Using Ableton and the Boss RC-50 Loop Station

Recently, I received this question posted on one of my YouTube videos. 
"I was checking out your rc-50 video where you had it connected to your computer through what seemed to be a little black box? and it was running ableton live i believe. what exactly are the things you are running and hows it working out for you? Im asking because I have my RC-50 loaded with about maybe 2hrs worth of music, but im running out of room to put more music on there for longer sets and i thought about intergrating my computer in with it, but i dont know how it works."

Here's my "professional" response.....


"Ok, what I wanted was a backing "band", (like Band in a Box), that I could sync up with the RC-50.    What I wanted to do was use the RC-50 pedals for control, so I could start sections, tracks, whatever, and then record live loops into the RC-50 while still having everything synced together.   Ideally, I envisioned something like Band in a Box on the PC, synced to the RC-50, and that would be my "performance / backup band".

The problem I had with Band in a Box, (hereafter BIAB), is that it did NOT do MIDI sync.   So, I looked around for a "sequencer" that I could easily edit backing tracks in, and still sync to the RC-50.   I tried one or two, and the only one I found that would work correctly was Ableton live.   So, here's my set up.

I run Ableton on my PC.   I MIDI sync the PC to the RC-50 through a MidiMan USB-2-MIDI interface.   Ableton allows me to assign MIDI events to any function in Ableton.  So, for example, I can assign the MIDI CC output from the RC-50 pedal to a specific start / stop of a track in Ableton.   That gives me good control using the RC-50 pedals to run my sequencer, (Ableton), and everything stays in sync.

Now, the only problem I still have is, Ableton is NOT an "easy" tool for creating cool backing tracks.  It will do ANYTHING.  BUT, it is somewhat complex.   So, what I do instead is, I use BIAB, (or more recently I purchase MIDI backing tracks online), and import them via MIDI into Ableton.   Then, I tweak them in Ableton using Ab's MIDI instruments, etc, and get a sound I like.   Then, I assign them to tracks, etc, to create the tune I want.   Now, I have the entire package.  Once I have the backing system set up in Ableton, and synced to the RC-50, I can do jam.  I can kick off a track in Ableton, (using the RC-50 pedals), and record guitar loops over the top of it.  I can also switch between programs, etc, on the RC-50, and have Ableton follow along.

It's not perfect, and I'm still figuring it all out.  (Sometimes I have to record an empty track on the RC-50, just to get things started the way I like.  Basically, I burn one of the three loop tracks, and just use the other two...)  But, it's the most comprehensive thing I've found so far.   "

Rhythm Guitar - Some Gospel Rhythm and Blues

This ain't outta yer daddy's hymnal, that's fer sure.....

Just a boy and his guitar, (... and harmonica, and BR600 with the included drum kit....)

Why do you think they call it "Rock and Roll" anyways???

Chord Substitutions - Using them in composition and improvisation

This is the second post in my ongoing series on Soloing, Improvising, and Composing.   This is a long post, so follow the link below to get to the complete document, including song tabs, and other links.

In the first installment of this series, you recall we were challenged to begin with a song, or at least a chord progression. Once we have our basic song in mind, we can now move on to the real creative process. Or, to state it a bit more hep, "we gonna mess with it, and lay down some mojo."

One of the first steps I always follow when creating is to try out chord substitutions. Substituting alternate chords for those in the base progression will yield new harmonies that will point to new melodies and ideas. (I won't promise you that you will always like them! But, it will open up ideas, and let your ears be your guide.)

Chord substitution involves playing extensions, inversions, or totally different chords in place of the basic chord in a progression. (Look out!!! Here comes some theory!!) Here's the basic concept: Take a simple Cmaj7 chord. It is composed of these notes: C, E, G, B. Take a close look at those notes. If you start on the E, and build a triad using the same notes from the C chord, you get E, G, B.  Recognize that? That is an Em chord! What that means is, the Cmaj7 chord, (the root chord in the C scale), contains an Em chord "inside". This means you can substitute an Em chord for a C chord in tunes written in C, and it will usually sound "ok".  It will definitely sound different, because your putting a minor in place of a major sound.  But, none of the notes are "wrong", or chromatic. 
This process can be extended to other chords in a given scale. In general, the following substitutions will work.

• I = iii = vi  (The I chord, aka the "root", can be substituted with a minor 3rd, (the iii), or the minor 6th, (the vi), which is the relative minor to the scale.....)
• IV = ii   (The minor 2nd chord can be substituted for the major 4th in a given scale)
• V = vii   (The 7 chord can be substituted for the dominant 7th (the V7) chord)

In Walked Slim - A Chord Melody

Sometimes, tunes just fall out.

I was experimenting with some triads, and attempting some extensions. Adding some flat or sharped 5ths, 9ths, 11-ses.... that kind o' thing. Along the way I came up with this little chord melody. So, I put it down for posterity. Here, I'll go over the basics of the tune, and details on recording, etc.

This tune is a "chordal melody", and these are fun to create on accoustic guitar!! (Head over to MusicDispatch for books on Chord Melodies, Chord Libraries, etc.) It's in A, and/or Am. It's in 3/4 time at the start, (a waltz!!), and switches to 4/4 for the swing part. (When Slim walks in.....) If you look closely at the beginning of the tune, you'll see me doing some "interesting" A chords. The first is some kind of inverted A5, followed by an inverted A7add6, moving to a boring ol' D. This was the "invention" that started everything off.

From there, I got this melody in my head that I wanted to follow. Basically, what I did was, pick out the notes of the melody, (focusing on the B and E strings), and then fill in chords on top of the melody notes with whatever sounded "cool". I really wanted to stay away from the major chord sounds here, so I focused on filling in with minor 6ths, minor7thflat5ths, etc., etc. I've discovered that, if you know the chord shapes, you can select one that has the melody note where you want it, and then listen to see if it works. This is where it pays to have a big vocabulary of chords to pick from. So again, the process was

• Create the melody on the high strings
• Fill in above the melody note with a chord from your chord vocabulary

Once I had the basic tune(s) in my head, I moved on to finishing the song form. This is where I like to fire up my Band In The Box (BIAB) program. Using BIAB, I wrote down the chords for the backing track. BIAB is great for doing this as you can just select a style, and write out the chords, and it does the rest. I find BIAB is EXTREMELY useful for "finishing" a composition. For example, in this case, I had a couple of melodies, etc., in mind. However, it wasn't until I tried to set them down in BIAB that I "discovered" the true form of the song I was writing. For example, if you listen carefully, you'll note there is a measure of 4/4 right in the middle of the 3/4 waltz. I had been playing it that way to make the melody work. However, I didn't fully understand it until I attempted to tell BIAB how to "back me up". That's what I mean by "finishing" a composition.

Band In The Box is VERY intuitive, but it's not always perfect. (What software ever is??!?!) One area I had trouble with was changing tempos and meters on specific bars. BIAB has a very intuitive utility for doing this, but I've found it doesn't always work like you want it to. For example, in the 3/4 waltz, there is that one bar that has 4 counts. What I tried at first, which didn't work, was to create a 4/4 bar on that measure, and then switch back to 3/4 on the next measure. What I had to do instead was, ADD a measure of a single (1) beat between two 3/4 measures, and that worked. I had some similar trouble when switching over to the 4/4 swing section in the middle. I had originally set the entire song style as a waltz (3/4), and then attempted to switch over to a 4/4 swing where I wanted to. That did NOT work. What I had to do instead was, set the style of the ENTIRE song as 4/4, and then set the bars I wanted to be 3/4. I don't understand why it wouldn't work the other way, (which seems more intuitive to me), but it wouldn't. By setting the base style of the song as 3/4, (a waltz), BIAB could NOT figure out how to handle the 4/4 bars when I switched into them. However, starting as a 4/4, and switching into 3/4, (and back again), DID work.

Once I had a backing track built in BIAB, I used a few tricks to bring it to life. For example, I turned off everything but the drums on the bars that lead into the 4/4 swing section. That sounded "cool", and more "realistic". BIAB makes that easy by adding dots, ("."), after the chords in the editor.

Now that I had a backing track, I wanted to do a recording. For this, I relied on the trusty BOSS BR-600 (again!). Step one was, I recorded my BIAB backing track via the line-in into the BR-600, on tracks 5/6. Now I flipped over to track 1 for the guitar input.

At this point, I had to spend some time picking an effect I liked. I had just put new strings on the Gretsch, and I found I was not liking everything I was hearing. The lower A and E strings REALLY resonate on that hollow body. I couldn't seem to get them balanced well with the top 4 strings. (Next up: Experimenting with unmatched string sets on the Gretsch. Stay tuned !!) Anyway, I found an effect I liked, but as you'll notice, I really struggled with overdriving it. If you listen closely, you'll hear that it's really overdriven in a few spots.

To compensate for the overdriving, I decided to add another effect to the sound AFTER I had done the initial bounce of the tracks to make the song. The BR-600 has an effect called, "Classic LP" that sounds like the song is playing on an old analog phonograph. (Retro dude!!) I set up the BR to play the output of my tune through this effect, and re-bounced the song to create the final.

And that's it! For the video, I just used Windoze Movie Maker (again), and selected a few "antiquing" effects to match the audio. I had an idea to do something really cool with the video, (so it wasn't just watching ME sit and play!!). BUT, after spending 5 hours FAILING to get some video editing programs to work, (Adobe AfterEffects, Wax 2.0, Jahshaka), I gave up. (Can anyone recommend any GOOD video editing programs???)

Enjoy!!

Student's Guitar Now GuitarPro affiliate

Folks, if you haven't checked out GuitarPro yet, then now is definitely the time! GuitarPro is THE ultimate tool for creating your own tabs and/or editing tabs you can download off the web.

I use GuitarPro all the time for writing down ideas, and what not. Not only does it help me store my musics for later retrieval, but it gives me an awesome tool for working out kinks and nits in my ideas. ("Hey, I need a bar of 2/4 right there....") As another idea, I have used GuitarPro to create the score for a song (using the tab editor), then exported it to MIDI for import into Ableton (my DAW). Bingo! I have a fast, intuitive way of creating a melody, for subsequent editing and final work up in my DAW. Quite powerful.

Check out GuitarPro 6!

Fretboard Mastery

I can not stress enough the importance of KNOWING the fretboard. It is absolutely essential for soloing and improvising. But it will also benefit even the most novice player by helping him understand how to build chords all over the neck, and by giving him confidence when playing the guitar.

Fretboard logic, or fretboard mastery is the concept of understanding how the fretboard is laid out end to end, and across all six strings. It is the concept of seeing any note on the fretboard, and immediately knowing where every other note is in relation to it. Imagine how much easier playing could be if, when seeing your finger holding a root note on the guitar, you immediately knew where to find the 3rd, 5th, 7th, b3rd, #5th, 4th, and/or any other note of the scale. It should be easy to see how this would help with soloing AND with chord creation across the fretboard.

There are some great books out there that will teach you fretboard mastery. Here are a couple available from MusicDispatch that I recommend. (You might want to right-click the links, and open in a new tab. The links will take you to the product page.)

Guitar Fretboard Workbook

I have used this one extensively, and have even bought a few extras for family and friends. This MI press book is laid out like a workbook with exercises, and places for you to fill in your answers. Bring your pencils to class!

Guitar Fretboard Mastery

This book looks to be another in the Grimoire series. Although I haven't tried any of the Grimoire books myself yet, I'm thinking this might be my first one to try! Looks very useful.

Ok, that's it for this installment. Now get out there, and master that fretboard!

My Favorite iPhone Guitar Apps

Here is a list of my top guitar apps for the iPhone.  I have downloaded many others, but these I've found to be the most useful.  I can honestly say I use the "toolkits" from Agile Partners daily.  And, Beatmaker is just a blast to practice with.  ("DJ Master Student, in da house !!"  *ahem*)

Anyway, clicking on the iTunes link next to the app name will take you to iTunes where you can learn all about the app, and buy one fo' yo' ownself!

• Guitar Toolkit
• 
  Tab Toolkit
• 
  Chordmaster
• 
  Guitarist Ref
• 
  BeatMaker