Boss RC-300 F.A.Q.

Started by shawnb, January 27, 2012, 09:05:03 PM

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shawnb

Quote from: Hopkins on April 11, 2012, 07:31:04 AM
I think that you may have misread here -

Yep - sorry 'bout that!
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Hopkins

I got a reply from Roland UK from a helpful chap who has been compiling a list of feedback about the RC-300 to pass onto R&D in Japan.  I asked if it might be possible to have feedback from said R&D team on which issues are being addressed.  I'll keep you posted.

Hopkins

Well, the short answer is "no".  No possibility of participating directly in the bug/feature request reporting process, and no possibility of receiving feedback from the design team in Japan.  This is a shame!  Of course, that is not to say that they might not have a very efficient process for getting things fixed, but we will just have to wait and see.  The chap in the UK did seem to be on the ball, but specifically mentioned that he was constrained by "procedure".

aliensporebomb

Despite potential problems, after watching Per's excellent tutorial (see to watch it) I believe I could make this work for me.

Things I like:
-USB storage of loops (the lack of an SD card is annoying but not a total deal breaker - I've lost more improvised loops with my SMMH than I care to mention).
-The 3 loops/variations is 2 more than I deal with currently.  I aspire to that.
-The fact that the RC-300 can be used as a timing master for the VG-99 or GR-55.

Downsides:
-Huge - like my FC-300 isn't big enough to take to the gig.
-Expensive.  Can we get a group buy going?
-Aforementioned potential bugs.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

groovey1

This video is nice find, thanks for posting it! Some good info in there.

This is the same setup I'm going for ... just waiting to get my GR-55 so I can swap out my GT-10/GR-33 and get by with just 2 big units. ;)

This might sound a bit shallow, but watching this video I was thinking how cool the GR-55BK would look with the RC-300. I may just wait until that's available ... unless I get too impatient!

tekrytor

#55
Per's video is quite good.  Thanks for the links ASB! Is Per on this forum? I'd like to applaud him for that one.
SY-300/BeatBuddy/VoiceLive 3/GR-55(v1.50)/33/1/50/700/VGA-7/V-Bass, Yam-G10, GPK-4, DIY X-Bee HighlyLiquidCPU "Cozy-Lil-Footie", FCB-1010, other MIDI stuff, Godin Freeway SA and various other GK equipped controllers, Sonar X1, Audacity, KXstudio, Misc devices

aliensporebomb

Quote from: tekrytor on April 22, 2012, 03:52:10 PM
Per's video is quite good.  Thanks for the links ASB! Is Per on this forum? I'd like to applaud him for that one.

Yes, he is PHaarhus here.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Hopkins

An interesting video!  It reminded me of something that I have wondered about, and now what I fear may be a slightly limiting issue: there does not seem to be a way to limit which inputs are recorded on each track (or even as a bank or system setting).  The main reason for doing this would be to use the RC-300 as a convenient mini-mixer.  For example, I would like to run an external drum track, vocals and my guitar into it, but I only ever want to loop with the guitars.  In a live situation, one could run the drums and vocals only through the PA, but for practising it would be convenient simply to run everything through the RC-300 (not least because I do not have a mixer at home!).  If you could route the inputs per track then you could also allow, for example, for the vocals only to loop on one of the 3 tracks.

Can anyone think of a workaround?

shawnb

#58
Quote from: Hopkins on April 23, 2012, 04:49:31 AM
Can anyone think of a workaround?

Not really.   You could predefine your phrase outputs in advance, and that gets you partway there.   You could build a toggle assign that would let you toggle your input's output assignment between sub & main (to choose the right target for what's currently playing). 

But all 3 input sources are mixed and treated really as one input.  Thus you can't have both plugged into the RC300 & have your GR55 input go to your subouts & your guitar input go to your mainouts at the same time.   

This is what I call 'discreet input routing' elsewhere above.   I know the Line6 JM4 has it (though this looper is very limited in other respects - mono only, no real tempo change).   

Also the Pigtronix appears to have discreet input routing as well.   Again, that Pigtronix looks pretty good. 

I often play my VG99 & GR55 in parallel.  It would have been nice to feed both into the RC300, play one & loop the other, or vice versa.  Further, to have them go to their desired separate outputs.   No can do. 
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Hopkins

Thanks for the feedback.  I also took the time to re-read what you had said above - I had been meaning to return to it after having played around with inputs/outputs myself, and now it makes perfect sense (and I have nothing else to add!).  It looks like I will have to find some external mixer solution.  I have just got myself a DR-880 for rhythm duties and maybe I can hack together some sort of system with that.  Plus, I will report back when I work out how well I can make it work with the RC-300 - I am already concerned about the potential "everything stops when the loop stops" issue!

Regarding the Pigtronix, I went back to watch the video in the other thread and you're right, it does seem to have an input routing advantage over the RC-300.  In fact, it is a little disappointing for me because I had in mind another project with a friend who plays the cello, but sadly it looks like this is not possible any more!  Also, I think that the swapping from loop 1 to loop 2 feature demonstrated on the Pigtronix will only be practical on the RC-300 with an extra foot controller, and I can imagine myself wanting to do that at some point.

geormiet

I've been experimenting with sending different tracks to different outputs.

I'm sending track 1 to the sub out, which then goes to a bass amp.

I'm sending track 2 and track 3 to the main out, which goes to a guitar amp. 


Question: when I play my instrument, and am not recording, it goes to both main and sub.  is there a way for this to only go to the main?

Hopkins

I have just had a quick fiddle through the menus (but haven't tested yet... I am suppose to be working!) and it seems as though you can assign a function to switch the output of the input signal.  See if you can bind this to a button first so that you can toggle the input between the two outputs.  If you can, then perhaps you could stack the command on top of the track 1 record.

groovey1

Quote from: geormiet on May 13, 2012, 10:07:57 PM


Question: when I play my instrument, and am not recording, it goes to both main and sub.  is there a way for this to only go to the main?

Yes, you can do this in system edit if you want this all the time, or in memory edit for individual patches. Look for "Input Out" when you are scrolling through the options -- eg: Sys: Input Out or Memory: Input Out.

Hopkins

Quote from: geormiet on May 13, 2012, 10:07:57 PMQuestion: when I play my instrument, and am not recording, it goes to both main and sub.  is there a way for this to only go to the main?

groovey1, The "and am not recording" element in the paragraph above makes this more complicated.  Although you can allocate the inputs as you describe, I am not sure whether it will be possible to switch to main output *only* when not recording.  I look forward to hearing whether geormiet has any success in doing this (or finding the time to test myself!).

groovey1

Hmmm, I see what you mean ... I guess I skimmed over that part of the original post.

I pictured that he wanted to route his guitar to the guitar amp all the time and send a pre-recorded bass track to the bass amp.

But switching the output on-the-fly depending on whether or not you are recording definitely complicates things!

shawnb

Quote from: Hopkins on May 16, 2012, 10:54:38 AM.... I am not sure whether it will be possible to switch to main output *only* when not recording.

Yes, you can easily do this using the Memory: Input Out setting (manual page 20) if you want to set this per-patch or the Sys: Input Out setting (page 33) if you want this to be a system setting.

The limitation I was pointing out above is that this applies to all inputs at the same time.   So if you have your guitar plugged into 'inst' and your synth plugged into 'aux', the two are mixed together and routed per these settings.  I.e., you can't have the guitar go to Main and synth go to Sub at the same time.

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

HaggleLad

#66
Hi all,

Thanks to shawnb, Hopkins and other contributors, this thread has been the most inciteful thing I read regarding the RC-300.  I did have my heart set on buying the Boomerang III but having researched, it's lack of metronome, midi, rhythm and quantize features are making the RC-300 look far more appealing. I've also considered software/iPad (LoopyHD) options but think a dedicated pedals is probably best for me since I would rather not have to plug in, boot up, charge etc.

Having read Hopkins post regarding the "FREE" mode on the RC-300 I'm concerned about what was said about the 3rd track/loop having to be the same length or longer than the other 2 tracks.  Can I not set all tracks to be "FREE", record 2 bars on track 1, then 8 bars on track 2 and then 4 bars on track 3?

What attracted me to the 'Rang III was is flexibility with regards to the length/measurement of each track when using the parellel sync mode, perfect for song writing and just making it up as you go along.  The RC-300 definitely seems more gear towards if you already know the song layout/composition before you start.

Thanks again

Hopkins

#67
Hi HaggleLad,

I may have caused some confusion - the third track does not have to be the same length or longer, and there is no difference between any of the RC-300 tracks other than their name and physical position of the controls.  I think that you may be referring to my post where I was discussing the syncopation of tracks with all quantise features turned on.  The thing to remember is that any short tracks must be a factor (in length) of the longest track in order for loops to play with no gaps (with all quantise features on).  By this I mean if you have an 8 measure track and a 2 measure track, then there will be no gaps because 8/2 = 4 (or, more specifically, = a whole number).  However, if you have an 8 measure track and a 3 measure track, then the 3 measure track will loop twice (6 measures) and then there will be a 2 measure silence.  This can change on the fly, so if you have a 2 measure and a 4 measure track playing seamlessly, then you record a 10 measure track, the 2 length will continue to loop seamlessly but the 4 measure track will loop twice and then have a 2 measure gap.

The example you cite of recording a 2 measure track first, then an 8 measure track and finally a 4 measure track would work prefectly with all set to "Free".

I'll try to put in context what I meant before when I talked about setting track 3 to be long.  From what I have just said, if you record a 3 measure track then a 4 measure track, there will be a gap of 1 measure before the 3 measure track loops.  However, imagine that we pre-define the track lengths to be 3, 4 and 12 measures (instead of using FREE mode).  Then the 3 measure track and the 4 measure track will loop seamlessly because they both divide exactly into 12.  They will be syncopated because their starting position relative to each other will change, with the whole cycle repeating once every 12 measures.  The 3 measure track will have played four times and the 4 measure track will have played 3 times.

I hope that clears it up!

Edit: changed "timing" to "starting position"

HaggleLad

#68
Great news, that's a relief, thanks for such a concise answer and explanation, that totally makes sense.  My RC-300 is now on its way!

So from what I gather, the only reason you'd specify the number of measures (other than the example you've given with 3 and 4 measures) is to save you having to press the pedal again to stop the recording and start playback/overdubbing?

Hopkins

#69
And also for the syncopation example above, to allow you to have a 3 and a 4 measure track looping without a gap.

Actually, there is a third reason which I had not considered before: perhaps you want to punch in half of a 2 measure track, i.e. just the first measure, leaving the second half blank to be recorded later.  If you have not preset the length of the track to 2, then on FREE mode it will create a one measure track*, and tracks cannot be extended without first being erased.  So you may want to preset the lengths for this reason.

*I have since come to realise that this is incorrect.  In FREE and AUTO mode, the first track to be recorded will be of a number of measures dependent on the Memory Tempo setting and the Rhythm Guide time signature setting.  If the rhythm guide is on then the tempo will be guaranteed and the track will "snap" to a whole number of measures.  If the rhythm guide is off then the track will be exactly of the length recorded and allocated to either 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. measures depending on the tempo, but then the tempo will automatically adjust to match exactly with that length of recording.

Hopkins

I have just been playing again with FREE mode and it behaves in such a way that there is a fourth reason for pre-programming track lengths: 

If you have a 2 measure track playing and you want to record a 1 measure track, then in FREE mode you must start recording at the beginning of playback of the 2 measure track.  If you begin recording half way through, then the looper assumes that you want to record the second half of another 2 measure track.  However, if you pre-program the second track as 1 measure, then you can begin recording either at the beginning of the 2 measure track or half way through.

At first I thought that this was a limitation of the FREE mode, but actually I think that this behaviour would be desirable in some situations.

HaggleLad

All interesting stuff, thanks!

Hopkins

My pleasure!  I hope you get as much fun and productivity out of it as do I!

Threeleggedyoyo

Was looking over the list of assignable commands.

Is REC one of them?

I see T1-3 Play/Stop. I'm not sure if that means only play, only stop, or a toggle (Like All Start/Stop). I'm not sure if sending play twice will initiate an overdub?

Am I crazy or is there really no way to overdub from an expansion pedal? :(

I'm wishing there was a "Current Record" function. That way I could program an external CC controller to initiate an overdub and change my effects (separate effects unit) at the same time. Looks like I MIGHT be able to do this with three separate buttons, at least. :/

I could program overdub of a pedal to send a CC, but then I'm stuck with it every time.

Hopkins

It appears as though Rec is not one of them (just had a double check in the RC-300 menu)!  You can add additional commands to the default Rec/Dub/Play button, but Rec (or even Rec/Dub) is not an assignable command.  Weird.

To clarify Play/Stop - this is indeed a toggling command.  It Stops during playback and Plays when there is no playback (of a particular track).  Thus, you can assign one pedal to Play/Stop for two tracks, and if one is playing and the other is not then this pedal will toggle between the two tracks.