RC-300: Single Track Mode

[@eekamoose]

Nearly six years after you posted this, your explanations and demos are still the clearest and most comprehensive material on the RC-300 out there! Great job!

[@250alphonse]

What a nice man! Your kindness and generosity is frankly overwhelming and please accept my thanks and gratitude. I'm an old fart and have played for 50yrs and find the technology quite daunting but now not so scary after your demos. Victoria British Columbia Canada extend greetings and salutations. Merci beaucoup.

[@jphil9687]

JUST FOUND YOUR VIDEOS. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Boss, Roland, etc. can't seem to create decent videos to help a person out. LIFESAVER!

[@arnieus866]

Your videos are still helping people like me. Learning the manual is like learning the moves in chess. Knowing the moves doesn't make you a chess player. I have learned a lot of strategy from you. 55 thousand views. I guess we know how many off these bad boys they sold. I should have got one a while ago.

[@jyates1964]

Wow, I wish all product reviews and tutorials were this well put together. I have watched 100's of reviews and tutorials and by far you are the best. I was considering other looper pedals but now I am convinced that the RC-300 will do exactly what I need it to do when I need it to. I am a solo performer and have been dabbling with loopers and backing tracks for live performance. You have helped me take it the pro-level !!!! Thank you.

[@clayhorsemusic]

Thanks, Jay - appreciate it! :o)

[@DavidPierceCHT]

An extremely useful tutorial! Focused, clear, and practical. Thank you so much for taking the time to produce this. My RC-300 is due to arrive today. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve.

[@goompapa]

Seriously this answers the 1 burning question I had concerning this unit. "Can I use this with traditional song structures?" Very grateful...

[@scottscott7586]

Thank you so very much for the 300 demos Even after all these years the 300 is still selling, as I got mine this week and couldn’t have figured this all without your demos Thank you so very much

[@davidtyler2012]

and now they've released the 600.

[@jlrounds2008]

Perfect I was trying to figure out how to loop In the Air tonight by Phil Collins and this was the perfect solution as the Verse and Chorus hold the chords for different measure lengths. Now I can switch back and forth between the verse and chorus seamlessly, you are appreciated!

[@DanTheAlterBridgeFan]

Thanks for the review. I've been waiting for an in-depth review for the RC-300 for a while now. Great work!

[@kevinherrington6316]

Thank you so much for taking the time to produce your tutorials. They helped to get me up and running with my RC-300 really quickly.

[@djw0051]

Hello Bruce.... You are by far the BEST source of info I've found on the RC-300 Loop Station. I've got several Q's, but don't want to bog you down with them yet, until I'm more familiar with the Looper.Thanks again, and God Bless..... -Dennis

[@debmurray2734]

Thank you so much for the clear comprehensive explanations that this RC300 newb can actually follow and apply.

[@telecastermark]

Your tutorials are fantastic! Many thanks for taking the time to post them. You convinced me to get one of these and now your tutorials are helping me to learn how to use it quicker than going through the manual. Once again many thanks.

[@BaktaBak3]

Thank U so much for these videos. The RC-300 does not look as scary or complicated as first thought.

[@thepiperofsimms9974]

So well explained and executed. Thank you for this. Yuma, AZ.

[@LuckyBastardCandleCo]

Always come back to your videos, thank you sir!

[@GeeMorno]

Thanks for your information man. Ive been having to learn about this unit with hours of trial & error, to make my youtube vids. You keep it simple & straight forward.

[@steve03104]

Thank you MUCH for this video! I've been using a Boomerang III with the single track mode and was concerned when my RC 300 arrived that I might not have that luxury. I can rest easy now (and start using it on my gig tomorrow!) Thanks again for your time!

[@scottkoski7193]

Thanks so much for your instruction. I just purchased the 300 and trying to use it to assist me in writing. Hope it will help me preview ideas on the fly and this single track mode sounds like just what i need to do that. Your other videos have been really great also. TY

[@cybarton]

Really appreciated your tutorial. Thanks very much for putting in the time. I learn way more from videos than the very dry manual!

[@mygoldensoul1]

You're an awesome man!! thanks so much , the clearest and most helpful demo's ever. Your sharing reaches New Zealand

[@blunote47]

Great tutorials.Thanks. I appreciated the quick response to my question. So "Loop Sync" OFF the tracks you want to be of different lengths, that makes sense. I kind of figured out the single track mode, one thing was when I switched to another track it would stop, even after setting each track to go to loop end, but, as you explained it was a memory mode setting (Memory: Track Change) that cleared up a lot.

[@RevAndiCNT]

Your videos are so well structured and helped me with my new pedal, thank you!

[@LTOTD]

Fantastic set of videos - so helpful and many thanks indeed for posting

[@DogRox]

Okay granted I'm new to this machine. But to me this unit is like a puzzle and you're putting all the pieces together for me making it easier for me to understand how to do what and when to do it thanks dude :-)

[@frankardos4211]

Hey Bruce,thanks so much for your vids friend.One thing I simply cannot believe Roland/Boss has not let these units do is TRULY allow 3 independent tracks with different beats,time signatures,the whole deal.Why not!!!!!!!I just can't understand why Single track mode can't be used for this.A real versatile song w/tempo changes would be awesome.It's a no brainer Boss!!!

[@madsbock7586]

Thanks for some great info man!! If I understand correctly you are actually proving here that the RC-300 can do some stuff that alot of people have been complaining about that it can't do. I know this video is over a year old, but I am about to buy this cool "machine", and I just want to thank you anyway for such an in depth torturial. And I can see you have plenty more videoes about the RC-300, that I'm probably also gonna watch in the near future. I love when people immerse themselves in their gear and in "stuff" in general, that's the only way to find out what it can really do right!? Pleasure to watch! Thanks again, from Denmark! :)

[@clayhorsemusic]

Thanks for that! Yes, I agree - most videos are very superficial and don't give the professional musician, or even the elementary information. If you really use one of these machines, you find very quickly that you need a lot of specific details that the "experts" have not taken the time to convey. Most of my videos are simple stuff that I wish I'd been able to find when I needed it! Cheers, Bruce.

[@spectralstarwizard1]

clayhorsemusic Thank you again sir, and ...Exactly, I appreciate how the RC-300 Manuel is simple and not intimidating, however, it deserves an in depth follow up on the details later, and you sir are it! Its kind of neat to discover things for ones-self, however, I find I'm going back and editing things I wish I had known what to do previously, and that coming after weeks of watching videos, reading the manuel etc prior to even trying one

[@bubble-bobble9993]

clayhorsemusic Hi Sir, thanks for all your videos regarding RC-300 ! Regarding track #3, did you record it with LOOP SYNC ON first so that its length is matching exactly 8 measures and then turned it OFF afterwards ?

[@riloh58]

Your tutorials (along with another few KZbinrs) have done much more to promote this pedal and clearly demonstrate its flexibility and utility than anything that came out of Boss/Roland's marketing department. Really like this pedal. Started off thinking yeah, the RC-3 will do me just fine. Then hmmm RC-30 has a lot more functionality. Now telling myself that anything less than the RC-300 is a compromise. It really looks like a fantastic tool for performing and composing.

[@elusivelectron]

I've owned this pedal for years. Thanks for clarifying.

[@ralphluke6075]

u are the best for teaching the rc 300. gracias amigo. u really clear, complete tutorials, 5/5 stars

[@michaelrogge1367]

Thank you so much for your detailed explinations. I agree that Boss should pay you for these!

[@dustindavidson849]

Just what I was looking for- thank you Sir!

[@spectralstarwizard1]

Excellent thank you Sir. And I agree with Jay Yates etc; very easy to follow you, and other demos seemed 'somewhat to very confusing and partial'. (tho I do appreciate all who share and try to assist others (Samaritans) the best they can, 'almost' no matter what level). You are a great teacher/demonstrator. In fact I thought several times 'maybe BOSS hired you to do this, because it was so well thought out and expressed'. I appreciate your clarity of mind and awareness of the needs of the person/people watching... As well as the 'birds eye view'-head mounted camera? so helpful. King of tutorials! Thrill is gone is a great song, but thanks to RC-300, the thrill is back haha. But so busy now that the Girl is gone haha, just kidding. Thank you Sir.

[@herrmannniksda]

Hello, that is a very good and informative Video. I like the way you explain all the functions and opportunities. Just got the Boss RC-300 and did never use a loop before. So i have to practice a lot. Thanks for your Videos and please more like this.

[@clayhorsemusic]

Thank you, too. You'll really enjoy it! Great machine - very useful and very versatile.

[@hugotahell]

Mine is being delivered tomorrow and I've already learned so much from your videos. Thanks man!

[@clayhorsemusic]

Good luck with your gig! I think you'll find the RC-300 will do pretty much anything you need it to for live performance.

[@clayhorsemusic]

Great questions. 1) Yes, you can clear one track while another track is playing, by holding down the Stop pedal. It takes 2 secs for the clear to start, so if the loop on the track that's playing is really short, it could be a horse race between it clearing the second track or switching to that track. 2) Yes, you can Undo and Redo any track whether it's playing or not. Thus you can turn on and off the "top layer" of dubs on all tracks, which gives you a whole new level of flexibility.

[@fridolinweber9275]

Thank you for the explanations, great 👍. Greetings from Switzerland Fridolin Weber

[@damion2226]

Great job as always Clay. Thanks for the info.

[@goc1842]

Don't forget the track sync needs to be switched off , otherwise it'll follow the other tracks , for single tracks , say you had 2 bars on track 1 , 12 on track 2 , if sync is on both tracks will follow each other and when you hit track 2 it won't be at the start . Basically switch track sync off , if you've encountered this problem

[@clayhorsemusic]

Yep, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a thousand pictures! Thanks, Bruce. :o)

[@CrossBonesAlex]

Thanks for explaining so carefully

[@kaduviannaok]

Thanks for your incredible help! You know very much about this amazing equipment! Hugs and thanks from Brazil!

[@spaced4448]

Good video mate 👌🏻 this unit looks far better build quality than the RC-505. This over the RC-505 seems a no brainier.

[@bobe.thomas]

great video, very clear, very helpful... thanks!!!

[@heinzunddiedetektive4981]

thank you for this! Its very useful for me, great job!

[@clayhorsemusic]

BTW it's important to set the tracks up to switch at LOOP END instead of IMMEDIATE to buy you some time while you're clearing tracks. If a track has been cleared completely and you press its Start button, when the active track loop is finished it will switch to the new track and the red light will come on in Record mode, so it's kind of like auto-punch-in. If the LOOP SYNCH is OFF for that track, you can even change the length of the track from what it was before while playing live.

[@JamieHarrisonGuitar]

Hey, such a great video, thank you so much for taking the time to show us your knowledge! Your videos have helped me so much and I am so grateful! I have been trying to figure something out though, and maybe you could help me - is it possible to combine 'parallell' and 'single track' modes? For example, have a 'beatbox' or live percussion loop (ie. not the built in drum machine) playing on track 1 throughout the entire song, and then have a verse and a chorus on tracks 2 and 3 that you can switch through while the rhythm loop you recorded keeps going? Thanks so much for any help you can give me and thanks again for your amazing videos! Jamie

[@GnuSCello]

Amazing video!

[@giomusic595]

Thanks. This is what I was looking for

[@benjaminmoseslieb9856]

Thanks so much for this demo!

[@davidr5250]

Great info thanks. Can you set up the RC-330 to go direct from RECORD to PLAY and miss out the overdub stage?

[@clayhorsemusic]

If I understand your question - you can change tracks either at the end of a loop, or at any time instantaneously, depending on how you set up the "Change Track" option. However, Track 1 will start playing from the beginning of that loop, and whatever is recorded in Track 1 will be a verse, chorus, bridge. You can overdub on Track 1, but not have a different verses, etc., there unless you erase and record a new one. (2) I think you cannot edit the length of imported WAV files. Use BR-800?

[@clayhorsemusic]

Really important question. Probably the best way is to mix the Rhythm to Sub and everything else to Main, and use a headphone amp/box to monitor the Sub out jack(s). Pick a good, clean pattern to act as a click track. Another way might be to just use headphones on the Sub/Mono output jack and turn the Rhythm up full. Still probably not enough volume for a noisy environment - maybe best to give the drummer a headphone box so he can always hear well & reduce stress!

[@thecolliers4010]

You're awesome dude!! Thanks for the videos. Wish is could ask you some questions.....

[@clayhorsemusic]

Yes. You do that by turning "Loop Sync" OFF for the individual track(s). Example - first record a 12-bar blues progression on Track 1. Now record just 1 or 2 bars of a bass riff that will be repeated throughout the entire 12 bars on Track 2 with "Loop Sync" turned OFF. Or record a lead lick with the Loop Sync OFF and Track Mode set to "One Shot". Now you can punch in that lick anytime during the song. It will play once and stop.

[@cybarton]

I'm almost there: buying a macbook pro from a friend, bought a firewire 8 channel mixer to connect to the laptop. Going to record live connecting the rc300 through the mixer. Going to use Garageband, so making it as simple as possible to get going. :)

[@clayhorsemusic]

Thanks! There are a few more things I'd like to demo on the RC-300, so I think I'll be making another video on it soon. Enjoy your playing (that's the main thing!). Cheers, Bruce.

[@SoulTonic]

Thanks for sharing. Exactly what I needed to know about this device. (Come on Boss send this guy some free gear! haha)

[@clayhorsemusic]

Another helpful trick - if you want to keep recording/layering over and over on a single track (see "Country Waltz"), first record a track with the desired number of measures and have LOOP SYNCH on. This could could be a dummy track - placeholder. Then the recording track will loop/repeat at the right spot - otherwise it will just keep recording onward forever! You can always Stop/Clear a dummy track once it's done its job, or dub over it.

[@boabglen]

Amazing demos! So helpful. Can I ask if you know how to set the undo record button to come in at the start of the loop? I like to use that to drop certain parts in and out. I used to have the rc50 and the undo record button came in faster so I can could time it better but on the rc300 it seems to take longer. Any help on how to get it to come in at the start of the loop would be great. Kind of like what you're doing in here but using the undo record to achieve it to come bang on the first beat. Thanks for any help

[@clayhorsemusic]

Yes, you're right! It won't switch on a Stop/Clear - the track that's playing will just keep looping indefinitely. It's when you use the Play/Erase to clear the last dub that the race is on! And after you stop pressing the Play/Erase, it won't switch either. In general its behavior is quite logical - no surprises, really. Another thing I didn't mention in the video is that the audio is a HUGE improvement over the RC-30. To me it sounds as good as the BR-800 recorder - very clean and crisp.

[@gtrgdss]

Great tutorial. Thank you!

[@automstone7613]

Which video of yours is the best beginner one to watch ? I just ordered one and need to learn.

[@giantessmaria]

thank you my friend for simplifying a somewhat daunting situation for us beginners with these. one question i have if you get the time...do you recommed this particular model over everything else you've tried. i realize this vid is 7 years ago and much has changed....but i'm thinking seriously of purchasing one soon and want to know if theres any products you'd recommend over this one....thanks again for the great vid!

[@jeremyotero4575]

Thank you so much, for your instruction, i have done all that you said and recommended,, and having great luck and enjoying this new tool very much,,, Please do some more examples... But man that timing is real hard on the red light,,,, tryin to sync up with the already recordings..... you know

[@akipachoekie]

Thank you for so much. At this moment i have a Boss rc 30 , i don't know if its possible to create single track mode. But i will buy a Rc 300.

[@thestrictlynoparking]

Great explanation - can I check if you can do this live or if you have to record each track before a performance. Thanks.

[@unraveledpoet]

I have this same question- seems like it needs to be pre-recorded?

[@aaronjbarnes]

Thank you. Very helpful.

[@soundwrks]

Nice one! Much appreciated.

[@MarcoRizzo84]

thanks for the nice video! great great great job!!! i only one question: theres a way to send the effects only in the drum?

[@IzzatRamadan]

Thanks a lot for the valuable videos! I would like to ask it's easy to change between 2 memory slots in a live performance context. Sometimes I need more than 3 slots for a song and this will force me to use 2 memory slots. Any insights? Thanks in advance!

[@nirvanamaga1293]

Great Video and Thanks a lot. Can you let me know how to play all three tracks at the same time with three different built in rhythm/drum beats please. Thanks

[@robl1821]

Hi Burce, thanks for all yr great vids. can you help me with a question. I have a 2 part song, set up on single trk mode and I have a 3rd trk that embellishes trk 1. Is it possible to set it up so that the 3rd trk can play over (or along with) trk 1? (in single trk mode), cheers, Rob

[@davidpbailey]

Thank you very much

[@clayhorsemusic]

Congrats! Sounds like you're in the home stretch now!

[@zackdanziger]

Hi, thanks for the videos ... QUESTION !!! ... is there a tempo tap FOOT PEDAL? perhaps an external pedal that can be assigned? thank you in advance. z

[@MPtashnikoff]

Thank you!

[@TravisKearney]

Do the tracks have to be saved to memory first? Or can someone play live with nothing saved and get the same single track/end of loop function. For instance a song with verse/chorus. Can I record on track 1 the chorus on bass and drums, then stop. Record on track 2 verse on bass and drums, then begin playing guitar and singing over track 2, then touch rec/play on track one and have it automatically switch to track 1. Play guitar and sing over that, touch rec/play on track two, and repeat till song is over? Or do I have to record both tracks and save to memory first, thus making it have a big pause? The point being to show Im the one playing all parts live. If I'm going to play a prerecorded backing track I can set up a laptop and play it.

[@leekirkland.musician]

You're a good man!!!!

[@TonyPeesTunes]

Hello, sir! This might be a silly question, but here goes... will this allow saving of overdubs on single tracks? Say I want to use this live for pre-recorded backing verse/chorus/outro backing tracks. After setting the verse on track 1, can I overdub a bass track on that same track, Track 2 for the chorus, outro on track 3 and store these for later use?

[@DennisMike]

Is it possible to record tracks for single track mode ON THE FLY? In other words, can you record one track for a verse and then, in your playing, switch to the chorus and record that as a separate track? If so, what settings would you use? Thanks for posting these, Bruce. They're great.

[@arturodanesi4855]

Hi, just a simple question: Can I assign different rhythms to each individual track (i.e. 1/2 shuffle to the 1^ track, Raggae to the second one, bossa to the 3^) as opposed to have a single rhytm for all tracks ? Many thanks

[@atendriyadasa6746]

You're good at explaining the RC. Do you have a background in Computer Programming, Rocket Science 'r sOMethin'? Thanks for yer help!!

[@clayhorsemusic]

Thanks, Chris - appreciate it! I know what you mean. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I'd take that a step farther and say a demo is worth a thousand pictures! Cheers, Bruce

[@MelchiorSultana]

is it possibile to send a click track to a drummer during a live with the rc300?

[@frose1]

Thank You

[@bernierao]

Hey man, great videos! I have one question for you... I'm in single track mode in the RC-300. I want the RC 300 to keep on recording every time I change tracks. Do you know if that is possible somehow? Basically I don't want to worry about pressing the record pedal on time at the first beat when it changes to another track. EXAMPLE: - So I'm recording in track 1 (set to 4 measures) and I've already pressed the REC PLAY on track 2 (which is empty at the mo and set to 4 measures)... The light on track 2 is flashing, telling me the track is engaged to start recording, I'm cool, playing and waiting... Track 2 kicks in and it starts recording automatically. I press the pedal on track 1 while I'm still recording track 2... Light is flashing on track 1 telling me the track is engaged... TO START PLAYBACK! But I want it to start recording automatically! do you know if this possible? Thanks for your help :)

[@clayhorsemusic]

Recording will occur if the track is empty, otherwise it will commence playback of the previously recorded material. Assuming you're in Single Track Mode with the track change option set to Loop End, Loop Length set to Auto, Track Sync is On (Default), and all tracks are empty. Two scenarios: 1. You start recording onto Track one and after x measures you press the Track 2 Rec/Play pedal. It will immediately stop recording on Track 1 (freezing that loop at x measures) and start recording a loop on Track 2. 2. You record x measures on Track 1, then press the Track 1 Rec/Play pedal. You're now looping what you just recorded. You now press the Track 2 Rec/Play pedal. Since Track 2 is empty, the red light will start flashing. When the end of Track 1 loop arrives, it will switch to recording on Track 2. Since Track 1 has established the loop length, Track will overdub itself after x measures unless you press the Rec/Play button again. You can also preset the loop length for Track 1 to x measures, and overdub several layers on that track before switching to recording on another track. If something is already recorded on a track and you want to switch to that track and overdub it's a bit tricky. You either have to wait for the loop to repeat and press the Rec/Play button at the start of the loop, or you have to immediately hit the Rec/Play button right after the loop starts, which is difficult sometimes, and it will also leave a little gap at the beginning of the loop where you weren't recording yet. Sometimes this is an issue, and sometimes it's not. Usually if you plan it out, there's always a way to do it.

[@bernierao]

clayhorsemusic Thanks again! :) that explains some things. I wish the overdubbing was a bit more versatile.... that shouldn't be a very hard thing for the Roland people to program!

[@TeodorDobrzycki]

@@clayhorsemusic can't you set the track to overdubbing instead of playing using assign feature?

[@davidtyler2012]

i have this, the 30, and the 20. I'm trying to transition to the Singular Sound Aeros looper. I'm still confused by it. Are there any really good videos for using that live to do single tracks and switching between them live?

[@MrEyegouge]

Thanks. Is it possible to turn drums on and off with a pedal? Not just the volume but the whole rhythm unit stopping and starting so it can automatically detect the beat points and play at the correct tempo for a rhythm track.

[@clayhorsemusic]

Braaziiiilll! Best music and musicians in the world! :o)

[@clayhorsemusic]

Yup, pretty hard to play "Money" going from 7/8 time to 4/4 time and back. Roland is a huge corporation, and what drives their decisions is the bottom line, not what makes a better product. They can say "What we do works, so why change it?" For us it's frustrating, because every Boss product is about 90% there when they introduce it. Always some bugs. I can see a lot of "time to shoot the engineer and ship the product" attitude there. I've tried to contact them with specific fixes - no luck!

[@rigus8]

1.could you change track 1 (from memory) during the track 2 or 3 is on to go back to track 1 with different verse? 2.could you import wave loops and change it lengths in device to create a new loops?

[@atendriyadasa6746]

Is it possible to have Tracks 1 and 2 play (the verses) together while Track 3 plays (a chorus) independently?

[@clayhorsemusic]

I just use a digital camera in video mode, then transfer files to PC. I used the Canon PowerShot ELPH 100 HS for a while, then switched to the Zoom Q3HS, which I was hoping would give me high-quality audio. I've been disappointed with its performance and have switched back mostly to the Canon, which is clearer and allows close-up shots. Still needs improvement. My next goal is to have better audio/sound integration - record clean audio to BR-800 and synch/edit the video with Adobe Elements.

[@clayhorsemusic]

:o) Cheers, Bruce.

[@clayhorsemusic]

Ran some tests: If you do a 2-sec Play/Erase on the active track, it will simply erase the last dub and keep playing. But if you Play/Erase on one of the other tracks, it will erase the last dub, but then the green light will start flashing and it will switch to that track when the actived loop is done. But you can Play/Erase a dub on an inactive track, then press Play on another track, and it will switch to that track. Always a way to do it, but sometimes it's like a puzzle.

[@babyboomeracousticcovers]

When you assigned the FX to control the drum sound did you write that to that particular memory location or does that become a global function ?