Given two Boss RC-50 loopers, what's the best way to use both at once and get the max out of both at the same time.
First move is to connect two MIDI cables between them and following that to establish one or the other as the Master so the clock signal from that one is transmitted to the other and they will stay, as close as electronically-possible, to perfect sync with each other.
The first MIDI cable is to send the clock timing and start / stop loop, etc commands via MIDI and this goes from MIDI-out on the Master to MIDI-in on the Slave. The second MIDI cable is to send start / stop, etc from the Slave looper back to the Master and that goes over the second cable from MIDI-out on the Slave to MIDI-in on the Master.
Note: don't take these words to mean any more than they do in the electronic device context where they are used as standard terminology for these types of machine relationships.
Each looper has the capability for recording three independent phrases for each loop and one can switch from one phrase to another for different parts of the tune. Maybe there's intro, verse, and outro ... but where's the chorus. That's where you start wanting more phrases and that's why the intrigue regarding the second looper.
Staying aware of being sucked into an electronic whirlpool from which no music emerges, there will be experimentation to determine the precise flexibility of MIDI commands which can be sent between the devices. If played to the ideal, it will be possible to exploit six phrases rather than three and not only get the chorus we wanted for the original problem but modulation as well if your twisted mind needs it.
This is absolutely not musical flapjackery only to see if I can do it. "The End of the World in Fort Worth" uses three phrases right now but, alas, there is no fourth phrase button. For something really kickin', my only outro is to kill the loop as I come down hard with a chord at the fundamental and dive bomb the living hell out of it. Sure, it's spectacular but not every fookin' time. You want that huge crescendo finale, sure enough, but ideally only for the finale. When you hit that chord, all the flash pots explode and lights blaze like a dive bomb into hell. I fookin' love it.
There are limitations, even with MIDI, as this is not the first time playing with this band and I did not find previously a way to send patch changes (i.e. MIDI PC) to the Boss DR-880 drum machine and that's so exquisitely medieval for electronic devices. Yes, this is after poring over various manuals. That's a torture yet to be resolved and changing the patch manually is weak like Mickey Mouse trying to punch out Superman. More to come on that.
So, yah, because ... anticipation. A looper is an easy thing to use, a difficult thing to master, and every brain cell I've got to put it right up against the wall and do every bit of my bidding.
About one week until arrival of the MIDI multiplexer as that's the primary difference between the way I have attacked this previously and that which I want to push now. Tick ... tick ... tick ...
First move is to connect two MIDI cables between them and following that to establish one or the other as the Master so the clock signal from that one is transmitted to the other and they will stay, as close as electronically-possible, to perfect sync with each other.
The first MIDI cable is to send the clock timing and start / stop loop, etc commands via MIDI and this goes from MIDI-out on the Master to MIDI-in on the Slave. The second MIDI cable is to send start / stop, etc from the Slave looper back to the Master and that goes over the second cable from MIDI-out on the Slave to MIDI-in on the Master.
Note: don't take these words to mean any more than they do in the electronic device context where they are used as standard terminology for these types of machine relationships.
Each looper has the capability for recording three independent phrases for each loop and one can switch from one phrase to another for different parts of the tune. Maybe there's intro, verse, and outro ... but where's the chorus. That's where you start wanting more phrases and that's why the intrigue regarding the second looper.
Staying aware of being sucked into an electronic whirlpool from which no music emerges, there will be experimentation to determine the precise flexibility of MIDI commands which can be sent between the devices. If played to the ideal, it will be possible to exploit six phrases rather than three and not only get the chorus we wanted for the original problem but modulation as well if your twisted mind needs it.
This is absolutely not musical flapjackery only to see if I can do it. "The End of the World in Fort Worth" uses three phrases right now but, alas, there is no fourth phrase button. For something really kickin', my only outro is to kill the loop as I come down hard with a chord at the fundamental and dive bomb the living hell out of it. Sure, it's spectacular but not every fookin' time. You want that huge crescendo finale, sure enough, but ideally only for the finale. When you hit that chord, all the flash pots explode and lights blaze like a dive bomb into hell. I fookin' love it.
There are limitations, even with MIDI, as this is not the first time playing with this band and I did not find previously a way to send patch changes (i.e. MIDI PC) to the Boss DR-880 drum machine and that's so exquisitely medieval for electronic devices. Yes, this is after poring over various manuals. That's a torture yet to be resolved and changing the patch manually is weak like Mickey Mouse trying to punch out Superman. More to come on that.
So, yah, because ... anticipation. A looper is an easy thing to use, a difficult thing to master, and every brain cell I've got to put it right up against the wall and do every bit of my bidding.
About one week until arrival of the MIDI multiplexer as that's the primary difference between the way I have attacked this previously and that which I want to push now. Tick ... tick ... tick ...
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