It’s always great to hear about what our partners are up too! Recently we heard from Richard Navarro, who is using his RC505s in a particularly ingenious way. He writes …

“I have been developing a live improvised score in conjunction with the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury for a new play called ‘Run the Beast Down’ by Titus Halder and featuring Poldark/Dark Knight actor John Hollingsworth.”

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“I am using two Boss RC505’s, but for this project – rather than chaining them together via MIDI – I am taking the line out of one loop station and feeding it as an input into the next. This means that I can trigger various banks of samples from the first loop station (which I am essentially using as a sampler) – and capture then in new loops on the next. Having the two going at once has also allowed me extra inputs, of course, and allows me to manipulate the FX and levels very easily on stage.”

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“I am following a script, sometimes adding live violin, synths, concrete SFX, vocals (sung and speech) as well as handbells, trumpets and beats via a sample pad. I also run a Novation Mininova with vocoder, which is time-synched via the MIDI clock from the RC505 – this means that FX and arpeggiators are running in time to my loops on the RC505. 

The RC505’s user-friendly layout and inbuilt mixing means that I can easily cue and raise/drop tracks in line with John’s acting. I do all this wearing the fox mask, interacting live with the actor on stage.”

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“We are hoping that the play will get commissioned, and it has the potential to be performed in conjunction with a live show. 

As a singer-songwriter, I am performing across the UK and Europe this year at festivals and venues, using the RC505 to arrange my songs live on stage, alongside double bass, percussion – and occasionally – my own 45-piece choir, the Navarro Singers.”

If you are doing interesting things with the musical instruments and products that you have procured through UCan Play, we’d love to hear from you too!