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RE: New Member - Buying Advice and Opinions Sought



I assume the Boss Loop Station you have is like mine, and therefore has the
Autostart setting available.  This will reduce 50% of your loop error
potential right off the bat if you are starting from silence.  Select
Autostart; set the level to the point where a well-played note (but not an
accidental click or handling noise) will begin the loop.  Then all you have
to do is end on time, and it's much easier to hit the '1' following several
measures of playing than it is to start dead on.

Another technique:  if you are going to lay a rhythm guitar pattern down as
the bed, play it a couple times before hitting the loop.  If you have any
discrepancy in your tempo between your starting point and the end of the
phrase, you can usually be rid of it after a go-round or two.  Using
autostart, simply play the guitar pattern, stop for a four beat rest while
stepping on the record pedal, then begin on '1'.

I have no experience recording with included clicks and drum rhythms, so
this advice may be useless to you if this is your mode.

dave 



Subject: RE: New Member - Buying Advice and Opinions Sought

Thank you all for your advice.  I really appreciated it.

I had it down to the following three --

A) Boomerang with 2-channel Mixer -- not feasible, as the footprint and
extra setup for a mixer would detract from what I need it to do in the way 
I
need it to work (get up on stage, set up, go quickly)

B) Digitech JamMan - looked great, but realistically when live could only
record one phrase at a time (otherwise would have to stop and save)

C)  Boss Loop Station - expensive and finicky, with a large number of
complaints registered online, and even a known "glitch" that bothers some
people regarding a playback gap.

In the end, I went with the Boss Loop Station, due mostly to the links
provided by members here, and their comments.  In the scant hour I've spent
messing with it, I've already been able to do two tunes that I couldn't do
solo (tough to do a 3-part harmony/bodhran song by yourself -- without a
looping station, that is).

Now to practice!

(yegods, laying down that first track so it repeats nicely, in a timely
regular fashion, is an ART!  ... It took me awhile to figure out that the
tempo light switched red on the FIRST beat ... My brain keeps insisting 
that
red must be on the FOURTH beat for some reason?!)

If anybody wishes to pass me the links/references on "looping for newbies 
--
how to lay an initial decent rhythm track in under 20 minutes!" then feel
free to e-mail me privately (so as not to spam the list with my newbie
stuff).

Thank you all again for the advice.  I appreciate it.