Boss Micro BR new user - effects confusion

[The Angus]

Hi guys,
I just bought a secondhand Micro BR, mainly for jamming over backing tracks etc. I have a Boss BR 600 from years ago (Hi 64Guitars! ), but I moved towards DAWS).

I'm confused with the COSM guitar effects. I can turn Effects On or Off, but there is only one setting for that, not different ones for each effect, so if I wanted to experiment with the Phaser and Compressor together, I don't know how that works. I expected that each effect, along with it's other settings like LEVEL, SUSTAIN, ATTACK or whatever would (like with a physical pedal) have an On/Off switch. Where am I going wrong?

Many thanks in advance.   

[cuthbert]

Take a look here: https://static.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/MICRO-BR_OM.pdf

You want to check Section 3, Using Effects. Select EDT in the menu, and  then use the Track number buttons on the Micro BR to change the individual effects, or turn them on/off.

[The Angus]

That's my point. I've read the manual.

I select FX with the Track 4 button, which takes me to Effects ON/OFF, after that you get the various effects with their various parameters, none of which include an ON/OFF switch, although the manual implies this parameter is included with each effect.

I'm clearly not understanding something here, but I can't see the answer in the manual (or on youtube).

[64Guitars]

When you press the EFFECTS button in the lower-left of the Micro BR and select the desired patch, the display will show the algorithm of that patch.

COSM GTR AMP   >
|AMP|SP |NS |FX

In the example above, the algorithm is "COSM GTR AMP" which includes the following effects (see page 66 in the Micro BR manual):

–[AMP]–[SP]–[NS]–[FX]–[DLY]=

[AMP] is the Preamp effect.
[SP] is the Speaker Simulator effect.
[NS] is the Noise Suppressor effect.
[FX] is the modulation effect which can be set to any one of Compressor, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, or Tremolo/Pan.
[DLY] is the Delay effect.

The COSM GTR AMP algorithm has 5 items but the Micro BR's display can only show 4 at a time. To see the last item (DLY), press the cursor right button (the '>' in the display indicates that there are more parameters to the right). To edit an item in the algorithm, press the corresponding "TR" button. Then use the cursor buttons to scroll through the parameters of that effect, and the VALUE -/+ buttons to change the value. The first parameter of each effect is the On/Off setting for that effect. To disable the effect, press the VALUE - button. Or press VALUE + to enable the effect. Effects that are disabled are shown in lowercase letters and effects that are enabled are shown in uppercase.

The FX (modulation) effect is a special case. To use the CHORUS effect, for example, you would press TR4 to edit the FX effect and set its On/Off parameter to On. Then cursor right to the "Type" effect and set it to Chorus.

I'm confused with the COSM guitar effects. I can turn Effects On or Off, but there is only one setting for that, not different ones for each effect, so if I wanted to experiment with the Phaser and Compressor together, I don't know how that works.

You can't use the Phaser and the Compressor at the same time because they are both part of the FX (modulation) effect. The "Type" parameter of the FX effect can be set to "Phaser" or to "Compressor", but not to both. The only way you could use both on the same track is to first record with one of the FX effects, then later bounce that track through the other FX effect.

[The Angus]

Thanks 64, you won't remember because you help so many people, but you helped me quite a bit 10 years or so back, when I was trying to get to grips with the BR-600, (was it on the yahoo.groups?)

I was probably being thick, but from the manual I got the impression that you could basically make a virtual pedal board for yourself and experiment away to your hearts content. It's not a problem, my go to sound isn't very complex. Thanks again for clearing that up for me.  :-)

[64Guitars]

Thanks 64, you won't remember because you help so many people, but you helped me quite a bit 10 years or so back, when I was trying to get to grips with the BR-600, (was it on the yahoo.groups?)

Hi Angus. If I recall correctly, you were a fellow Amiga fan?  Do you still have your BR-600?

I was probably being thick, but from the manual I got the impression that you could basically make a virtual pedal board for yourself and experiment away to your hearts content. It's not a problem, my go to sound isn't very complex. Thanks again for clearing that up for me.  :-)

An algorithm is basically a virtual pedal board. That is, it's a set of effects connected in a certain order. However, you can't create your own algorithms and you can't edit the existing ones. You can only choose which of the included 3 algorithms you want to base your patch on. But within an algorithm (pedal board) you can change any parameter of any effect or disable one or more of the effects in the algorithm.

It's the same with the BR-600 and all of the other BRs except that they have more effects and more algorithms to choose from. For example, the BR-600 has 16 algorithms to choose from, and the COSM GTR AMP algorithm has 8 effects versus the Micro BR's 5.

[COMP]–[PAMP]–[SP]–[EQ/WAH]–[NS]–[FV]–[MOD]=[DLY]=

The compressor is a separate effect instead of being part of the MOD effect. So you could use the phaser and the compressor at the same time in the BR-600, but you couldn't use the phaser and tremolo/pan at the same time because they are both part of the MOD effect, along with flanger, chorus, pitch shifter, doubling, and slow attack. Like the Micro BR and all of the other BRs, you can only use one modulation effect at a time.

[The Angus]

Hi Angus. If I recall correctly, you were a fellow Amiga fan?  Do you still have your BR-600?

Wow! Yes, that's me. :-) Still have my Amiga, still have my BR-600, just upgraded the firmware when I did the Micro BR's, in fact. I hope you have been keeping well, over the years.

Like the Micro BR and all of the other BRs, you can only use one modulation effect at a time.

Thanks very much for the explanation. It may be me, but I'm sure the manual is a bit confusing on the issue.