Cons: If you’re primarily interested in a looper for live use, the compact size will present difficulties – unless you buy an external footswitch to make it more hands-free. All of this is great for practicing in addition to creative purposes. I’ve written a guide before on how to play along with drums, and I think that’ll help you with this. Watch the volume though because it can actually be quite loud. If you press the footswitch with the drums on, it would record your loop, but you can choose to turn the drums on and off. I’ll cover changing the tempo and drum kits next. 7) How to Change the Tempo on the Boss RC-5

As is the custom, you can connect the Loop Station via the USB-B port to a PC or Mac to save or record loops. Otherwise, the RC-5 has only one other port, to which you can connect an unfortunately not included power supply. With 57 preset rhythms and seven different drum kits, the RC-5 is ready to elevate loop and practice sessions with inspiring grooves for any style. For each rhythm, A/B variations can be selected from the panel or controlled via MIDI while performing. The RC-5’s looper engine also includes a cool reverse function that’s great for infusing your music with fresh sonic colours. Capture, Practice &Perform Pros: The Boss RC-5 Loop Station has excellent sound quality, tons of recording time, plenty of features and a streamlined interface. It took me a minute to figure out how to work the auto-record feature. Turns out that my guitar just wasn’t loud enough for the pedal to process the signal. They could overheat, stink, or maybe not work at all. In worst-case scenarios, they might even start a fire. BOSS, of course, recommends using their PSA-series adapter to avoid any power issues, however, I haven’t run into any issues yet using one from Dunlop.

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How the battery goes in your Loop Station. It’s surprising how pedal manufacturers haven’t figured out a better way to connect their batteries yet. If you’re in the process of crafting a tone, putting a looper at the very beginning of your chain (directly connected to your guitar) is a great way to modify the rest of your pedalboard while having a constant reference melody/riff. 2) How to Power the Loop Station Thanks to the inclusion of BOSS's best-in-class 32-bit AD/DA and 32-bit floating-point processing, this pedal manages to capture your own personal sound the way you want it to be heard. Add to this a whole host of drum kit rhythms, external control options, and even a full MIDI I/O, and you have a compact-size loop pedal that will serve you well both on stage and in the studio. BOSS RC-5 Loop Station Technical Specs BOSS' RC-5has been designed with only the best circuity and components available - meaning virtually zero sonic compromises.Featuring best-in-class 32-bit AD/DA and 32-bit floating-point processing, the RC-5captures your personal sound with full fidelity and keeps loops crystal-clear -even with multiple overdubs. And with 13 hours of stereo recording time, there’s plenty of space for extended and immersive musical journeys! Window to Your World

With the fourth small (memory) button you can modify the settings for a recorded loop, among other things. Straight 1/4-inch connectors, 5 ft./1.5 m length. Also available in 10 ft./3 m (BIC-10), 15 ft./4.5 m (BIC-15), and 20 ft./6 m (BIC-20) lengths. View Product As expected from a brand like Boss, the drum machine sounds great. One aspect we liked about it is that the individual patterns are not fixed to a certain drum kit, but that the choice is completely up to you. On top, the device allows you to activate or deactivate certain parts of the rhythm pattern, and the drum machine is able to put in drum fills when switching from one rhythm variation to another. All together these features make a huge number of rhythm variations possible and make the whole composition sound more natural. The Handling This awesome pedal features 99 phrase memories, 57 rhythms, and even MIDI control support, making it the most advanced BOSS Compact looper to date. BOSS RC-5 Loop Station Highlights

A compact looper with expansive features, does this justify upgrading from your RC-1?

This way, you can practice your loop to the rhythm, and then hit the footswitch again to start recording. That helps me catch the downbeats more accurately, so my loop always stays in time, and I can record a full phrase with no issues. The Boss RC-3 was a great pedal for guitarists with a more casual interest in looping. It had plenty of features under the hood, but it was pretty limited when it came to live use. Now I’m not going to say that the RC-5 can compete with the bigger units for live playing, but if you’re looking for a stompbox-sized looper that actually has some potential for live use it’s hard to beat. A cool feature that not a lot of people know about too is that you can tap the tempo button according to the BPM that you want to set it at. For instance, if you tap the button at 120 BPM, the RC-5 Loop station will set the BPM to 120. A lot of people think the overdubbing feature is one of the cooler things about loop stations. You can layer multiple loops on top of each other to create complex soundscapes and textures.

We believe the Boss RC-5 to be an excellent device for beginners who are looking for a Loop Station with an integrated drum machine. The signal processing of the device is state of the art with 32 bits and the sound of the drum machine is great for a device of this price class. The 99 memory slots should be sufficient for most users, and for a beginner, the 13 hours of recording time should be more than enough.If you’re new to looping in general, it’s important to get the beat right. Count to yourself, practice your rhythm for a while, and make sure to tap the footswitch on the beat, or else your loop might sound a bit off. This is an important tip, so I’ll share it with you. Power supply with a 9 V battery or a 9 V DC power adapter (not included - suitable power supply: Art. 409939) If you plug in an adapter while the unit is operating on battery, it will restart and switch to AC power. Turning the unit ON is as easy as plugging a cable into Output A. The RC-5 will power up and the LED screen will light up in white. It’s ready to start at that point. By pressing the knob, you can change the incremental values and use fractions like 100.5 BPM. The LED will blink to reflect your changes. The new tempo will now be applied to all of your loops and samples. 8) How to Change Drum Loops on the Boss RC-5 For a better understanding of music theory, Punkademic’s Comprehensive Complete is what I always recommend via the All-Access Pass. Actually understanding basic rudiments and harmony will help your creativity big-time. 9) How To Store Many Loops and Samples on the RC-5

TRS/MIDI connecting cable: BMIDI-5-35, BMIDI-1-35, BMIDI-2-35, BCC-1-3535, BCC-2-3535 Size and Weight Width 73 mm The user manual provided by Boss is more of a cheat sheet than a real manual, but despite being quite short it covers all the important features of the device, which is a great testament to how easy is it to use the RC-5. But a more detailed reference manual is available, in case you want to know all the details about how the device works. Conclusion The RC-5 provides players a wealth of sonic possibilities, all without having to take hands off the guitar. Here are five powerful tips. Read more… Controls: MEMORY/LOOP LEVEL knob, MEMORY button, SETUP button, RHYTHM ON/OFF button, RHYTHM TEMPO button, Pedal switch

Even though it's nothing unusual for a device of this size, it might take some time to get used to the fact that this Loop Station turns itself off and on automatically. As the device has no power switch, it starts or shuts down when you plug or unplug something at output A (provided it is powered with electricity ;) ). MIDI Connections You can rotate it and enter all the different menus for adjusting your rhythm, which includes ‘Reverb’, ‘Pattern’, ‘Variation’, ‘Kit’, and a few more like ‘Variation Change’, ‘Beat’, and ‘Start’.