I bought a Beat Buddy with the additional foot switch some time ago and finally have time to start the long journey trying to master this thing. It took me awhile to get to it as I was building a decent pedal board to get some diverse tones from my acoustic, LP, and Strat.
I’ve watched many YouTube vids the last couple of days trying to grasp what I’m getting into and where to start. Additionally, I’m a one man band so getting a looper involved…to me, is absolutely necessary.
Unfortunately, I figured out the hard way that no matter how hard I tried, I could not get my beats and loops to time correctly…ever. I found out why (I have a Boss RC-3) watching vids all night…basically I need a better looper. The Aeros looks attractive…maybe the wife will hook me up at XMAS. Anyways, I did figure out today that I can record beats from the BB on the looper and then overdub everything on to a couple of bars, and at least get stated with a looper and the BB.
Other than digging around in the BB default content menus, I haven’t gotten very far. I did download the manager tonight. Any other suggestions to keep me rocking in new and exciting ways? I see huge potential here!
Hello, Erik, and welcome to the community.
Get the Aeros if you can. I’ve had the Boss RC-300, The Headrush Looperboard, and I now use the Aeros together with BeatBuddy and MidiMaestro. It is the most versatile solution, especially if you loop multiple song parts (verse, chorus bridge etc). Lets hope your wife reads this post!
The Aeros looks great to me since they’re designed to work together. I really like the way Singular Sound designed their products with upgrades in mind for the future. Other companies not so much…GoPros come to mind. You always have to buy a new camera to get the latest greatest.
What does the Maestro add to your rig?
I’m happy to report I was able to upgrade the firmware and the V2.1 default content the first time. I really like the how to docs and vids for these products as well!
The Aeros is the central unit of my rig. It receives midi signals from the BB, and share the tempo information with the guitar effect pedal (useful when you want effects like delay to match song bpm). It receives stereo audio signal from three sources: the BB, the voice effect pedal and the guitar effect pedal, and records guitar and voice, usually in stereo loops. The BB drums (connected to Aeros aux ins) are not recorded, but blends with loops and ins to main out and aux out. With the internal click track set to aux out, I always have the tempo in my inears (connected to Aux out through a tiny headphone amplifier), even when I mute the BB. Aeros main outs goes to PA, without clicktrack, of course.
I never had a Boss RC-3 but I would advise selling it and putting the money towards the Aeros. As a new one-man band myself, I’d say getting the Maestro is critical also.
The Aeros & BB are more obvious as to “why” but the maestro becomes more obvious once you start trying to do songs. One solid example…if you download a song file that has 10 drums parts at least half are likely to be repeated. With the BB manager, you can cut out the duplicate parts and then all your drum loops are available in one view on the Maestro. At that point, you’ve got full control over the song. Without it, you’re forced to push forward with the beatbuddy through each part of the song, then what if you mess up once? No thank you. It’s enough to put all this together as it is and I’m for anything that helps me push the buttons less and focusing on the playing.
Another huge lesson I’ve learned already is this…Think in bigger loops. For example, if a song has the following form --> Intro, V1, Pre-CH, CH, V2, Pre-CH, CH, Solo, Double Chorus Out. That’s 9 individual song sections but only 6 are unique. My first instinct in this scenario was to use all of Aeros’ 6x6 mode. Then I realized I could cut down the amount of loops if I started to “group sections”. In the extreme example of this…I did “Imagine” all as one loop. Then I just manage the drum parts (which I cut down to 2 parts). It’s awesome. Other songs, with solo sections or changes that allow themselves to be opened up, I just do my best to group the other parts and leave the solo sections as their own part so I can “jam”.
I agree with you that the RC-3 is antiquated. However, it was a good place for me to start looping. That being said, it didn’t take long to grow out of it.
I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down. The big take away is ease with all three devices vs. the BB and Aeros only. I need to watch some vids to see this in action.
Do you have to edit every song you download? What if the song has a bass line…does that get complicated?
What does your pedal board look like? The BB is already off my board. Aeros and Maestro would be two more.
Do you have to edit every song you download? No. but using BB manager is so easy, it’s really no big deal. While I’m playing with new songs I take notes about which ones have too many parts and go in later and cut them. What if the song has a bass line…does that get complicated? So far, everything I’ve heard with a bass line is really bad and I would never use. Although, I am a bassist and nothing is going to compare with real bass.
What does your pedal board look like? My board is made of of -->
Aeros / BB / Maestro (BB as primary, Aeros as secondary)
Tech 21 FlyRig 5 (for Guitar)
Tech 21 Bass Flyrig (for Bass)
TC Helion GT-FX (for vocal processing and harmonies)
Aux footswitch for BB (set up with a crash cymbal on 1st switch and pause on the 2nd)
The BB is already off my board. Aeros and Maestro would be two more. I understand. this is why I sold all my pedals recently and decided to go full fly rig.
I’m all in on this one man band thing and will post videos in the upcoming weeks of the songs I’ve been working on. I’m currently up to about 30 songs in the Aeros and I’m finally starting to leave the recording realm and enter the practice realm.
Cool. I watched some vids and get the big picture now. Basically, lots of useful stomp options where you only have to do one stomp instead of two. I see where this is advantageous for the one man band if you really know your setup.
I’m definitely getting the Aeros. I’m sure, not too far down the line, I’ll cough up the dough for the Maestro as well.
Are you gigging right now with your rig? If so, are you finding it advantageous to have most of the material for a song pre loaded and then just play one portion of the song with your bass…and sing as well? Or, do you have a couple instruments and build the song up at the start into Aeros?
It seems like you have the ability to do both. Like have most of your song be remade material and then have one or two loop as you go type of songs to mix it up.
Thanks for sharing! This definitely helps me make buying decisions without talking to a sales person.
I’m not gigging yet but I’m getting close and that’s definitely the goal. My main thing is to sound as much like a real band as possible and I aim to make the songs sound as authentic as I can get them, like I would with a band. So far, I’m blown away and it’s super satisfying when it comes together.
I prerecord the bass and a rhythm guitar track for basically everything and I play electric guitar and sing live. That’s where it all starts. But for some songs I have an additional part or have a acoustic guitar also doing rhythm for additional depth. I don’t intend to loop live. Although, there are some places where that could be cool but I’m not there yet.
Everything is routed into my DAW as of yesterday and am ecstatic at how high the fidelity is! Next I just need to set up some good shots and start making videos, add them to my website and start getting gigs.
One other question for you. Have you had any luck with vocals and the Aeros? I’ve seen other loopers…like the higher end Boss models that will accommodate both instruments and vocals. I know the Aeros doesn’t have an XLR input, but I was wondering if somehow MIDI could play a role with vocal loops??? Played around with that at all?
I have a different take on looping as a one man band.
I am using the TC Helicon Voicelive 3 as the centerpiece of my rig midi sync’d to the BB via Yamaha MD-BT01. ( see picture). The Voicelive 3 is a great all in one solution for all my guitars both acoustic and electric as well as pitch corrected vocals lead and harmonies. It even covers bass pretty convincingly as well if you program the octaver correctly. With the 2 extra control pedals ( TC’s 6 button controller and the Airturn 6 button BT controller). I have control over all the significant looping and BB functions and it all syncs pretty well with only occasional sync issues which are mostly my fault not hitting the pedals correctly but as I said this infrequent. It was easy to set up and sounds amazing. I have used the BB for years and have hundreds of tunes programmed specifically for my performance.
I forgot to mention that I am using an iPad with Onsong which is also Bluetooth synced to the BB and Voicelive 3 via the Yamaha MD-BT01 midi doggle. Onsong also being an integral part of my rig.
The aeros doesn’t have a separate XLR Jack, but it does have two channels (nominally left and right). Nothing stops you (and I do it) from feeding a mic in to one channel and guitar into the other.
Interestingly it’s an improvement on my previous looper, a boss RC30, which did have an XLR input because that xlr input was mixed into both the left and right inputs. Which meant it was then impossible to control its level independently from the guitar.
The downside is you’ll need an additional but of kit. There’s a discussion going on in another thread right now about an appropriate mic preamp, if it’s something you want to get into.
Hi Eric!
It is with interest I read your post, as my equipment consist of the same set up, except recently I have replaced the RC-3 with the Boss with RC-300, (have not used it yet) all connected to Bos ME-50 effect pedal.
Like you, I have acoustic, LP and a Strat and love custom sounds.
Let me know what you accomplish with your set up, will you?
I have been an Onsong subscriber for at least 6-7 years now and have been singing it’s praises since the beginning. Recently, I learned about this sync option with BB but don’t really get it. Can you explain the benefits? Thanks!
After getting the TC Vox/GTR harmonizer I realized that I also need actual “back ups” not just harmonies and wondered the same as you. Like “kingofthejaffacakes” mentioned, there is another thread on this subject which mentioned the need for a mic-pre. We’ll, I have a small 4 channel Alesis mixer and it has a mic-pre so I realized I could kill two birds with one stone 1) mic-pre to integrate vocals 2) run my bass and guitar through the mixer so that I can record bass and guitar without needing to unplug and replug each. I haven’t sorted it all out yet but I have high hopes that this approach will work (and can’t imagine why it won’t). It’s on the list of things to do. Once I’ve tried it I’ll let you know.
There are several video tutorials on setting up Onsong with the BB using a Bluetooth midi doggle.
In Onsong you can set up the Airturn BT pedal to control many functions thru midi. In my set up I put together song sets in Onsong for each gig. My assignments for the Airturn 6 pedal are
Button 1 - next song
Button 2 - page down
Button 3 - start scrolling
Button 4 - BB stop
Button 5 - BB pause
Button 6 - BB start
I have the BB midi synced to the Voicelive 3 Extreme using the Yamaha MD-BT01 so when I begin looping in the VL3X the drums are in lock step to the loop. It is important that the looper in the VL3X is set to quantize so that the syncing is locked ( this is important as the VL3X have several ways that the looping can be set up “Free”. “Smart” and “Quantize” )
I have set up Onsong so that when I hit button 1 on the Airturn pedal it switches to the next song on my set list . I have the BB specifically programmed for each song in my performance catalog and midi linked to each of those songs in Onsong. When I switch songs in Onsong the BB switches as well ( there is a tutorial on how to set this up as well). With my pedal set up I have foot control over my whole performance.
The VL3X is a great all in one solution for guitars both acoustic and electric as well as an amazing vocal processor and looper.
The VL3X also has the capability to handle all your self produced and acquired backing tracks as well. I also have tunes in my sets that have self produced backing tracks with drums , bass and rhythm guitar. The VL3X handles backing tracks excellently as well as looping. I do have to say that TC Helicon has dropped the ball in not including and per their own admission are not able to include some looping midi commands even thru a firmware update that could make performance easier but I have work arounds that enable me to perform some of those functions in a live performance. Specifically getting the looper and BB to stop simultaneously. For some reason the VL3X does not have a looper stop midi command, However you can assign a looper stop command to the hit button on the VL3X so I positioned my Airturn pedal and VL3X on my pedal board so I can hit the BB stop on the Airturn and the Hit button on the VL3X simultaneously and it has worked beautifully.
