Boss RC-50 Workshop Series, RC-50 LOOP STATION User Manual
RC-50 Loop Station
© 2006 BOSS Corporation U.S.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of BOSS Corporation U.S.
RC50WS03
Patches
Workshop
About the RC-50 Workshop Series
The BOSS RC-50 Loop Station sets a new standard for performance loopers.
With 49 minutes of mono recording time (or 24 minutes in stereo), onboard
storage for up to 297 phrases, and massive realtime control, the RC-50 is a
powerful realtime performance tool. While looping is its primary function, it
can be used in many other ways as well: as a sampler, a backing track player,
a practice aid, and more.
Each RC-50 Workshop booklet focuses on a specific topic to help you
get the most out of your RC-50 and spark some ideas for its creative use.
RC-50 Workshop booklets are intended as companions to the RC-50 Owner’s
Manual.
About This Booklet
The RC-50 has 99 onboard patches, and each contains three phrases into
which you can record or import audio. A patch also contains many settings
that determine how its phrases play. This booklet covers patches in detail,
including how to store your phrase recordings and custom settings in
them.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, you’ll come across information that deserves
special attention—that’s the reason it’s labeled with one of the following
symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid
possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
Hot Links
Each Workshop booklet is meant to be read in order from
beginning to end. However, if we mention an upcoming
section—and you see this arrow—you can click the arrow to
jump there immediately.
Terminology
On the RC-50, a “phrase” is a container for audio data.
An RC-50 patch contains three phrases, and each can loop indefinitely
or be triggered sampler-style using the “One Shot” function.
When a phrase is empty, capturing audio into it is called “recording.”
While recording a phrase, pressing the REC/PLAY/OVERDUB pedal
stops recording and starts the phrase playing back from the beginning.
This action determines the phrase’s length, and we call it “closing the
phrase.” Alternately, a phrase can be closed by pressing the STOP pedal
during phrase recording.
When a phrase already contains audio and you wish to layer more—or
replace some—you “overdub” audio into the phrase.
What’s in a Patch?
Whenever you play, record, or overdub phrases on the RC-50, you’re working
in a patch. Each patch contains:
three phrases—into which you can record, overdub, and import audio.
This audio can be saved with the patch, up to the limit of the RC-50’s
memory.
The RC-50’s memory provides 49 minutes of mono recording time, or 24
minutes of stereo. This memory is shared by all 99 patches.
various phrase playback settings—that determine how the patch’s
phrases behave. They include the Play mode (Single or Multi), loop or
One Shot playback, Tempo Sync, and more.
guide settings—including on/off status, pattern selection, and time
signature.
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realtime control assignments—for the onboard TEMPO and UNDO
pedals, optional external pedals, and MIDI controllers.
a master tempo setting—used by the guide, Tempo Sync, and Loop
Quantize.
The RC-50 features 99 patch locations into which you can save your work.
The PATCH Display and the Play Screen
The RC-50’s front panel provides two patch status displays.
The current patch number is displayed in the PATCH
display, shown in the illustration to the right.
The Play screen is the RC-50’s “home” screen. It’s the screen that’s displayed
after the RC-50 finishes its power-up sequence. At a glance, you can see the
current patch’s name, the remaining recording time, and information about
the phrases’ content.
The Play screen.
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Current patch name
Remaining recording time Phrase content
You can always return to the Play screen from any other screen by
pressing EXIT.
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Phrase Content
The phrase content area of the Play screen provides the following information
about the patch’s three phrases:
o is displayed when a phrase contains audio.
- is displayed when a phrase is empty.
During playback, level meters— ¢∞—indicate the current phrase
volume.
Selecting Patches
If the current patch contains any newly recorded phrase data
or parameter changes that you wish to keep, you need to save
it to one of the RC-50’s 99 patch locations before selecting a
new patch or turning off the power. If you don’t, this data will
be lost. The patch-saving procedure is covered later in this
booklet.
Patches can be selected using a number of different methods, either when
the RC-50 is stopped or during phrase playback.
Technically, the RC-50 allows you to select a patch during phrase
recording or overdubbing as well. In actual use, however, you’ll
probably never want to; since your new recording/overdub won’t
be saved to the patch before a new patch is selected, it’ll be lost
immediately when the newly selected patch is loaded.
Using the PATCH/VALUE Dial
When the Play screen is displayed, patches can be
selected using the PATCH/VALUE dial. Simply turn the
dial to select the desired patch.
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Using the Onboard Pedals
When the RC-50’s in Patch Select mode, patches can be selected with the
REC/PLAY/OVERDUB, STOP, and TEMPO pedals.
To enter Patch Select mode, press and hold the TEMPO pedal for at least
two seconds. When the PATCH display flashes, release the pedal.
Use the following pedals to select the desired patch:
Press REC/PLAY/OVERDUB—to step down through patch numbers.
Press STOP—to step up through patch numbers.
The number in the flashing PATCH display indicates the selected patch.
To finalize your selection, press TEMPO.
The Patch Select mode pedal functions are labeled next to the
pedals.
Using External Pedals
If the onboard pedals aren’t enough, you can connect optional external
pedals (BOSS FS-5U and/or FS-6) to the CTL 1, 2 PEDAL and EXP/CTL 3, 4
PEDAL jacks.
Many different functions can be assigned for external control, and these
assignments can be saved in a patch. Among them are PATCH INC (increment)
and PATCH DEC (decrement). We’ll discuss pedal settings a little later.
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Using MIDI
Specific MIDI messages sent from an external device connected to the
RC-50’s MIDI IN jack can select patches.
Program Changes 1-99—select Patches 1-99, respectively.
Control Change (CC) #80—can control one user-assignable RC-50
parameter per patch. Among the parameters available for assignment
are PATCH INC (increment) and PATCH DEC (decrement).
To learn about using MIDI devices with the RC-50, see Chapter 8 in the
RC-50 Owner’s Manual.
What Happens When a Patch is Selected
When you select a patch, one of two things will happen: it’ll load immediately,
or it’ll be put on “standby” temporarily before it loads. The behavior that
takes place depends on the playback status of the current phrase.
As you might have guessed, the “current phrase” is the
phrase that’s currently selected with a PHRASE SELECT pedal
(when a phrase is the current phrase, the left indicator on
its PHRASE SELECT pedal lights solid). The current phrase
selection is retained when the patch is saved; this is
important to know, as we’ll see shortly.
If the current phrase is stopped when a new patch is selected—the new
patch loads immediately.
If the current phrase is playing when a new patch is selected—the patch
loads according to the Phrase Change mode setting. When the Phrase
Change mode is set to:
IMMEDIATE—the current phrase stops playing, and the newly
selected patch loads immediately.
LOOP END—the current phrase plays to its end, and then the newly
selected patch loads.
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We’ll show you how to set the Phrase Change mode a little
later.
When a phrase is selected with a MIDI Program Change message, it
always loads immediately, even if the Phrase Change mode is set to
LOOP END.
When the RC-50’s in Single mode, the Phrase Change mode also affects
phrase selection within the patch. We’ll discuss this when we show you
how to set the Phrase Change mode.
Phrase Change Mode Examples
Now, let’s take a look at what happens when a new patch is selected during
playback using the two different Phrase Change modes.
In the following examples, we’re using Patch Select mode to select the
patch, since this is the method you’ll probably want to use while performing.
However, you’ll see the same behavior regardless of the patch-selection
method you use.
Phrase Change Mode: IMMEDIATE
In the current patch, select a phrase that contains audio by pressing its
PHRASE SELECT pedal.
Start the phrase playing by pressing REC/PLAY/OVERDUB.
While the current phrase is playing, enter Patch Select mode by pressing
and holding TEMPO until the PATCH display flashes.
Select the desired patch with the REC/PLAY/OVERDUB and/or STOP
pedal. The flashing PATCH display shows the currently selected patch
number.
At the desired moment, finalize your selection by pressing TEMPO. The
new patch loads immediately, with it’s last-selected phrase becoming
the current phrase. If the current phrase:
contains audio—it begins playing as soon as the patch loads.
is empty—it begins recording as soon as the patch loads.
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Phrase Change Mode: LOOP END
In the current patch, select a phrase that contains audio by pressing its
PHRASE SELECT pedal.
Start the phrase playing by pressing REC/PLAY/OVERDUB.
While the current phrase is playing, enter Patch Select mode by pressing
and holding TEMPO until the PATCH display flashes.
Select the desired patch with the REC/PLAY/OVERDUB and/or STOP
pedal. The flashing PATCH display shows the currently selected patch
number.
At the desired moment, finalize your selection by pressing TEMPO. The
current phrase continues to play until it ends, and then the selected
patch loads.
Until the current phrase ends, the new patch selection is put on
standby, and both the PATCH display and the TAP TEMPO button flash
in time with the current patch tempo.
During this standby state, a flashing PHRASE SELECT pedal shows you
which phrase will be the current phrase in the selected patch. At this
time, you can press any PHRASE SELECT pedal to choose a different
phrase to be the current phrase when the new patch loads.
When the phrase ends, the new patch loads. If the current phrase:
contains audio—it begins playing as soon as the patch loads.
is empty—it begins recording as soon as the patch loads.
Patch Settings
Each patch offers a multitude of settings that allow you to configure the
RC-50 the way you like for any particular composition or live looping
performance. Following is a rundown of the various patch settings, with
brief descriptions of their functions. In most cases, we’ll show you how to
adjust patch settings, too. However, some require more explanation than
we can provide here—in these cases, we’ll refer you to the RC-50 Owner’s
Manual and/or another RC-50 Workshop booklet for more information.
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