User Manual
B2M™
Universal Bass-to-MIDI Converter
Owner’s Manual
B2M™ B2M™ B2M™ B2M™
Congratulations on your purchase of the
B2M™. Please take the time to read
through this manual to ensure you get
the best from your B2M™.
What is the
B2M™
?
The B2M™ is a simple to use, but highly
effective, Bass-to-
MIDI
converter. It is
“Universal” because it doesn’t need a
special pick-up mounted on your bass
guitar, but instead simply connects to
your bass like any other effects pedal or
tuner. However, this does mean that it
can only work “monophonically”, so
chords are not supported.
Specifically designed and optimised for
all 4-, 5-, 6- and 7-string basses to give
accurate triggering, with very low-
latency, it is a true plug-and-play solution
for monophonic
MIDI
bass. It can be used
to sequence bass lines, add an edge to
your live performances and to open up
many creative possibilities.
Power
Your B2M™ is powered by a single 9V
PP3 battery (supplied). Simply connect
the battery observing the correct
polarity. If you connect it the wrong way
round it won’t cause any damage, but
the unit won’t operate until this is
connected correctly.
Because of its low power consumption,
the unit will run for many hours (typically
for more than 60) on a single battery.
When the battery is close to needing
replaced, the
LOW
BATTERY
LED
will light. It
is not necessary to replace the battery
immediately since the B2M™ will
continue to function normally. When the
battery is nearly exhausted, the
LOW
BATTERY
LED
will flash and the battery
must be replaced. If you need the B2M™
to work reliably for several hours (
e.g.,
a
recording session, or when playing live)
the battery should be replaced if the
LOW
BATTERY
LED
is lit.
The B2M™ is switched on when a lead is
plugged into the
BASS
jack. So, to
maximise battery life, this jack must be
disconnected when you are not using
the unit.
After 30minutes of inactivity the B2M™
will enter a low-power (but not fully off)
state to preserve the battery. To restart
the unit, simply unplug and re-insert the
lead into the
BASS
jack.
Operation
Using your B2M™ couldn’t be simpler:
• Plug your instrument (electric bass)
into the
BASS
jack socket. The
POWER
LED
will light.
• Connect
MIDI
-
IN
of your
MIDI
device (or
computer using a suitable
MIDI
interface) to the
MIDI
OUT
socket.
• Adjust your bass’ volume control so
that the
CLIP
LED
lights only
occasionally while playing normally.
• Optionally, check your bass is in tune
using the built-in tuner (if you want to
tune to the standard bass tuning).
• Play your bass to send
MIDI
to your
MIDI
device (or sequencer,
etc.
).
Chromatic Mode
The B2M™ accurately tracks the pitch of
notes and outputs pitch-bend
MIDI
messages but sometimes it is preferable
to send notes without pitch-bend
information (
e.g.,
when playing piano
sounds). This can be done by enabling
the
CHROMATIC
switch next to the
BASS
jack socket.
Tuner
For your convenience, the B2M™
includes a built-in tuner. This uses our
PULSAR™ tuning technology where the
POWER
LED
doubles as a tuning indicator.
This innovative tuner gives you a fast
and accurate way to tune your bass.
If there is no input signal, the
LED
will
remain lit and indicates that the unit is
powered. When there is an input signal,
the
LED
will pulse smoothly to indicate
tuning.
When the note is out of tune, the
LED
will
pulse quickly. As you get closer to the
correct pitch, this pulsing will slow.
Eventually when you are perfectly in
tune, the pulsing will stop. Normally, as
long as the
LED
pulses slower than once
per second, the tuning is close enough
for most purposes.
It is always best to start at a lower pitch
and tune upwards to the correct pitch. As
you get closer to the correct pitch and
the pulsing slows down, turn your tuning
head more slowly to avoid overshooting
the correct pitch. Because the tuner is
very accurate you will find that very small
movements may be all that is required to
move from slightly out-of-tune to in-tune
(or indeed, to go from in-tune to slightly
out-of-tune). With only a little practice
you will find you can tune very quickly
and accurately using the PULSAR™
tuner.
Instrument Thru
If you want to connect your instrument to
another device, or to your bass amplifier,
simply connect a lead to the
THRU
jack.
The B2M™ has a very high-impedance
input and it will not affect the sound of
your instrument while it is connected.
MIDI
To make connecting to
MIDI
equipment
as simple as possible, the B2M™ has a
standard 5-pin
MIDI
connector (
i.e.,
no
adapter cables are required). It also
provides standard 5V power and is able
to power self-powered
MIDI
devices such
as
MIDI
mergers and message filters.
For pitch-bend, the commonest setting
for most
MIDI
devices is for full-scale
pitch-bend to represent ±2 semitones,
and the B2M™ is also set to this range.
To e n s u r e y o u r
MIDI
sounds are correctly
in tune with your bass, ensure the
MIDI
patch you use is also set to a pitch-bend
range of ±2 semitones.
Of course, you may want to experiment
with other pitch-bend ranges for special
effects.