I thought I’d break down how I use the Boss RC-10R looper and some of the key jobs it does in my setup. I’ve had it for a number of years, and initially I was using it as a practice tool just doing some basic loops with a rhythm to jam with. But this year it’s found a permanent spot on my acoustic pedalboard for my duo Ever The Villain. We are myself on acoustic guitar and backing vocals with my friend Ben on keys and lead vocals.
I use it in a few key ways:
Metronome when working on new songs
Single track looper
Rhythm backing for full songs (Drum Machine)
Rhythm backing and loop for full songs
Playback for soundcheck at the venue
The Setup
The full acoustic pedalboard setup
The Essential Accessory
Boss FS-6 for advanced looper control
Just off to the side of the pedalboard above I use a Boss FS-6 to expand control and make looping and operation a lot easier. I’ve configured each switch to do different things depending on what the job the looper is set to do.
I am a big fan of the FS-6 for this job as it has nice big buttons to hit, which is great when playing live and doing vocals. Add to that the fact it’s not on the pedalboard means the board can be smaller, and I can place the FS-6 exactly where it’s easiest to hit while performing, not cramped up somewhere inconvenient on the board. There is a downside however, and that is that it needs a 9v battery to work, it would be nice if it could operate without one, but alas.
The great thing about the RC-10R is that you can configure the CTL1 and CTL2 functions to be memory slot specific, so you can tailor the functions to the way you’re using the pedal.
Presets Selection
Disaster Area Designs DMC.micro PRO for easy access to presets on the RC-10R
One big issue with the RC-10R is that you can’t name the Phrase Memories, you’re required to remember based on the memory slot number and little else (it’s a shame that they hadn’t developed the screen and OS features used on the SY-200 when the RC-10 came out as it’s far superior). I was having to write notes mapping memory locations to songs, and what made it worse is that I was having to bend down and turn the rotary dial to select the correct one for the song I was about to perform.
The solution, the Disaster Area Designs DMC.micro Pro. This small 2 button midi controller can not only scroll through the memory slots on the RC-10R, but you can name presets on the DMC and have them in any order you like, all with a great web based UI. I have a few of the utility presets from below (e.g. sound check, click, looper) then an alphabetical list of our songs that require the use of the RC-10R. This means all I have to do is make sure the DMC shows the name of the song we’re about to play and I know that the looper is all configured and ready to go.
Into the PA
I have the Walrus Audio Canvas Stereo at the end of my chain and this allows me to go DI into the mixing desk without needing to rely on what is available in-house. It also makes for faster and simpler setup when needed.
I have a few output modes that I run depending on the venue:
Stereo out with guitar left and drums to the right outputs. This allows for the sound engineer to mix levels and pan as needed. With this setup the drums are in mono, but that’s not a huge issue most of the time.
Stereo out with guitar and drums coming out both outputs. With this configuration the drums are mixed stereo (the RC-10R decides where the drums are in the stereo field) and the guitar/loop is centre. This is great when there isn’t a FOH engineer and so I control the mix from the pedal.
Mono out with guitar and drums all on the same XLR out. I only use this if we have limited XLR inputs for the mixing desk.
The Use Cases
The Metronome
It sounds pretty boring, but this has helped us immeasurably when it comes to working on new songs in rehearsal. This band is the first time I’ve played with other people and not had a drummer, so initially we were having trouble keeping time. This was especially true for some of our more sparse tracks.
I set the Genre of the rhythm pattern to Guide and then the pattern to the time signature we need (note, this resets the tempo). I have the footswitch setup for tap temp so we can alter the tempo on the fly while we’re workshopping a track, or if we already know the tempo we’re aiming for I just set it directly on the pedal.
Sync Switch is set to Off as I never use the looper side of the pedal in this config.
Footswitch setup:
Ctl 1 = Rhythm Stop
Ctl 2 = Tap Tempo
The Single Track Looper
There are some songs where I just need a simple looper. Since one button loopers can be tricky to control live I’ve moved the double tap and long press functionality to the FS-6 so I can do everything with a single tap. I don’t use the 2nd track of the looper at all in this setup.
Sync Switch is set to Off as I never use the rhythm side of the pedal in this config. Additionally it doesn’t really matter what I set the rhythm kit or pattern to here.
Footswitch setup:
Ctl 1 = Looper Stop
Ctl 2 = Trk1 UnRedo
The Drum Machine
I don’t always need to loop anything, so for this mode I just focus on the drum side of the RC-10R. I have a drum kit and rhythm pattern loaded up that is specific for the song I’m playing.
We have a track where Ben starts singing, then I come in, then the rhythm track needs to come in. We can’t guarantee that we’re playing the pre programmed tempo by the time the rhythm track has to come in, so I have it setup that I can tap in the tempo we’re actually playing with Ctrl 2 just before starting the drum machine and it makes for a more seamless transition.
Sync Switch is set to Off as I never use the looper side of the pedal in this config.
Footswitch setup:
Ctl 1 = Rhythm Stop
Ctl 2 = Target Track or Tap Tempo
The Backing Track and Looper
This is the RC-10R doing what it does best, being a drum machine and looper all at the same time.
Sync Switch is set to On as I need both sides of the pedal in sync.
Footswitch setup:
Ctl 1 = Looper Stop
Ctl 2 = Target Track
The Roadie
This is a very specific use case, but I find it handy to be able to run the acoustic guitar and drums though the PA for some parts of soundcheck and not have to physically play my guitar. I have pre saved the guitar loop in the memory location so it’s ready to go. I find this super helpful at rehearsal also where we are setting everything up ourselves.
Sync Switch is set to On as I need both sides of the pedal in sync.
Footswitch setup:
Ctl 1 = Looper Stop
Ctl 2 = Target Track
Tips
Custom Midi Drums
Setup the RC-10R as an external midi device and connect the midi out of your audio interface to the midi in on the looper and the audio out of the looper back into your interface, that way you can program your drums in your DAW while listening back to the actual drum sounds from the looper.
The Midi Note Number and Rhythm Kit Map can be found on the Boss site on the last page of the Midi Implementation Guide. This details the note number mapping for every sound on each of the 16 drum kits.
Setup markers in your DAW session for INTRO, PTN1, FILL1, PTN2, FILL2, and OUTRO, it makes it much easier to deal with. Also, don’t forget the 1 bar limits on INTRO and the fills.
There is an issue using midi files exported from Pro Tools where the 1st beat of each section is missing when importing to the Rhythm Converter. I found this on macOS 12.3.1 and Pro Tools 2022.6, I’m not sure if this is an issue beyond my setup. However, if you import the midi file into Logic Pro X and then re export without making any changes, the newly exported midi file will work as expected when imported into Rhythm Converter.
Connectivity
To get the most out of the RC-10R you are going to want easy access to the micro USB port and the midi in port. If, like me, your looper isn’t on the left edge of your pedalboard then you are going to want to leave some room to access these ports. I have set my adjacent pedal just far enough away that I can get the midi jack out and get another one in (I use the Boss midi cables which have right angles).
You can buy right (or left) angled micro USB to USB-A adaptors which make it easier to plug things in. One gotcha with these adaptors though is that there is no standard for what direction right-angled is, so different manufactures call them right-angled, but have them facing the opposite way. You want one that extrudes from the right side of the plug when plugged in to the looper so it doesn’t hit the midi plug next to it. I bought this one.
I hope that was of interest, if there are any questions hit me up on Instagram @_lukejmusic or if you want to work with me on the soundtrack to your next project shoot me a message via the contact page.