RC-300 - play a track when hitting rec on another track?

[Tonato]

Hi Guys,

I've been trying to find a way to do something with the rc300 but just couldn't find anywhere the answer...

Basically what I want is: I will use track 1 for beatboxing, which means that track 1 will be my percussive track. Therefore, I want to hear it anytime I am recording track 2 and 3, to keep the time and tempo right.

BUT I don't want to have to  engage track 1 and wait for the whole loop to finish to start recording track 2. I want to hit rec on track 2 and automatically start listening to the beatbox of track 1 while recording track 2,

I know there might be alternatives like using the inbuilt rhythms but I want to listen to the recorded beatbox in track 1while recording a new track 2 without having to engage track 1, wait for the loop to finish and start recording track 2 on top of that.

Is this possible?

Any thoughts?

THANKS!!!!!!

[Threeleggedyoyo]

A couple ways come to mind.

All these solutions assume 2 things:

A) You have Loop Sync Enabled on all Tracks.
B) You are in Multi Mode.
C) You are going to pre-record your beatboxing on Track 1.

Solution 1) Press the Track 2 button and the Track 1 button at the same time using two feet. It's tricky to do, but it can be done with a little practice. It's worth knowing how to do and now might be a good time to learn. Especially if you only need to do it once at the beginning of a song, it's not so bad. Using your hands may even be an option depending on your setup.

Solution 1b) Press the Track 2 button and the Track 1 button at the same time the same foot. It's sounds crazy, but I can do it. If you can curl your toes down a little with a shoe that follows (works in my Converse All-Stars) or maybe a shoe with a good arch in it, it can be done. I wouldn't risk it later in a song, but at the very beginning, the risk is minimized a bit (you don't have to go back to far if you need to start over) and you get the added benefit of taking a moment to get your foot just right.


Solution 2) Press the Track 2 Button and then the Track 1 button right after (or vice versa). With Loop Sync enabled, you won't loose too much time.

Solution 3)Pre-record Track 1 AND the requisite amount of silence on Track 2. Then use the All Start / Stop Button and hit Track 2 immediately after. Similar to Solution 2, but might be a little better.

Solution 4) Make a Custom Assign This option is the most promising, but also a little tricky. Here's the lowdown...

It's possible to use recording on one track as the Source to trigger other Targets. It's also possible to trigger an individual Track Play as a target. On the surface, this is exactly what you're asking for. But the way it works is kind of bonkers and confusing.

Make an Assign with these settings:

Assign: (whatever Assignment number)
Source: Track 2 Record
Target: Track 1 Play / Stop
Mode: Momentary

If that doesn't make any sense to you, watch the video that I made here:



With these settings, you'll get this behavior...

1) Recording on Track 2 will cause Track 1 to play automatically (again, keep in mind that this is only if there is already something recorded on Track 1).
2) "Playing" Track 2 will NOT trigger Track 1 to play. Only a Record or Overdub action will do this.
3) Overdubbing or recording will NOT cause Track 1 to stop.
4) However, if you stop Track 2, Track 1 will also stop. Don't ask me why.

If that works, great. A little funky, but if it works it works. I wish there was a way to get Option #1 without Behavior #4, but if it exists, I haven't figured it out yet. But hey, maybe you even WANT that. Alternatively, you can try these settings:

Assign (whatever number)
Source: Track 2 Record
Target: Track 1 Play / Stop
Mode: Toggle

With those settings you'll get this behavior instead...

1) Recording on Track 2 will cause Track 1 to play (again, keep in mind that this is only if there is already something recorded on Track 1).
2) "Playing" Track 2 will NOT trigger Track 1 to play. Only a Record or Overdub action will do this.
3) Overdubbing or recording WILL cause Track 1 to stop. (yuck)
4) If you stop Track 2, Track 1 will not stop. Don't ask me why.

Those are the settings I'm aware of and what you get from them. Don't ask me to explain the underlying logic... it makes my head spin just thinking about it.

Hopefully that helps. Let me know.

[Syph]

Thanks Yoyo, I was too busy to go through the details of this.

Regarding assigns, the logic is that if the source is set to momentary, it will play whilst the button is down. If its set to toggle, it will play when the button is pressed until the button is pressed again. With the assigns in mind it carries that momentary will play track 1 whilst track 2 is play (track 2 playing is like holding down the play buton for track 1). Toggle however treats each record state as a button press, recording or overdubbing on track 2 will toggle track 1 between play and stop.

For me the behaviour makes sense, but i don't know what the engineers were thinking with half of the design choices.

Like where is the click track?

[Threeleggedyoyo]

Thanks Yoyo, I was too busy to go through the details of this.

Regarding assigns, the logic is that if the source is set to momentary, it will play whilst the button is down. If its set to toggle, it will play when the button is pressed until the button is pressed again. With the assigns in mind it carries that momentary will play track 1 whilst track 2 is play (track 2 playing is like holding down the play buton for track 1). Toggle however treats each record state as a button press, recording or overdubbing on track 2 will toggle track 1 between play and stop.

For me the behaviour makes sense, but i don't know what the engineers were thinking with half of the design choices.

Like where is the click track?

I'm aware of that, but it still doesn't totally make sense to me at least.

Play / Stop is a different state than Rec / Overdub as far as Sources are concerned.

So with that in mind, it would make sense if Track 1 stopped playing once you leave the Record state and go to the Play state (on Momentary)... but that's not what happens. It doesn't really make sense to me that stopping from a Play state on Track 2 should have any effect on Track 1 unless you did it directly from a Record or Overdub state. And why Toggle vs. Momentary affects that, I couldn't say... seems to me like something else is going on, here.

Whatever it is, it confuses the crap outta me.

[Syph]

Ah, interesting, I hadn't thought of that shift.
You win this round Yoyo! (Shakes fist angrily)

[Tonato]

Threeleggedyoyo, THANK YOU so much for that great explanation!

I have just seen it and will definitely try it as soon as I get home.

Very Interesting and clever the thought of doing it assigning it. I will definitely try that and post my results here!

Thanks man, seen your video, very cool too!

Regards,

Toni