BeatBuddy

The BeatBuddy is a digital drum machine made by Singular Sound which is housed in the form of a stompbox unit. The floor-based format and pedal footswitch enables musicians (like guitar, bass and keyboard players, among others) to control the device "hands-free" while they are performing an instrument with their hands.

Singular Sound is a Miami-based brand. The firm first engineered and manufactured the device in 2014, after crowdfunding via Indiegogo. The BeatBuddy was intended to be a foot-controlled alternative to traditional tabletop, "hands-on" drum machines (as the Roland TR-909 or the Roger Linn's LinnDrum). Since its release in 2014, the BeatBuddy has garnered positive reviews from magazines like Guitar Player , Guitar World and Sound On Sound, and won the Best in Show award at the 2015 NAMM Show.

Design and operation
Although its design resembles an ordinary guitar effects pedal (like the Boss or DigiTech ones), the BeatBuddy is a drum machine and it does not make any audio effect or processing to the input signals. It has two 1/4" input jacks for instruments or audio devices, but the BeatBuddy can also work as a "standalone" device (that is, without anything plugged in), if required. The input jacks are a convenience to allow performers to simplify their setup; with the "pass-through" inputs, an electric piano player, say, who is playing a one man band show can plug their piano into the BeatBuddy, then plug the BeatBuddy into a keyboard amplifier (without the pass-through feature, a performer would need a mixer).

The BeatBuddy is foot-controlled to start and stop the drum machine, and to make fills (fill-in lines and accents) and transitions between beats while it is on. There are rotary knobs for adjusting volume, tempo and choice of drum set. Content navigation through menus is possible with four directional buttons and a central "tap" one, next to the LCD screen. The LCD screen has a color display, and it uses different colors to indicate different status settings.