Great for acoustic rhythm back up!

[silvercn]

I just unboxed the Boss DR O1S Rhythm Partner yesterday and it's near exactly the right "drum box" for acoustic solo performers. Can't wait to try it at a gig. Loads of options for drums and organic percussion. Highly programmable and hands free options with a Boss double footswitch. One of the best features is being able to program a fade down to off of each rhythm preset by footswitch ; nothing worse than a rhythm / beat just abruptly stopping..... hope to hear from other users and urge soloists to consider it.

[lovgren]

I've considered it, but I think it sounds rather fake. Like rhythm patterns on a cheap Casio synthesizer from the 80's. I can see it for practicing at home in place of a metronome, but at a gig?

I own a Beat Buddy and I rarely use it. But if I were to use something at a gig, that would be it. Sounds more realistic to me, has programmable parts of songs (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.) Push a button anywhere within a measure and it figures it out - change song sections, insert realistic and perfectly timed fills, and end-of-measure stops.

A drum machine is just too much for me to deal with live, but if I were to use one it would be a Beat Buddy.

[tippy5]

Tap your foot loudly and spank the bridge with your palm if you really want percussion.

[capefisherman]

Originally Posted by silvercn

I just unboxed the Boss DR O1S Rhythm Partner yesterday and it's near exactly the right "drum box" for acoustic solo performers. Can't wait to try it at a gig. Loads of options for drums and organic percussion. Highly programmable and hands free options with a Boss double footswitch. One of the best features is being able to program a fade down to off of each rhythm preset by footswitch ; nothing worse than a rhythm / beat just abruptly stopping..... hope to hear from other users and urge soloists to consider it.

Love mine, have been using it (sparingly - don't overdo it - keep the volume back a bit) for about six months at my regular cafe gig. Anyone who says it sounds fake has NOT heard it through a good quality amp or PA. The low percussion sounds, congas/cajon/bass drum, are especially "organic" sounding for lack of better description. I use mine on about 1/3 of the tunes in my 2-hour shows and always get a positive response from listeners, which often include other musicians. As you said, the fade function is great. Unfortunately it does NOT work with "favorites" that you program yourself, only pre-sets but there are many, many of those that can be tweaked. Off to use it this morning in a little while!
Gene

[silvercn]

I agree that it should not be overused and my same plan was to use it sparingly for certain songs of my set list but not all. Any drum machine has an element of "fakeness" with some sounds like hand-clapping or other overly simulated sounds. I had the Beat Buddy mini for a while and for me it was just not conducive enough for an acoustic solo gig and lacked the more organic, as you say "low" percussion sounds as in the Boss. Capefisherman, I am not sure why you are thinking the Boss cannot do self-programmed favorites..I have been building my list - and able to entirely build my patterns from scratch, then designate which of the 50 Favorite slots I want it to be...etc.