I have experience with too many loopers.
I started with Octatrack. It worked perfectly for looping, even longer loops than 64 steps can be made with workarounds. I didn’t like the Octatrack because I was only using 2% of its possibilities.
Went to kaospad 3 by korg. Very nice, but the way I used it was too heavy for the fader and knob, it broke because of the way I used it. Gave it to the guy working at the windmill selling flower for my pizza’s.
Went to boss rc600. Way too big! Also, and this is a serious problem I have with boss, it has latency. Kp3 might have latency too, not sure. But the latency in the rc600, makes it impossible to loop more than one loop in a live looping setting. The loop has a short latency, I can compensate with my a4, but after recording another loop, the 2 recorded loops are not perfectly in place.
Went to loopy, but had the same latency problem (komplete audio 6 NI)
Bought a rc500. Same latency issue, nice pedal. Still have it and use it. (See video under this post)
Bought 1010bb (last week). Didn’t like the workflow and the many buttons I had to press for looping. Mini options, but not for me. I think it is the computer feeling it gave me.
Went back to Octatrack. Black ot mk2 is so nice! Perfect looping, easy to plock to make variations and fills in the loops. Fantastic to change a loop into a song.
I don’t like the fx. Only use filter and dark verb. I have and external compressor in between my a4 and my ot, to have ‘strong sounding loops’
I have a TC Ditto X2. On this looper you can decide
if the second tap starts looping and stops recording
or if the second tap starts looping and continues recording.
(Unfortunateley it´s a bumper in the inside of the unit)
I always keep it on continuing recording for exactly the reason you mention. So I can keep the tail of a pad for example and get a smoother transition.
Even better: start recording with a certain amount of attack
and record the release over it… like a crossfade
Sadly, no, I haven’t yet written said novel, and probably won’t. However, I’m always happy to participate in the quest for solutions, should you have any questions.
When it comes to live looping, there is no perfect setup. To which end, as they say, necessity is the mother of all invention. It all depends on what you hope to accomplish.
If only I ever knew exactly what I was hoping to accomplish before I start. If I ever figure that out, I’ll definitely shoot you a detailed list of nerdy questions that only a very small handful of people might actually benefit from reading. I see why you haven’t written it now that I think about it. It’s certainly a very small niche interest I guess, but to that handful of strange and unusual people, it would be an endless bounty of highly specific and invaluable knowledge.
It does play the loop automatically. I can’t remember if it muted the incoming signal at the same time. I’m fairly sure it did.
Maybe @circuitghost can chime in as he is the bb guru around here. I used a mixer and sends to bb to loop but can’t remember exactly if what you want is possible.
One looper that has not been mentioned yet which imho might be one of the best options is the xone db4.
The unique thing about it is that it has an input matrix. So you can choose to route any of the four inputs to any of the four channels with a selector knob. The other thing is that it has a one knob looper which immediately muted the input signal once it starts playing the recording.
So you choose the loop length with the encoder and press it to start recording. It then starts playing as soon as that length has passed. You can then lengthen or shorten the loop (basically it always records four bars in the background as soon as you press the encoder).
Super easy and quick to use. The only downside is its dj mixer size. Which ultimately pushed me towards octatrack. But I’m always considering going back to db4 for this specifically.
I’m still amazed why there is still no looper with such a simple workflow plus input matrix in a small footprint.
I’m still amazed why there is still no looper with such a simple workflow plus input matrix in a small footprint.
I agree with this. It would make sense for Elektron to add a device like this to their portfolio. Though I’m secretly hoping that 1010music will add a live loop feature (and multiband compressor) to their bluebox Love the form factor and having multiple ins would be very useful.
@w-lf you can set it to monitor only during recording, which in practice means it stops receiving input when you’ve finished recording your loop.
the blackbox is a magnificent looper, but if your act includes live looping, it’s not the best option around. It’s not by any means a fiddly or difficult interface - quite the contrary - but it’s not as immediate for recording stuff to be performed with live, on stage, at once, as say the Octatrack or the Toraiz SP-16.
Haha, it is a bit of a spaceship, isn’t it Toraiz sounds great, plays great, a joy to work with, but falls a bit short on the envelope side of things. As a sound design tool, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of say the blackbox, and I’m not talking about features now, but just the implementation of the more sample-oriented stuff. One comes best prepared with samples more or less in order when one approaches the Toraiz, whereas the blackbox can make even sloppy stuff sound pretty good if you know what you’re doing.
Getting the K2 controller expands this looping so much more too! The fading in of the loop, the blending, the quick subdivision presses and slip time, it adds so much!
I also have the time tosser and it’s fantastic for this kind of thing as well, though very different at the same time!
True.same can be said of octatrack mkii in that regard though but you’re definitely right. Second hand prices are still doable I think but it’s not cheap by any means.
I’m at a decision point for getting into live looping. I’ve setup Loopy Pro with the Digitone as a soundcard and I really really really have fallen in love with looping for improvisational techno.
Now, I used it for an hour last night and it did hiccup and throw everything out of whack. I really like the Loopy workflow but I’m hesitant to commit to using it live.
So, woud Loopy Pro with a good interface be as stable as an RC505MK2 or should I just grab that 505? I’m liquidating some stuff to get cash together but I’m on the fence about buying the 505. Cash isn’t really the concern and 5 loops is plenty for me to work live. I’m not looking for a massive Loopy project either. I do appreciate having access to my iPad effects though.
Thoughts? Loopy Pro w/ a Motu M6 or RC505MK2? Live, improv techno with euro rack and DT/DN.
Loopy Pro (amazing though it may be), will never be as stable as a good hardware looper.
The iOS ecosystem is always shifting—“too many cooks”, as it were.
So, if you’re looking for a reliable live looping tool, any of the more reputable hardware loopers mentioned in this thread would be a better bet. You’ll just have to play to their limitations.
Love the form factor and having multiple ins would be very useful.
Toraiz sounds great, plays great, a joy to work with, but falls a bit short on the envelope side of things. As a sound design tool, it doesn’t quite reach the levels of say the blackbox, and I’m not talking about features now, but just the implementation of the more sample-oriented stuff. One comes best prepared with samples more or less in order when one approaches the Toraiz, whereas the blackbox can make even sloppy stuff sound pretty good if you know what you’re doing.