiculous, especially with all the build up and eventual ‘big’ reveal. These kinds of devices are good for getting something going quickly. On the other hand it’s all very painting by numbers to me. What you end up with is like someone has has done it. Until you edit what you’ve got into something that’s truly yours. Which begs the question why bother with it beyond gimmick value? If your going to end up editing anyway. I felt the same about the quad note thing. I had it on TRY. Was fun. But I often ended up with very similar sounding results. It was an effort to make it do something that didn’t sound like it was Quad Note doing it. I imagine Beat Mapper would be much the same.

Well I don't know about any big build up, aside from what ReasonTalk members tried to conjure lol. There might've been one obscure post made by someone who got to try it when visiting Reason HQ? And I didn't know about that aside from learning about it here. But however you look at it, I guess any hype may be justified, because people outside of the typical Reason world are talking about it and really liking it.

I think maybe you're looking at tools like this the wrong way? They give inspiration and they speed workflow. It would be similar to say, "Why play on a MIDI keyboard when you're going to edit in the sequencer anyways?"

[eXode]

I think it's a nice little source of inspiration. You don't need it for everything, but for hihats or similar I like playing around with Beat Map to get quick inspiration that go beyond my standard 16th note hats (drums have never been my forte).

I usually combine Beat Map with ReGroove to get a little more schwing, or shuffle, in my hats.

I think the Loaded MPC ReGroove presets in particular are great for that little extra touch.

[gullum]

played around with it but have yet to use it in any song. Same with all the other players.

[craven]

+1 regroove player!

[Jmax]

I absolutely love it.

Probably one of the best things Reason/RB Bean have developed in the last while.

Just getting a pattern going, automating it. Adding in a hi-hat, then snare etc. Automation, or notes to track. It's incredibly handy.

Really it's a superb device.