Digital Recording Studio Welcome
Congratulations on your purchase of the BOSS BR-600. This TurboStart contains step-by-step instructions that will quickly introduce you to the BR-600s major features.

BR-600

TurboStart
To Change to a Different Kit
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Make sure the PAD button isnt lit. Press RHYTHM ON/OFF button so its lit. Press PATTERN so its lit. Press RHYTHM EDIT. Cursor to "KIT," and then press ENTER. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial to change drum kits.
Listening to the Demo Song
Heres how to load and listen to the demo song: 1. Press the PAD button until its not lit. 2. Press UTILITY. 2. Cursor to SEL, and then press ENTER. 3. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial until you see 01:Lydia. 4. Press ENTER. 5. After the song loads, press PLAY, and then use the faders to raise and lower the individual track levels.
Recording with the Built-In Microphones
The BR-600 has two built-in microphones that allow you to record without external microphones. Use the following steps to record using the built-in microphones: 1. Press the MIC buttonTracks 1 and 2 blink red. 2. Turn up the MIC 1 knob until your input signal causes the peak light to occasionally light. 3. Cursor down so that youre seeing signal on the input meter. 4. Turn up the REC LEVEL knob until you se the INPUT level reaching just slightly over -6 db. 5. Press REC, and then PLAY to begin recording. 6. When youre finished recording, press STOP. Note: To listen back, press ZERO to return to the beginning of song, raise the faders for Track 1 and 2, and press PLAY.

Creating a New Song

To create a new song of your own, use the following steps; 1. Press the PAD button until its not lit. 2. Press UTILITY. 3. Cursor to "NEW,' and then press ENTER. 4. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial to select HiFi(MT2). 5. Press ENTER. 6. When you see Are You Sure? press ENTER.
Applying Loop Effects Playing the Built-In Drum Patterns
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Press the PAD button until its not lit. Press ARRANGE. Turn up the RHYTHM fader as well as the MASTER Fader. Press PLAY. Press EXIT. 1. 2. 3. 4. Press the PAD button until it isnt lit. Press PAN/EQ/LOOP FX. Cursor to "REV," and then press ENTER. To apply reverb to the signal you want to record, cursor to In Send: and turn the TIME/VALUE dial to increase or decrease the amount of reverb you hear added to the input signal. To apply reverb to an already-recorded signal, press the button under the track its recorded on, and then turn the TIME/VALUE dial to increase or decrease the amount of reverb you hear added to that tracks sound.
Note: When the RHYTHM ON/OFF button is lit, the rhythm arrangement plays whenever the song plays.

Using the Drum Pads

A unique feature of the BR-600 is its velocitysensitive drum pads. To hear them, use the following steps: 1. Press the PAD button until its lit. 2. Raise the RHYTHM and MASTER faders. 3. Tap the drum pads to hear their sounds.
Note: The instructions for applying Chorus or Delay are identical except in Step 3, where you should cursor to CHO/DLY instead of REV.

TBS 247

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Page 1
Digital Recording Studio Applying COSM Effects
To insert a COSM Guitar Amp effect on the guitar input: 1. Press the PAD button so its not lit. 2. Press the EFFECTS button. 3. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial to select P02: HiGainLd. 4. Press EXIT/NO to return to the main screen.
Transferring Tracks to a Computer
The BR-600 can convert any track data into WAV or AIFF format, and save them to your computer. Once on your computer, you can use CD-burning software to create an audio CD, or import the files into your favorite audio editing program, or DAW. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect a USB cable from your computer to the BR-600. Confirm that PAD isnt lit, and then press UTILITY. Cursor to "USB," and then press ENTER. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial until "EXPORT" is displayed, and then press ENTER. Use the CURSOR keys to select the type of file you want to create: WAV or AIFF. Press ENTER. Turn the TIME/VALUE dial to select the track and virtual track from which you want to make a WAV or AIFF file.

Note: If you want to make a WAV or AIFF file from a stereo pair of tracks, turn the TIME/VALUE dial past Track 8 so the BR-600 offers pairs of tracks for selection. 8. Press ENTER once your selection is made, and a connection to your computer is established. 9. If youre using: a Windows XP/2000 computera drive titled "BOSS_BR-600" appears in your My Computer window. a MacA removable storage drive titled "BOSS_BR-600" appears on the desktop. 10. Double-click the drive to open it. Open the ROLAND folder that appears, and then open the USB folder to find your WAV or AIFF files. 11. Drag theWAV/AIFF file from the USB folder to a location on your computer such as its desktop.

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Workshop

BR-600 Digital Recorder

Using the Built-in Rhythm
2007 BOSS Corporation U.S. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of BOSS Corporation U.S.

BR600WS02

About the Workshop Booklets
The BOSS BR-600 Digital Recorder packs an incredible amount of recording power into an amazingly small, portable package. With its eight playback tracksand 64 V-Tracksbuilt-in effects, and onboard drum machine, the BR-600 is truly a studio-to-go. It even has a built-in stereo microphone and can be battery-operated so you can capture new music wherever and whenever. Each BR-600 Workshop Series booklet focuses on one BR-600 topic, and is intended as a companion to the BR-600 Owners Manual.

Hot Links

Each Workshop booklet is meant to be read in order from beginning to end. However, if we mention an upcoming sectionand you see this arrowyou can click the arrow to jump there immediately.

Getting Started

The BR-600s rhythm acts as an onboard drummer thats always playing along with your song. Its integrally connected to the eight audio tracks, so you never have to worry about synchronizationwhenever you press the PLAY button, the rhythm always starts with the audio; when you press STOP, both the rhythm and audio stop together. (Of course, if you dont want to use the rhythm in a particular song, you can always turn it off.)

About This Booklet

The BR-600s rhythm function is a full-featured drum machine with 12 velocity-sensitive pads and 14 different drum kits. There are hundreds of built-in patterns in many musical styles, and you can create your own patterns as well. Using rhythm arrangements, you can play patterns in sequential order to add the perfect backing to your songs. In this workshop, well cover BR-600 rhythm basics such as selecting patterns and drum kits and playing sounds with the pads. Well also show you how to create your own patterns and rhythm arrangements.
Understanding the Symbols in This Booklet
Throughout this booklet, youll come across information that deserves special attentionthats the reason its labeled with one of the following symbols.
A note is something that adds information about the topic at hand.
Before we begin learning about the rhythm, lets clear the slate and create a new song. Its best to set up the desired rhythm and tempo first so youll have something to play along with when you start recording the songs audio. To create a new song:
Press PAD so its not lit. Press UTILITY. Use the CURSOR buttons to select [NEW], and then press ENTER. Use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the recording type. Press ENTER. When Are you sure? is displayed, press ENTER again to complete the new song process.
A tip offers suggestions for using the feature being discussed.
Warnings contain important information that can help you avoid possible damage to your equipment, your data, or yourself.
As we move forward, youll need to monitor the sound of the BR-600, either with a speaker system or headphones. To learn how to make the proper connections, see the BR-600 Owners Manual.
About the BR-600s Home Screens
The BR-600 has two top-level home screens. These are the screens youll always be coming back to after performing operations on the BR-600s various other screens. You can return to the home screens from any other screen by pressing EXIT one or more times.
Labels To display the Level Meters screen from the Play screen, press the 6 CURSOR button. To return to the Play screen from the Level Meters screen, press the 5 CURSOR button.

The Play Screen

The Play screen is the screen thats displayed when you first power up the BR-600. It shows the current song positionin both measure/beat/clock units and time (including frames)and the tempo of the rhythm. Song position (measure/beat/clock) Tempo

Key Rhythm Elements

Lets go over the BR-600s main rhythm elements.
Drum kitsA drum kit is a group of drum sounds that are used by the
rhythm. The BR-600 contains nine different preset drum kits that cover a variety of musical styles. Additionally, you can create up to five custom drum kits per song. These song drum kits can use any of the drum sounds in the preset kits, WAV or AIFF files imported from a computer via USB, or audio thats been recorded in a BR-600 audio track.
Song position (hours/minutes/seconds/frames)
Drum padsThe drum pads allow you to play sounds
in the currently selected drum kit, either for pattern creation or live playing. There are 12 pads, and each triggers a different sound in the kit. The pads are velocity sensitive, so they respond to your playing dynamics. If desired, you can set them to play sounds at a fixed velocity instead. When youre not using them to play drum sounds, the drum pads act as selection buttons for various BR-600 functions. Use the PAD button to toggle between this functionality. (When PAD is lit, the drum pads play drum sounds. When its not lit, the drum pads act as buttons.)
In the measure/beat/clock display, clocks are subdivisions of the beats. Similarly, in the time display, frames are subdivisions of the seconds. These subdivisions allow you to view and set the current song position in extremely fine resolution. On the Play screen, you can move the song position and adjust the rhythms tempo using the CURSOR buttons and the TIME/VALUE dial.

The Level Meters Screen

The Level Meters screen displays the levels of various audio signals in the BR-600: inputs, audio tracks, the rhythm, and the left and right master levels. The individual audio signal levels are shown above the corresponding labels on the display panel.
PatternsA pattern is a drum performance thats one or
more measures in length. You can have a single pattern play over and over along with your song, or you can string two or more patterns together to create a rhythm arrangement. The BR-600 provides 327 preset patterns, as well as 100 patterns in each song in which you can create and store your own custom drum patterns. 3
Some musicians refer to drum patterns as beats.
Working with Drum Kits Selecting a Drum Kit
ArrangementsAn arrangement is a series of steps that
tell BR-600 patterns to play in a particular order. There are 50 preset arrangements and five song arrangements. Preset arrangements utilize the preset patterns, while song arrangements are created by you using any combination of preset or song patterns. By creating an arrangement, you can add a sophisticated drum backing (with beat variations and fills) that perfectly matches your song.

Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press RHYTHM ON/OFF so its indicator lights. Press PATTERN so its indicator lights. Press RHYTHM EDIT to display the Pattern Edit screen. Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [KIT], and then press ENTER.
RHYTHM faderThe RHYTHM fader in the TRACK MIXER
controls the volume of the rhythm in relation to the audio tracks. Adjust it as necessary to create the proper balance for your song. Setting the RHYTHM faders level near the dark band (as shown) is a good starting point.
Turning the Rhythm On and Off
With playback stopped, you can turn the rhythm on and off using the RHYTHM ON/OFF button.
Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under the leftmost character, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired drum kit group: P for preset or S for song.
Press STOP to stop playback. Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press the Rhythm ON/OFF button to toggle its setting. Song drum kits are empty until you load them with sounds. If you select one of these empty kits, you wont hear any sound when you play the pads. For our purposes here, you should select the preset drum kit group.
Off Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under the drum kit number, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired drum kit.
In lieu of turning the rhythm off, you can simply turn it down with the RHYTHM fader instead.
You can audition the selected drum kit using the drum pads (press PAD so it lights, and then strike the pads). Well discuss the pads in detail in the next section.
When youre done, press EXIT twice to return to the home screens. 4

About Song Drum Kits

As we mentioned earlier, the BR-600 provides five different song drum kits with each song. If you cant find a preset drum kit you like, you can create your own custom kit in a song drum kit. When you first create a new BR-600 song, the song drum kits are empty. If you want to use them, youll need to manually load sounds into them. Creating song drum kits is beyond the scope of this workshop. To learn how to create them, please refer to the chapter Creating Original Drum Kits (Tone Load) in the BR-600 Owners Manual.

When you create a song drum kit, youre free to assign any sound you want to any drum pad; as such, the sounds you assign dont have to correspond to the label on the pad.
If needed, adjust the drum sounds volume with the RHYTHM fader.
Adjusting the Pads Sensitivity to Playing Dynamics
You can easily adjust how the pads respond to your playing dynamics. There are four different settings available:

Using the Pads

Before playing drum sounds, make sure the MASTER volume is set to a comfortable listening level. If youre in doubt, turn down the MASTER fader all the way, and slowly raise it to the desired level while playing the drum sounds.
HEAVYis for a heavy playing touch. MIDis for an average playing touch. LIGHTis for a light playing touch. FIXsets the drum sounds to play at a fixed level, no matter how hard
you strike the pads. To adjust the pads sensitivity:
Playing Drum Sounds with the Pads

PAD Button

Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press UTILITY to display the Utility screen (on this screen, UTIL is shown in the upper left-hand corner of the display). Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [SYS], and then press ENTER. Use the CURSOR buttons to display Pad Sens.

Drum pads

Press the PAD button so it lights. Strike the drum pads to play sounds in the current drum kit. The bottom part of each pad is labeled with the drum sound it will play in a preset drum kit.
Use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired setting: HEAVY, MID, LIGHT, or FIX. To try out the selected setting, press PAD so it lights, and then strike the pads. When youre done, press EXIT twice to return to the home screens.
This pad plays a snare sound
Applying Reverb to the Drum Sounds
The BR-600 provides two different loop effects that can be used on the input signal, the audio tracks, and the rhythm. The loop effects settings are shared by all of these audio sources, but you can choose how much (if any) of a loop effect is applied to each. This is accomplished by adjusting an effects send level from each source. One of the loop effects is a reverb effect. Reverb is useful for adding ambience to the sound, and you may want to use it on the drum sounds to add a sense of space and realism to them. Heres how:
If you cant hear much change in sound as you adjust the send levelor if you dont hear any reverb at allyou might need to adjust the overall volume of the reverb effect. Well show you how next.
When youre done, press EXIT twice to return to the home screens.
Adjusting the Reverbs Overall Sound
The reverb effect has settings that allow you to tailor its sound to best suit your song.
Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press PAN/EQ/LOOP FX to display the PAN/EQ/LOOP FX screen. Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [REV], and then press ENTER. Press PAD so its button lights. (This allows you to play the drum pads so you can listen to the sound as you adjust the reverb effect.) To adjust the reverb sound, use the cursor buttons to display the following screens, and use the TIME/VALUE dial to adjust the settings:

Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press PAN/EQ/LOOP FX to display the PAN/EQ/LOOP FX screen.
Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [REV], and then press ENTER. Use the CURSOR buttons to display Rhy Send.
TypeThis sets the type of reverb. HALL simulates the ambience
of a large concert hall, while ROOM simulates the ambience of a smaller space like a studio or a living room.
Rev TimeThis determines the spaciousness of the reverb effect
Alternately, you can immediately jump to the rhythm send by pressing TAP TEMPO.
(larger settings equal more spaciousness).
ToneAdjusts the brightness of the reverb effect. E.LevelAdjusts the overall level of the reverb effect.
Press PAD so its button lights. (This allows you to play the drum pads so you can listen to the sound as you adjust the rhythm send.) Use the TIME/VALUE dial to adjust the amount of reverb thats applied to the drum sounds (higher values will apply more reverb). Play the pads to listen to the sound difference as youre adjusting the send level.
When youre done making settings, press EXIT twice to return to the home screens.
The BR-600s other loop effect can be used to add chorus or delay to any sound, including the rhythm. To learn more about the loop effects, see Using Effects in the BR-600 Owners Manual.
Working with Patterns About the Preset Patterns
The BR-600s 327 preset patterns cover a wide range of musical genres. To view a list of the preset patterns, refer to the Appendices in the BR-600 Owners Manual. The preset patterns are organized into musical styles, with descriptive names such as ROCK4, POP2, JAZZ1, and so on. Furthermore, each style has a number of related pattern variations that are designed for intros, verses, choruses, fills, etc. For example, the ROCK1 patterns have a number of variations, as shown in the following table. Pattern # Name
P001 P002 P003 P004 P005 P006 ROCK1IN ROCK1V1 ROCK1F1 ROCK1V2 ROCK1F2 ROCK1E
Selecting Preset Patterns
Press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press PATTERN to display the PATTERN screen.

Pattern group

Pattern number
Use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under the pattern group, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select P. Use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under the pattern number, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired pattern. Press the ZERO button to move the time locator to the start of the song. (This ensures that the pattern will play from its beginning.) Press PLAY to start the selected pattern playing. Adjust the MASTER and RHYTHM faders as necessary to set the desired volume. While a pattern is playing, you can use the TIME/VALUE dial to select other patterns. When selected this way, a pattern is cued up, and will start playing when the currently playing pattern reaches its end. Once youve found a pattern you like, press EXIT to return to the home screens.

Description and Suggested Use
Song introduction. (Most IN patterns begin with a count-in.) A basic pattern, good for verses. A short pattern with a drum fill, good for a transition to another song section. A subtle variation of P002, good for a second verse or a chorus. An alternate fill pattern. A short pattern with a distinct stop, good for ending a song.
Controlling Pattern Playback
Starting and Stopping a Pattern
Now that youve got a pattern selected, you can start and stop it simply by using the BR-600s transport buttons. Since the transport buttons control the audio tracks, too, the pattern gives you a rhythmic guide to play along with while recording a song.
These pattern variations come in handy when you wish to organize patterns to play in sequential order as an arrangement. (Well discuss creating an arrangement in a little while.)
If youre going to use a single preset pattern for the duration of your song, youll probably want to choose one with V1 or V2 at the end of its name.

Setting the Tempo

The rhythms current tempo is always shown in the upper right hand corner of the BR-600s Play screen.
Step recordinglets you enter drum sounds one-by-one while looking
at a note grid on the display. Step recording is most useful when you wish to create intricate or rigidly-timed patterns that would be hard to play in real time.
Selecting a Song Pattern for Recording
Stop playback and press PAD so its indicator goes out. Press RHYTHM ON/OFF so its indicator lights. Press PATTERN so its indicator lights. Press RHYTHM EDIT. The Rhythm Edit screen is displayed. Use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under the pattern group, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select S.
You can set the tempo anywhere from 25 to 250 beats per minuteor BPMwith a resolution as fine as one-tenth of a BPM. To set the patterns tempo on the Play screen, use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under the desired digit, and then use the TIME/ VALUE dial to set the desired value. An alternate way you can set the tempo is by repeatedly pressingor tappingthe TAP TEMPO button. This allows you to easily set the tempo by tapping a beat with your finger. The tempo is determined by the interval between your taps. Its important to remember that adjusting the tempo only affects the speed of the rhythm, and not any recorded audio tracks. As such, it makes sense to decide on the desired tempo before you start recording any audio your in song, so your music will always be in time with the rhythm.

Use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under the pattern number, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired song pattern.
In a new song, the 100 song patterns are empty, and each has EMPTY in its name (EMPTY001, EMPTY002, etc.). After you create a pattern, you can give it a more descriptive name in another step. Well show you how in a bit. Okay, now that youve selected a pattern, you can choose a recording method and start recording.
Creating Your Own Patterns
If you cant find a preset pattern that you like, you can create your own. These custom patterns are called song patterns, and you can create up to 100 of them per song. Song patterns can be created two different ways.
Realtime recordingallows you to play the pads and record drum
sounds in real time while listening to a metronome. This is probably the easiest and most intuitive way to create drum patterns.

Realtime Recording

On the Rhythm Edit screen, use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under [REAL], and then press ENTER. The Recording Standby screen appears, the REC button flashes, and the metronome starts playing. (If you cant hear the metronome, make sure the RHYTHM fader is turned up.) The ding of the metronome indicates the first beat of each measure, while the clicks indicate all other beats.
Press the REC button. After a one-measure count-in, recording starts. During recording, the pattern loops continuously over its length (per the measures value set in Step 2). Now, play the drum pads to record drum sounds in the pattern. During recording, you may want to access the following functions:
Erasing drum soundsIf you wish to erase a drum sound that
youve recorded, press and hold the DELETE/MUTE button, and then press the desired drum pad (or pads). The corresponding drum sounds are erased for as long as the drum pad is pressed.
Use the CURSOR buttons and the TIME/VALUE dial to make settings for pattern recording. Measures Tempo

Time signature

TempoIf the tempo is too fast or too slow, you can adjust it at
Quantize any time during recording.
MeasuresThis setting determines the number of measures in
your pattern. Patterns can be anywhere from 1-999 measures in length.
QuantizeYou can also adjust quantize settings at any time

during recording.

Metronome levelYou can adjust the metronomes level in
relation to the drum sounds in the pattern. Repeatedly press the 4 CURSOR button to place the onscreen cursor under the Click value, and then use TIME/VALUE to adjust the level to the desired setting: 0-3. (Setting the level to 0 silences the metronome.)
TempoSet the tempo to any speed thats most comfortable for

you to record your pattern. You can also set the tempo by tapping the TAP TEMPO button.
Time signatureThe time signature determines how many
beats are in each measure, and the note value of each beat. The default is 4/4, but there are many other time signatures available.
After youre done recording all the sounds you want in your pattern, press STOP.

Step Recording

QuantizeWhile youre recording your pattern, the drum
sounds you play are automatically adjusted to the nearest note value indicated by the quantize setting. This ensures that your patterns drum sounds will play in time, even if you strike the pads a little off-time. The default quantize setting is a sixteenth note, but you can adjust it to arrive at the most appropriate setting for recording your pattern.
Choose a pattern for recording using the procedures described in Selecting a Song Pattern for Recording. On the Rhythm Edit screen, use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under [STEP], and then press ENTER. The Recording Standby screen appears. As described in Step 2 of Realtime Recording, make the desired measure, tempo, and time signature settings. (Dont worry about the quantize setting for now; well adjust it in a minute.) 9
Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [REC], and then press ENTER. The Pattern screen is displayed, and the pattern is ready to accept step entry. The following illustration shows the various components of the Pattern screen: Beat Measure Quantize Clock Sound
Once a drum sound is entered on the grid, you can fine-tune its velocity with Fader 1. When the fader is moved, the current velocity (V001-V127) is briefly shown in the upper right-hand corner of the display. Use the procedures described in Steps 5-8 to enter, delete, or edit the velocity of additional drum sounds in the pattern. If you wish to hear the pattern play as youre entering drum sounds, press the PLAY button. To adjust the tempo of pattern playback, tap the TAP TEMPO button. To stop playback, press STOP. When youre done entering drum sounds, press EXIT.

Note grid

To choose the desired note value for step entry, move the onscreen cursor under the quantize value, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired note value. The onscreen note grid adjusts to reflect the new setting. To choose the drum sound that you wish to record, move the onscreen cursor under the drum sound in the upper right hand corner, and then use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired sound. Now, move the onscreen cursor to the note grid on the lower portion of the display, and move the cursor under the desired grid position. The measure, beat, and/or clock values will update to show the current position.

You can mix-and-match recording styles while recording a pattern. For example, you might want to set up the basic beat with step recording, and then switch to realtime recording to play some fills over the top.

Naming a Pattern

Using the procedure described in Selecting a Pattern for Recording, select a song pattern that youve recorded. On the Rhythm Edit screen, use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under [NAME], and then press ENTER. Use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial to name the pattern. When youre done, press EXIT.

Erasing a Pattern

In this example, C. HH (closed hi-hat) is selected as the drum sound, the note grid is set to sixteeth notes, and the first grid position is selected with the cursor (as indicated by the circle).
On the Rhythm Edit screen, use the CURSOR buttons to move the onscreen cursor under [ERASE], and then press ENTER. Use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the song pattern you want to erase. Press ENTER. Are you sure? is displayed. To complete the erase procedure, press ENTER again. If you decide that you dont want to erase the pattern, press EXIT instead.
To enter the selected drum sound at the grid position, turn the TIME/ VALUE dial. You can enter the sound at one of four different settings: off, low velocity, medium velocity, or high velocity. The grid position shows the current setting:

Medium

High 10

Copying a Pattern

You can copy any preset or song pattern into any song pattern location. This allows you to use an already-created pattern as the starting point for a new pattern.
About the Preset Arrangements
The 5o preset arrangements utilize the BR-600s preset patterns. Most play through all the pattern variations in a particular pattern style, and then repeat a single pattern over and over. You can use preset arrangements for your own songs, or they can be copied into song arrangements and used as starting points for creating new arrangements. To view a list of the preset arrangements, refer to the Appendices in the BR-600 Owners Manual.
On the Rhythm Edit screen, use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial to select the pattern you wish to copy. Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [COPY], and then press ENTER. Use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the song pattern youd like to copy the preset pattern to.

About Song Arrangements

Each song has five different song arrangements into which you can create sequences of preset and/or song patterns. Having five arrangements available gives you to the ability to try out different pattern sequences with your song.
Copying one pattern to another pattern location overwrites any data thats in the destination pattern. Before proceeding, make sure that you want to overwrite the data in the destination pattern. Or, better yet, simply select an empty pattern instead. 4

Press ENTER. Are you sure? is displayed. To complete the copy procedure, press ENTER again. If you decide that you dont want to copy the pattern, press EXIT instead.

Selecting an Arrangement

With playback stopped, press PAD so its indicator isnt lit. Press RHYTHM ON/OFF so its indicator lights. Press ARRANGE so its indicator lights.
Importing a Standard MIDI File into a Pattern
If youve got drum patterns in Standard MIDI File (SMF) format stored on a personal computer, you can import them into BR-600 patterns via a USB connection. To learn how to import SMFsand do a lot more things using USBsee the chapter Using USB in the BR-600 Owners Manual.

Arrangements

An arrangement tells the BR-600 to play patterns in a particular order. You can create an arrangement at the beginning of the song process, and then play along with it as you record audio tracks in your song. Or, if you record your songs audio tracks in reference to one of the BR-600s patterns, you can go back after the fact and create the arrangement at the end of the process. The key is to record in time with the BR-600s rhythm; as long as you do that, youre free to experiment with rhythm arrangements at any point in the song process.
Use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial to select the desired preset or song arrangement.
When a new song is created, all the song arrangements are (almost) empty. An empty arrangement plays Preset Pattern P314a metronome patternat 120 BPM.
Press EXIT to return to the home screens.
Controlling Arrangement Playback
Starting and Stopping an Arrangement
Like pattern playback, arrangement playback is controlled using the BR-600s transport controls.
If you wish to create a song arrangement with tempo changes, you need to create it before recording any audio tracks. That way, you can record your audio tracks while following the arrangements tempo changes. Each song arrangement can contain up to 50 steps. During playback, the steps play in sequential order, with the last step repeating until playback is stopped. To give you an illustration of how steps are organized in a song arrangement, lets take a look at the steps in Preset Arrangement P01:ROCK1. Step #

To start and stop the arrangementuse the

PLAY and STOP buttons.

To jump to the start of the arrangementpress the ZERO

button.

To move to a specific point in the arrangementuse
the REW and FF buttons. (Alternately, you can use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial on the Play screen.)

Pattern #/Name

P001:ROCK1IN P002:ROCK1V1 P003:ROCK1F1 P004:ROCK1V2 P005:ROCK1F2 P004:ROCK1V2 P006:ROCK1-E P327:BREAK P002:ROCK1-V1

Starting Measure

Temporarily Adjusting the Tempo
Unlike patterns, each arrangement has its own tempo setting. (In fact, an arrangement can contain multiple tempos.) When you select an arrangement, itll play at its stored tempo. If you wish to temporarily override the arrangements tempo, you can adjust the tempo on the Play screen or tap in the desired tempo with the TAP TEMPO button. If you want to make a permanent tempo adjustment, youll need to create or edit a song arrangement, as discussed next.
Creating Your Own Arrangement
When you create a song arrangement, youre actually creating a series of steps. Each step contains:
As you can see, there are nine separate steps in this arrangement, and most play the different ROCK1 pattern variations. The tempo at each step is 130 BPM, so the arrangement will play at a consistent tempo throughout. Now, lets create a song arrangement from scratch.
a pattern numberThis is the pattern that plays at the selected step. a starting measureThis is the measure that the steps pattern begins
playing at. Once it starts, the pattern will play continuously until the next steps starting measure. If the step is the last step in the arrangement, the steps pattern will play continuously until the arrangement is stopped.
With playback stopped, press PAD so its indicator isnt lit. Press RHYTHM ON/OFF so its indicator lights, and then press ARRANGE so its indicator lights. Press RHYTHM EDIT. Use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial to select an empty song arrangement.
a tempoThis is the tempo that the steps pattern plays at. Normally,
youd leave this at the same setting throughout a song. However, if you wish to introduce tempo changes in your song, you can do it here.
Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [STEP], and then press ENTER to display the following screen: Starting measure Time signature Step Pattern number
play the pattern in the current steppress PLAY. When another
arrangement step is selected during playback, the currently playing pattern will continue playing to the end of the measure, and then playback will switch to the current steps pattern. To stop playback, press STOP. When youre done, press EXIT to return to the home screens.

Note the tempoIf you use a pattern as the rhythm reference while
recording audio tracks, make a note of the tempo setting so you can enter it in the first step of your arrangement.
Count-inIf you wish to have a count-in at the beginning of your
song, use one of the metronome patterns (P295-P326) as the pattern assigned to the first step in your arrangement.
Follow Steps 1-3 in Naming an Arrangement. Use the CURSOR buttons and TIME/VALUE dial to select the song arrangement you wish to copy. Use the CURSOR buttons to place the onscreen cursor under [COPY], and then press ENTER. Use the TIME/VALUE dial to select the destination song arrangement.
Silence at the end of your arrangementThe last step in a song
arrangement plays continuously until playback is stopped, which is fine if your song fades out. However, if you want silence at the end of your song, use Preset Pattern P327:BREAK as the pattern assigned to the last arrangement step; this is a pattern that has no sounds playing in it. (As its name suggests, P327:BREAK also works great when you want the drums to stop, or break, in the middle of your song.)
Copying an arrangement to another arrangement location overwrites any data thats in the destination arrangement. Before proceeding, make sure that you want to overwrite the data in the destination arrangement, or select an empty arrangement instead. 5

The End

We hope youve found this workshop helpful. Keep an eye out for other BR-600 Workshop booklets available for downloading at www.BOSSUS.com and www.RolandUS.com.
Press ENTER. Are you sure? is displayed. To complete the copy procedure, press ENTER again. If you decide that you dont want to copy the arrangement, press EXIT instead.

Rhythm Strategies

Here are a few tips to keep in mind while working with patterns and rhythm arrangements.
If you plan on using rhythm with your songmake sure you set up a
pattern or song arrangement and play along with it while recording your audio tracks. If you dont record to a rhythm, youll find it extremely difficult (if not impossible) to add the BR-600s rhythm later and get it to play in time with your audio tracks.
You dont need to create or complete a song arrangement right awayAs
long as you record your audio in reference to a pattern, a preset arrangement, or a simplified song arrangement, you can always go back after the audio tracks have been recorded and create or complete an arrangement. 14