Boss RC-50 loop pedal sync - HELP PLEASE!!

[LimitedHeadroom]

Hi there,

I am working on a performance with another musician, we have guitar, vocals and cello between us, I also have my laptop running Ableton. She has a Boss RC-50 loop pedal with which we want to build loops and layers, however we are having problems that seem to be down to the pedal being designed in a way that, as far as I can see makes it unusable in all but a standalone situation. I just want to see if there is anyone who might be able to help in case I am doing something wrong.

I have it receiving MIDI clock from ableton and it is picking up sync. However as soon as you start the laptop it goes straight into record mode, meaning that you have no chance to get the tempo from a click, or let beats start 1st on the laptop and record when you are ready. If you stop and undo the recording it seems do drop out of sync and go back into free running when you hit record, taking it's tempo from the length of the loop you make, obviously drifting out of time over a few passes.

The second issue is that once it is syncing and has stuff recorded in, if you want to stop the loops from playing so you can for example do a verse without them, and then bring the loops in for the chorus, as soon as you stop all loops from running, it drops it's sync again! So there ALWAYS has to be at least one loop running.

Is there a setting I am missing, or is this just a fantastically badly designed piece of kit!

We have to have a performance ready for an audience by the end of next week, so help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

[lowlines]

Hi

I did have an RC 50 a little while ago and they are undoubtedly quite tricky to use with other musicians. It is all a bit hazy but my recollections are as follows:

From what I recall firstly you would be better off using the RC 50 as the master and syncing ableton to it rather than the other way around. That should help a bit with your midi tempo syncing. The RC 50 will now be controlling the start and stopping of Ableton. However it's probably preferable that way around.

I'm having difficulty remembering the exact details of what I did, but one thing was that as you are now controlling the starting and stopping of ableton you are going to have to leave one of the banks of the RC 50 blank or a loop with the volume down. This is because it will be running at all times as you'll be pressing play at the start of the song. You then use the other two banks to layer up the sounds as you go.

You should also make sure that the tempo isn't set to the loop length when you are recording as this can result in things going out all over the place as well.

This should make it workable for you. I honestly can't recall whether these were just work arounds I came up with, but one thing is for sure the midi sync functionality isn't great and it can be upredictable. I'd also recommend giving the manual a good read.

Alternatively you might want to consider using Ableton as your looper instead.

[LimitedHeadroom]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try making it the sync master and working with a silent loop, hadn't thought of that.

I did think of using ableton as my looper, but we would need another MIDI foot medal, as neither of us have hands free, as we are busy playing guitar and cello respectively. No budget to buy a MIDI foot controller in the next week, so have to work with what we have for now, although it is definitely what I will consider for the future of this project.

[lowlines]

If you want to use Ableton and don't have a budget for a midi controller foot pedal, you can make yourself a very cheap DIY one from a USB PC keyboard.

If you go to this LINK it explains how to do it. It's not exactly what you'd call a sturdy footpedal, but it does work and it is cheap and easy to make.

[Wossname]

Since you are already using Ableton, why not use the Ableton Live Looper?

I saw another user suggested the DIY route, and if you can't be bothered the Line6 FBV Express Mark II is inexpensive, and has a suitable number of (foot)buttons for controlling Ableton/Looper.
(Works via USB midi)

[zenguitar]

Since you are already using Ableton, why not use the Ableton Live Looper?

I saw another user suggested the DIY route, and if you can't be bothered the Line6 FBV Express Mark II is inexpensive, and has a suitable number of (foot)buttons for controlling Ableton/Looper.
(Works via USB midi)

I'll second that, the FBV Express Mk II is simple and effective. You install the editor application and use that to create the mappings you need, and from then on those settings are your default. It has 4 footswitches and a treadle pedal with a toe switch. The toe switch selects between two different parameters for the treadle switch. And pretty much any MIDI controller can be mapped to any controller and each switch can be momentary, latching on/off, or sending a one shot controller value.

Very useful indeed. I use mine with my POD XT Pro and my PC interchangeably. And it really is cheap for what it does, and very solidly built.

Andy