Review of Boss DR-01 acoustic rhythm machine

[capefisherman]

I decided to try one of these for a couple of reasons. First, as an add-on to my small venue performances (galleries, cafes, restaurants, private functions) and also as a practice tool for myself and with my guitar students. The fact that it was supposed to be designed specifically for use with acoustic guitar had appeal over traditional electronic drum machines. I've used for those purposes for about a month now so here are my initial impressions.

It's a nice, small unit. Easily carried with associated cables and (option, but I think, essential) Boss FX-6 dual pedal. Runs on battery or AC power, plug unit included. I have not used it with batteries so I have no idea how long they would last. Pedal requires one 9v battery. All connects to and from the unit require stereo plugs, either 1/4" or 3.5mm depending upon how you want to hook it up to an amp, PA or recording device.

There is a somewhat steep learning curve if you don't want to just go with the pre-sets but it's worth the time and effort to "fine tune" your settings. Although there is a "drum set" sound available, most of the standard sounds are more organic, congas, Cajon, bongos, shaker, tambourine, claves, etc. Each of these can be added or subtracted from each setting. Volume, tempo, variations (pre-sets), meter can all be set. There is a "favorites" function to save a function you like and number is assigned to that, up to a total of 50. Available meters are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 6/8.

The overall sound is quite good, especially in the congas and cajon settings, less so in the higher registers but still acceptable. Sounds quite good through my Carvin AG-300 and also through my Boss Katana 50 amp. As I mentioned above, if you're going to use it in performance the foot pedal is essential. One side controls the on/off function, the other adds a somewhat tinny sounding cymbal whenever pushed. There may be a way to assign other rhythm instruments to that side but I haven't figured that out yet. A nice feature is being able to program in a gradual fade when the on/off button is pushed but for some reason the fade doesn't seem to be available for "favorites", only for pre-programed functions (which can all be tweaked). This is a deficiency in the design in my opinion. Only other real complaint is that there is only one syncopated pre-set that I can find, which means for blues-type tunes you may be stuck with just that one or have to eliminate certain instruments that accent at points that would conflict with syncopation in the pre-sets. Also, it "remembers" when you add or subtract an instrument so if you don't re-engage that instrument when you go to another pre-set it won't be there. I also wish it had random fills at any point in a measure when a peddle is pushed like an old drum machine I used a long time ago..... would make it a bit less monotonous sounding.

I spent quite a few hours experimenting with settings and writing them down on my set lists, and even then they had to be tweaked a bit after some performances with the unit. It was fun though!

As a nice touch to acoustic performance it is nice, not something I would use all the time and not on every song but still a bit of frosting on the cake, so to speak. Keeping the volume down and using it subtly is the trick. In any case, at the worst it's the most fun metronome you will ever use and that certainly helps all of us avoid bad rhythmic habits!

[Kalani]

Thanks for the in-depth review! I've been looking for something to add congas/shakers to my live performances.