Boss RC300 Video Lesson
I recently had someone ask me how I control my loop volume with the on board expression pedal on my boss rc300 loop station.
So here is a boss rc300 lesson video to show you how. I’ll also show you how to start your rhythm guide track (drums) with a foot switch as boss hasn’t integrated this concept into the unit yet.
Would you like to watch another RC300 loop station video?
Click here for another RC300 Demo
Click here for my review of the new Boss RC300 vs the RC50
John great article and video. I just got an RC 30 so I can do many of the thimgs you are talking about. One problem area seems to be to switch between two loop patches, for example between a verse and chorus. i can not do this on the Rc 30. I am wondering if this is handled by the RC300? For live performance you need to be able to switch playback between different patch loops to cover different parts of songs without a delay.
Hi Tom
The RC300 works very well switching from track to track (RC50 phrase to phrase) within a patch. I like to work in single mode set to “loop end”.
So if I’m playing track 1 (verse) I can hit track 2 (chorus) while track 1 is playing. When track 1 is completed track 2 will begin without any hesitation.
As a bonus if track 2 is empty… Once track 1 is finished, track 2 will begin recording with no timing problems.
Hi John I just got an RC300. I’m trying to figure out how to midi sync it with my drum machine DR880 so the 880 starts when pressing rec/play but no luck so far. Have you tried syncing yours with something?
Hey Mark, I haven’t sync’d anything to my RC300 yet so I can’t help you with that one.
Hey John,
I just wanted to thank you for the great tutorial on assigning the EXP-1 pedal to control the overall volume. Very helpful!! I just bought a couple of those units to loop in sync with one of my songwriting pals when we gig. I don’t want to bother you with a bunch of questions but I had one specific one regarding disabling the loop FX pedal and using is for an “Undo” instead. I’ve got as far as getting it assigned to Undo but it still applies the effect as well.
Hi Ian
Easy! (I hope)
1. Press the SYSTEM button
2. Press the right arrow (located to the right of the MEMORY/VALUE dial) you should now see…
Sys: LOOP FX Pd1
FX ON/OFF + ASGN
3. Rotate the MEMORY/VALUE dial to the right. It will now read…
Sys: LOOP FX Pd1
ASSIGN
That should do it!
Let me know if it works.
Hi
Thanks for the tutorial on switch / volume assignment on the 300, it was very helpful. I’m wondering if you know of any way to
quickly/easily clear ALL tracks? I would be happy with a 2 second push of 1 pedal to clear all 3 tracks and then get on to the next song.
What I do now is bend down and turn that knob, or if it’s 2 tracks clear them with the pedals. But it takes too much time!
Any thoughts? It seems ‘clear all’ escaped Boss on this device.
Best
Tim
Hey Tim
You’re right, boss does not have a “clear all” feature on the rc300.
I think I would use an external duel switch pedal such as the boss FS6 and set one to inc memory and the other to dec memory.
Now you could instantly do what you are doing with the knob without using you hands.
For the moment that’s all I can come up with.
Best,
John
Just wat to use the rc 300 in a very simple way for a start cause i need to work right away with it.
The exp1 pedal is not responding so i would like to have it for my input instrument plz.
Hey Eddy,
I’m in Vegas today away from my RC300 so I can’t give you the exact steps however, page 23 of your manual should be where to look for the answer.
Each memory number has it’s own pedal assign (1-8)parameters.
Find the assign parameters for the exp1 and set it to control you input volume.
If you are still having troubles let me know and I’ll create a “Step by step how to…” For you once I return tonight.
Cheers, John G
ok i think ill be able to go with that …ill check your video carefully again and the page 23 …the fact is that i am french so i ave little trouble to understand each expression used ..ill be back to say if i am ok in a couple days.
Great, let me know how it works ok.
Ok i found out about the input volume assignment.
My next question is about what you explained in your video.
You record the drumbeat on the track 3 . Then u can start it from the track 3 switch but it just starts the drum it hasnt been recorded cause if i turn off the rhythm switch thats flashing i dont have the beat playing from the track 3 anymore.
So you dont record the drum on the track 3 you kind of assign a way to start it with your feet right? if i use this way andi record some guitar chords on track one i end up with drum and guitars on track one.
Very helpful videos John! Here’s a question I have: when you save a “patch” in the memory, say number 10, does it save all your system settings, and effect settings, too? I want to be able to set up a few templates and use a pedal to scroll through them while playing live. I’d especially like to have one template for Single Track mode and another for multi. Is this possible or do you have to reach down and turn knobs?
Oh, here’s one more: In single mode, can you record a 2 bar loop on one track and an 8 bar track on another? Like if you want to lay down a 2 bar rhythm on one track and have it play under an 8 bar track of a chord progression. Thanks for your help!
Hey Steve, to answer your question, yes & yes!
Each patch or memory # stores a unique set of saved settings.
Also, one track can be a different measure length than another. I don’t have my manual in front of me but there is a setting that allows you to do this.
Hi John,
great work, thanks for all your help…
I use the RC300 for wind instruments so run it with a microphone into the xlr input. Do you know please, am I able to run an external effects pedal into the RC300 in a ‘Pre’, like for example my very powerful DD7 Delay pedal? Because I am using a mic-xlr I can’t just plug the pedal in prior to the loop station in the same way if I was using a guitar and 1/4 inch jack… of course I could just use an unbalanced cannon to jack lead from the mic into the DD7 and then into the RC300, but this quality loss seems a shame…
i.e. does the RC300 have an effects loop input?
thanks again, regards
Unfortunately, the RC300 does not having an effects loop. However, the reverb and the onboard effects on the RC300 are pretty good.
I just had a question from someone asking what the chord progression was for the RC50 Rock Ballad. So here it is…
Here’s a some what easy way to play the chords on the guitar for the RC-50 Rock Ballad…
The idea is to voice the top notes E then F then G to F as the highest note of the chord.
However there are a lot of other ways the play them.
Key of A minor ( the “/” indicates how many beats each chord is held for)
Am7 / / / / Fmaj7 / / / / Dm7 / / / / Bm7b5 / / E7#9 / E7b9 /
-0—————0————–1—————–1————3———1–
-1—————1————–1—————–3————3———0–
-0—————2————–2—————–1————1———1–
-2—————3————–0—————–3————0———0–
-0————————————————2————2————
—————————————————————0————
Cheers, John G.
Hi! Thanx for a nice page and helpful videos! One question tho: Starting the drum beat with a “free track” is a nice feature, but how to STOP only the drums while playing is the big question. Because if I play, and stop track 3(the “free track” that I used to turn on the drums) the drums will continue because track 1 and/or 2 is still playing. Is there a way to turn the drum beat on and and off as you please? Maybe it’s possible to assign beats to a track, and only to that track? If there is no way for this I’m really hoping for an update that make this possible
Hi Thomas, You are absolutely right. There is no way to turn the drums on and off with you foot. Let’s all send Roland an email to have this feature. It would be great to assign a rhythm track on/off command to an external pedal. This was something I was able to do with my old RC50.
Hi John,
Great information and you’re a good guy to take time out. Thanks!
One question: Why did boss leave out the basic cowbell in their rhythm setup. I use my RC with a drummer in an electronic trio and the drum loops just confuse things. For years I used Digitech and the cowbell cut thru for him flawlessly. Now he complains and loses time all the time, because he can’t hear the drum loop clearly as he plays…any way to get just a cowbell out of Boss for out of the bedroom and into the real world?
take care…
Hi Andre,
Unfortunately the RC50 and RC 300 loops are as is and they can not be edited. It’s too bad as it would be amazing if we could create custom drum rhythm patterns. Let’s all let Roland / Boss know as they are very interested in our thoughts for future looping products.
John, you’re truly an amazing player and have a great site. Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge!
I can’t find a way to limit the Loop FX to only the live input. In other words, I want to use the Loop FX on my guitar (which is routed via the instrument input) while I play live over a track. However, I don’t want the recorded track(s) or other live inputs (auxiliary and microphone) to be effected by the Loop FX. For example, having the distortion effect ONLY on my guitar and nothing else. This is especially important to me during live performance, as I want my vocals and recorded tracks unprocessed by the FX while I’m playing my guitar. I hope this is clear? I’ve looked through the manual and can’t seem to find a workout for this, but it seems like such a fundamental requirement that should be available. Anything that you could do to help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
Unfortunately you are correct, as you can only apply the effects to all the inputs on the RC300.
Thanks! Unbelievable, isn’t it?
Well, I have a workaround for when I only need to loop on two tracks. I just assign the Loop FX to Track 3, record an empty track to the proper duration (number of measures) and they play live over it. However this really limits the functional usage.
If you can think of a better way, please let me know.
Thanks again,
Hi, thanks to this page for giving some input on 2 of my first concerns as an rc 300 user of the last 2 weeks. it confirms rc-300′s two biggest flaws and what everyone including myself seem to search for instinctively right out of the gate. the ability to turn the drums on & off independantly with a foot pedal and ability to have independant control of effects on individual tracks. all the best.