Boss RC-600 Advanced Tips TOGGLE COLOR explained! Other ideas! Tips and Tricks!

[@MitchellMartinMusic]

Wish Boss would enable you to change the colours of the looping buttons more easily!! Red/Amber/Green are all VERY similar colours for me (I’m red/green colourblind 😭)

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Agreed!

[@TheCarromkid]

Enjoying the Rc600 feedback. Keep it up.

[@lucygilbertson3746]

Can you change the Red/Amber/Green on record/stop pedals to something else like green, blue, red something? Is that possible? they are 2 similar.

[@planzed463]

Great idea 💡 BOSS SideCar 👌🏼

[@jizzymc_guyre4217]

Please do an updated video on your midi captain and if you could go into how you got it to work with rc600.. I bought it and I still can’t get it to work with rc600

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Set it to All CC preset and assign the cc’s to whatever you want them to do in the looper. The parameter are in the parameter guide. That’s the easiest way to get it to work. But I recommend using usb or geek mode. The midi captain website explains it all really well. Takes a lot of trial and error. I spent my Father’s Day reprogramming the midi captain to do new stuff. I think it’s the best piece of midi gear I’ve ever encountered. It’ll do whatever you want it to do once you program it. It takes a lot of work though. Good luck.

[@jizzymc_guyre4217]

@@MattBoltonMusic Thanks! I appreciate it. Happy belated Father’s Day!

[@PatDeJongeSoundwise]

For the cost of the RC600, maybe we could use a second RC600 as a control pedal? There's actually little difference in price between a Morningstar 6 and an RC600, at least here in Belgium. Thanks for the video's Matt!

[@MattBoltonMusic]

My first thought was unfortunately I think it’d cause more problems than it solves. Even without any audio coming in and out and just sending midi signals the internal computer would probably get so confused and overwhelmed. But then I realized actually you could probably delete all the internal assigns and controller assigns and just assign midi sends. So all it does is send midi. Good idea! It’d be a giant midi controller though. I like the paint audio one.

[@PatDeJongeSoundwise]

And you'd have a backup RC for the same money :) I tried to order a Paint Audio, not possible here in Europe, so I just went AliExpress and keep my fingers crossed! By the way: I would love a rig rundown of your setup these days. I'd be more than happy to compensate for your time investment. A live stream of some sort....I'm sure I'm not alone in this, everyone I speak with is a fan of your work, you're the benchmark!

[@anthonybrady3540]

I like the idea of changing the Track Select button to a Mode cycle, but is it possible to change the colour of the button dependant on the mode?

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Yes, you can change the button color with assigns. You can assign multiple things to a single pedal. So you just assign the pedal as a mode cycle. And you also assign that pedal "toggle color".

[@leenimakila8715]

Hi Matt, Thank you for the video! Do you know, if you can change the light of the overdub-mode? It's yellow now and very similar to the play-mode's green color. BR Leeni

[@MattBoltonMusic]

I've noticed this myself at gigs. At a quick glance it is often hard to tell if the loop is in overdub mode or play mode, especially outdoors in broad daylight. As of right now it appears there is no way to change the default colors of the lights for the buttons. It seems like maybe you could use toggle color and a combination of assigns to change the overdub to a different color, but it is a CRAZY workaround and would remove SO much of the functionality of the switches. Basically the switch would only give you the minimal feedback of it switching back and forth between colors. As of right now it does way more than that, blinks, changes to multiple colors, etc. You'd give all that up to change the color of the switch using a combination of assigns. And it's unlikely it would even work at all. I feel like this is something they COULD give you the option to change in a firmware update. I don't use the functionality of or care about "current track" which seems to be the use for the purple color. It'd be nice to dedicate the overdub to purple. Yellow is just too close to green.

[@romainbousquet5770]

hey ! how did you change the loop indicator color ? thanks a lot !

[@MattBoltonMusic]

There’s an assign called “toggle color”. Set minimum value to one color and maximum to another color and it’ll cycle back and forth when you click that button. You will probably want to assign other functions to that pedal too otherwise it just changes color.

[@greendrinkguy1882]

Yes! Bring on the BOSS SIDECAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and also make a freaking TABLETOP sidecar with Record/Stop/Play buttons and 6 Volume knobs.. PLEASE !!!!! This needs to happen. It's kind of a tease to have SO many features combined with a relatively small group of knobs +buttons. At least give us a volume knob for each channel.. One of the main reasons to HAVE a separate channel is to be able to adjust the volume separately, if we don't have volume knobs for all these channels then we may as well just stack +un-stack on the same channel.

[@visionnaireunicef2141]

Hi its a very good video :). I have a question, i am musician and i use a pedalboard with a lot of effects like Proco Rat (it's a overdrive). When i play a song i can hear my guitar with a distorsion on my speaker for my voice.... i know how to send a loop on different output, but i dont know how to send my "normal sound" only on my amp when i play without loop. Do you have a idea please ? :)

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Not 100% clear on your question. But try different settings in the settings go MENU - OUTPUT - ROUTING - INPUT/RHYTHM . If that's not the right place to fix your problem press LOOP twice INPUTFX then pick the input FX you want to adjust and push the menu to the left. For "INSERT" it might say ALL. Try different settings with that. Again, I'm not sure of your question. But it sounds like a routing or insert issue. Hope that helps

[@chuntoon1]

3:20 .. omg best idea ever!! #boss where are you?!

[@MattBoltonMusic]

I have lots of ideas for them. I’m waiting Boss! Could cut down a lot on their R&D costs with a quick half hour phone call to me. They know where to find me. Haha.

[@Vincenade]

Rightly said! RC600 has soooo many features to be externally controlled, I CANNOT believe boss is not already thinking about what you are calling 'side-car'. The first day it's on the market, they would sold thousands of units. Moreover, I am sure RC600 is made to stay years as a flagship looper. My guess is that they will initiate this kind of additional controllers within a year

[@MattBoltonMusic]

I hope they come out with something with the RC-600 in mind. Unfortunately they should've thought about this in the initial design of the looper. Perhaps the USB port will be able to be utilized in this way. But I wouldn't count on it. 5-pin midi is already pretty ancient technology and you need to use workarounds(like a midi host) just to get most controllers on the market to work with it. They should've added a port to plug in a USB midi device or a future BOSS USB Controller (not in production yet). I just got a xtouch mini in the mail and it works great with the RC600. I just need to find a windows PC to edit it. Ridiculous. But out of the box I've got some of the CC commands sending stuff to the looper with a midi host.

[@fuzzyip]

can you dim the lights???

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Nope. Just can change color. You could probably put some sellotape over the LEDs on it to dim the lights.

[@pinchopaxtonsgreatestminds9591]

Do they not make it so that the Boss Pedals that you buy can control the effects button? I mean the Fs 5U, and the Fs 6.

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Yes, you can use a boss pedal to turn effects on and off. You get the option for four of them. However they provide no feedback. You get no light to indicate the state of the effect. The beauty of the built in pedals is they have color changing lights that communicate to you about whatever you’re controlling. Advanced loopers will possibly want more extra controls than just the ones provided so they use midi. Boss should make a midi device that works with it!

[@pinchopaxtonsgreatestminds9591]

@@MattBoltonMusic I'm surprised that they don't change the light colour.

[@NickleRock]

I think the BOSS ES5 and ES8 should work for controlling the RC600. Not the same LED's though.

[@serotoninduo]

Hey Matt, Just bought one a few hours ago and came across your vids. Did you find out whether it's possible to "hold" the ALL CLEAR button as per your question 3 days ago? I was also disappointed to find out there is no AUX output...and I agree with you...definitely needs simpler controls lol but having said that , looking forward to playing around with it! Thanks for your vids & live shows! Awesome :-)

[@MattBoltonMusic]

Thanks! It has sub outputs that act as aux outputs. Not sure if that’s what you mean. As of now there is no way to make the all clear a hold function unless you ALSO have the same pedal as all start/stop. So when you go to all clear it plays a little of the loop. This is unacceptable and I’m positive @rolandusa will come up with a firmware update that solves this problem. It has a few minor issues but overall I’m sure you will love it. Anyone that reads the manual front to back loves it. Test every setting. Read every page. That’s my biggest suggestion. Good luck!

[@serotoninduo]

@@MattBoltonMusic Thanks Matt!! Will do & keep making your inspirational music, Love your version of Wicked Game ;-)

[@artofplanets]

I appreciate the pro tips! Would you mind describing how you handle guitar effects? Do you use the extra pedals for this? Or is it the midi pedal? While watching your shows I actually began to be more optimistic about using the looper more extensively. I had the suspicion I might have to use it as a novelty along with songs with just plain guitar and then also some with backing tracks. Thanks for the great videos!

[@MattBoltonMusic]

My guitar effects come from guitar effect pedals not the RC600. The RC600 has some input effects built in that I can control with my midi controller or the pedal itself using when you switch to a different mode using the mode pedal. It sounds more complicated than it is. I HIGHLY recommend not using pre-recorded backing tracks if you're going to gig. Audiences, club owners, booking agents, etc. do not like backing tracks and it gives loopers a bad name in my opinion when people use backing tracks. You can do whatever you want, but I strongly suggest not using pre-recorded tracks if you are gigging. Also don't use the internal rhythm sounds if you are gigging. All of that stuff is very artificial sounding and a huge turn off to the enjoyment of live music. Learn to add some drums and/or record the chord progression on-the-fly with the looper and yourself and the audiences will be more appreciative. It's inorganic as it is using a looper, so don't make it even more inorganic. Also important to not take a long time to set up the loops, sing while you're recording if you can. This all applies to gigging musicians only. If you're using it for fun at home or rehearsal, do whatever you want. But the cardinal sin of gigging is using pre-recorded backing tracks. Recording the loops on-the-fly gives the performance and organic, live, REAL feel. Good luck and happy looping!

[@iiaaiiaannaaiiaaii]

could not agree more.

[@MusicByMattDalton]

It’s cool but it burns one of 16 precious assigns… all 16 of my assigns control actual recording functions. Wish boss would give us more assigns at least

[@benhuuri]

External midi controller with rc-600 typr of Lights is a bad idea. The Lights should be replaced with individual screen per button. Then you would actually now what each button is doing. Line 6, RJM mastermind GT, HX Effects and MIDI Maestro has this feature. Boss is still in the year 2001, I cannot understand that mindset. I hope that Line 6 on TC Helicon would release much better looper.

[@MattBoltonMusic]

I suppose, but the more screens the more problems. Having individual screens per button would be helpful for initial programming of the looper, but after that they are useless for performance. I don't even understand why guitarists put little labels on their midi controllers. Just memorize what all the buttons do. You shouldn't be reading your pedal names while performing. The point is to memorize what all the buttons do and use the lights to just know if if they are on or off. If I need to know what state a pedal is in I don't want to be reading something I want to be able to glance out of the corner of my eye and see whether a light is on or off. The problem with the Boss looper is that it is a professional performance tool, built like a tank, and it expects you to know how to navigate menus and have memorized what all the buttons are doing on every page and every mode. I think the general user expects it to remind you constantly what the buttons do or whatever. Boss assumes you've memorized the layout. This takes lots of time and practice, but once you know the pedal inside and out, screens are useless. I don't need to read a screen to know that mode 2 button 4 is track FX 1 on/off. I just know it is. What Boss really should do is provide an app that controls the programming of the looper. Using the little screen is definitely 2001 or even 1990s style. It's such a pain to program it, but the R&D to develop an app for it is probably prohibitively expensive. Case in point is the Headrush. The whole thing is a screen and it is absolute garbage. They spent all their time making sure it has a nice pretty screen and the functionality of the looper for professional performance is extremely lacking. Boss spent all their time making sure the looper is a tank that just works, and it does. Some people have experienced lots of bugs, but I've never experienced one bug that wasn't user error in literally thousands of hours on the looper so far. There is definitely some room for improvement, and maybe we'll see an update as the RC-1000 in ten years or so. I've tried EVERY looper that has been released by every company, and nothing touches the RC-600...not even close. Definitely wouldn't hold out for TC-Helicon. That company does one thing and only one thing right, harmony algorithm. Everything else they release is kinda lousy and Boss is SO far ahead of everyone else in the looper game. I think if you want more screens and functionality, it's best to go the computer route with Ableton or something. But if you want hardware, Boss can't be beat.

[@benhuuri]

@@MattBoltonMusic Good points. I like Voicelive 3 because it shows what the buttons are doing. I do not agree that I should memorize button functions, because what the VL3 does extremely good is that one button can have multiple functions. Line 6 Helix has done it perfect. It has screen per button and also button colors. But yeah, I would not want to but I have to accept the RC-600 with all it's flaws. Because I already have a laptop (I am playing samples from Mainstage which also has my setlist and changes song presets from looper) on stage, i dont want to have another onefor the looper. With mainstage I have solved the setlist problem, because there is no app for rc600 as you said. Btw, I have a question about the Rc600's metronome (rhythm): I don't like that the click stops when loop is not playing or after ALL CLEAR. I need the click to keep playing all the time. thanks if you can help 👍