Looping devices...

[rjgoos]

My wife and I are thinking of getting a looping device for when we play duets. The kind of scenario where it would be used is this...I would be playing guitar or a tapping instrument, and my wife would be playing acoustic/electric/nylon string guitar. The looper would be for her guitar. If we were playing three verses of an old folk song, for example, we would play one verse with her playing a high melody while I accompany, a second verse with her playing a low melody while I accompany. We would record her on the second verse, so that the third verse would be of her playing harmony along with the recording of her on the second verse (a low melody with some sort of descant).

OK...with all of that said....what looping unit would people suggest?

Also, as a practical matter, is it feasible to loop something as long as the entire verse of a song...is it hard to keep the tempo right? I notice that many loopers record much shorter segments.


Thanks,

Jay

[jean_alexis]

If you have a computer, there are free loopers that could do the trick. (I saw SooperLooper on mac)

For keeping the tempo, you could record a short percussion loop to start with, then record a longer loop for the verse.

[PhoBucket]

I have a little experience working with the Boomerang. It does have enough memory to hold a verse and chorus, but it's very hard to get the samples to line-up in a groove/metronomically precise kind of way. I think Jean is pointing you in the right direction with the computer looping approach. I use Ableton Live to do this, but there are free programs that will do looping.

[GaryOpenhill]

Originally posted by PhoBucket
I have a little experience working with the Boomerang. It does have enough memory to hold a verse and chorus, but it's very hard to get the samples to line-up in a groove/metronomically precise kind of way. I think Jean is pointing you in the right direction with the computer looping approach. I use Ableton Live to do this, but there are free programs that will do looping.

I use a free looper called LoopyLlama. Works for me. (not that i use it a lot yet). Think i found it on kvraudio.com

[SkinnyDevil]

My buddy Phil swears by the Boomerang. I'm not certain what's on the market, though, because I seldom use anything longer than a few seconds.

[traktor]

I think that Teed Rockwell uses the Boomerang.

I've only experimented a little. The Roland/Boss Loop Station. Mine went up to five minutes, but the new one goes to sixteen minutes, plenty long. Easy to use, quite small -- about the size of two cheap stompboxes-- and fairly cheap I think. Here is a company that sells them, and more can be found via search --

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BOSRC20XL

[BrendaEM]

I asked a friend who is really into looping. She recommends both the Echoplex Digital Pro and the Electra Repeater. She says that both have their advantages and disadvantages.

You might want to check this site out:
http://www.loopers-delight.com/loop.html

[BigDaddyPoo]

I always have problems with loop pedals live. They work great doing ambient swells and pads, but as soon as I do something where precise rhythm is paramount, I almost always hit the pedal that stops the recording and begins the loop playback with bad timing. At which point you're either stuck with a messed up glitch in the rhythm or you have to re-record it. I've had much more success with a click track and software, but I am speaking with experiences I've had with my own clumsy feet.

[nickbenn]

I asked a friend who is really into looping. She recommends both the Echoplex Digital Pro and the Electra Repeater. She says that both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I use the Repeater as well (I sold my Echoplex to my best friend, when it became clear he was much better at getting full use from it), and like it a lot. However, it is definitely not easy to find these days.

Sadly, Electrix seems incapable of putting the necessary effort behind this looper. The first time it was released, it was about a year behind schedule. A year or so after that, Electrix closed up shop. In fall 2004, they announced that they were back, and that they were planning to release a Repeater Mk II, in 2005.

So far, however, nothing. The company routinely ignores requests for information, and company reps have become more and more scarce on their own discussion forum. The rumor mill (mostly retailers who placed advance orders, and have been stuck waiting with their customers) now says the Mk II will ship in late 2006, if at all.

In the last few months, the Electrix Repeater discussion forum has turned into a place where Repeater users gather to talk about how many will be buying the Boss RC-50 as soon as it is available.

It's all very sad, because the Repeater really is a nice looper, for many uses. Once you get the input levels right, noise is not really an issue (except on some units, which have a slight digital clicking - pretty fatal for those who have the problem, but it doesn't seem to affect all Repeaters). Some have had problems synching it with other midi gear; but for me, it has locked in nicely as a midi slave to other gear. On the other hand, I don't like the fact that you can't have multiple loops playing out of synch (the Repeater supports four mono tracks, two stereo tracks, or one stereo and two mono tracks; all of these loops play at the same tempo, with the same or multiplied loop lengths); for that, I often use an old Digitech Time Machine 7.6, along with the Repeater.

I'll probably buy a RC-50 when it ships here in the US. (I would love to buy a Looperlative, but can't justify the investment at this point.) But even with the RC-50, I'll probably keep both the Digitech 7.6 and the Electrix Repeater - especially since I have found out about a guy who does useful mods to both. They are both ideosynchratic, but pretty damn useful once you get the hang of them.

[DirkM]

Hello,
I've had many loopers including Digitech 7.6 (great in the day), Repeater, Line 6 green DL4? and 2 Echoplex Digital Pros'. Now I just use software and use Mobius on the PC. It's very much built on the design of the EDP so it makes sense to me, but it can be a little picky. It's free and updated often.
In the new Guitar Rig by NI there is a looper allthough not as robust it will do the basics, and you can save the loops.
The new cadillac of hardware loopers looperlative was just created and I saw a video from NAMM and it looks sweet, but I'm still staying with software for now. It's like 16 EDP's or 8 stereo setups, pretty sick. :)
http://www.zonemobius.com/
http://www.looperlative.com/
Dirk