Practicing with the looper
I started working with my Boss RC-2 looper today, prepping for the gig at Alpine Wines. I find that it’s very effective to set up a simple 1 to 2 bar chord vamp for accompaniments. I’ve had as many as 4 layers going at once. I thought maybe it sounded a little too gimmicky, but my wife says it’s a good sound. So many layers it is, at least until I hear the recordings from the gig.Â
Ultimately I need my patch changes side by side on the RP355, just as I do for my setups with whyNow. That’ll take a little work, but I really need it. It’s way too slow to go patch by patch looking for the next one in a layer you’re building.  In the meantime, an interim strategy is to use the side by side patches I set up for different amp models. The only problem there is that every layer in a patch will have the same amp model, probably not tops for separating the layers.Â
I’m excited about this approach to solo harmonica, and I can see it’s gonna take work to make it happen on stage. I love it. I will do it.
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Richard…
I have seen many guitar players do this on stage and it sounds great… especially when it is just one or two guys playing a gig. I even saw a guy pull out a violin and do about seven to eight layers one time. Very impressive. He started out with one layer… added another and then another. Then… he backed out of the whole enchillada… one by one!
But this is a great idea that is long overdue for harp players. I would love to be able to do some looping on a stage especially if I doing a solo gig or if I am with a 2 or 3-piece band.
But, once again… how does one do it? Glad that you are approacing this concept… once again… it is LONG OVERDUE!
Big Al Robinson
How does one do it? Well, first think about what kind of harp parts would work well in layers. I like a low octave double for the bass, with an amped sound for chords, and a clean harp for the melody.
Then practice hitting the loop start and end points right on target. Sometimes it helps me to play a bar or two before I start looping. I have to remember to hit the end point right on the first beat of the next measure after the loop.
Takes practice, like any other instrument. I’m practicing now.