Looper Machines

[Sashinator]

Sooo, I would like to start using a looper for a little duo Im in , and I was curious if anyone here knew much about that whole world. Ive tried that Wii Loop machine and was semi - successful, but I was something a little more functional.

Suggestions?

[Thomas]

SOLID GEAR
The boss RC-20 (what I use) is the most common looper on the market. Two imputs, up to sixteen minutes rec. time and reverse. around 300 canadian dollars.

RC-2 is nice for experimentation, one imput, about 13 minutes of rec. (unsure about that), and no reverse. less then 200 dollars

Digitech JamMan has one 1/4" imput and one mic imput, you can record 99 loops, and also same price as boss. (maybe higher?)

Theres also the RC-50, but that thing has 7 pedals. What are you going to use 7 pedals for?

SOFTWARE

WINDOWS -> Mobius looper zonemobius.com/
MAC/LINUX -> (and currently what Owen is using) SooperLooper www.essej.net/sooperlooper/

Both have stereo output, whereas the pedals have mono, and the only limits are the one your laptop has.

Thats about it for the longer loopers (long being from 10 seconds to 1000 seconds.)

yeah.

[potem]

For my guitar I use a Line 6 dl4. It's not a really feature heavy looper because it was designed as a delay modeler, it just has a really nice loop function built in. I really like it for what I do (I use it quite a lot). The only problem you might have is if you want to do long loops because it only has 12 or 14 seconds, I cant remember, but you can put the half speed setting on and get 24 or 28 seconds. Other than that its a really solid looper and extremely easy to use. It has all the standard features and it has 15 different delays. Its also one of the least expensive looper's on the market, its only like $290 Canadian but you also have to buy the special adapter for like $25. Also I think that the Dl4 is one of the few looper's that can go directly in to overdub mode (I'm not %100 on this) meaning that you can start your second loop track the moment you loop the main track.

The only other one's I've used are

the Akai Headrush, which is just as good in terms of functionality and ease of use but it doesn't have all the other delays and as far as I remember it was a bit more expensive.

and

the Boss Rc-2, which I didn't like. The whole thing is crammed onto a standard boss stomp-box so it all seemed really cluttered to me and it was also a lot more confusing to use because it just has a single pedal used for all the functions, although, I only played it once so Im sure you would get used to that eventually. Its only really upside is that its real cheap, I think its the only loop pedal you can get for under $200.

Here is a good site. www.loopers-delight.com/tools/tools.html

[sarpedon]

if you want something cheap and multifunctional, the boss dd-20 can loop for I think twenty seconds, and thats as a side feature, plus delays galore. its only $250. If you wanted a full looper though, I'd have to agree with blueink and say the boss RC-20, 'cause there's a reason its the most popular.

[jtu]

I wanted to know about this too. I just want an explanation of a simple set up, as most things sound a little complex, when they probably aren't.

I don't have a looping pedal but it does seem the RC-20 is a favourite by most, so I may save and get one.
However, say I got that software for mac (sooperlooper) how do you connect it with the pedal, etc?
I have a preamp, mics, amp, most things that I would probably need.
If someone could dumb down an explanation for me, then I would feel better about buying things, knowing I've got the right stuff to make it all work.
I've got a macbook with 2GB of RAM, so hopefully that's enough to run things through?

[Deleted]

chicago.craigslist.org/chc/msg/1079362433.html

I know nothing about this product but at the price it would be worth checking out.

[Deleted]

Here is some dude explaining SooperLooper it may be of help to you, vimeo.com/2283503

[sarpedon]

this is just off the top of my head, but for the software it seems all you're lacking is an audio interface(maybe that's what you meant by preamp?), you don't even need the amp for this, really. I've never used sooperlooper, but have used just about every other audio program in the book, and you just take the audio interface, plug it into a usb port and install, plug the instrument into the interface (or the mic if you are using that), and depending on the interface you may have to turn it on. then in said program, just select the correct audio input (you'll see the mixer being active in the right one [you may have to "arm" the track for recording as well]), and then the hardware setup is complete. I'd look at said sooperlooper setup explanation for any further things, cause as previously said, I've never used it.

EDIT: by the way, the most bare-boned, yet good, audio interface I know of is the lexicon alpha(one instrument input, and one mic input, and line in knobs for each, and a monitor and output knob).
all it lacks is phantom power support(only used if you have a high powered (such as condenser) mic and a midi controller, but you can get those separately, if you even need them.
www.lexiconpro.com/ProductIndex.aspx?ProductID=7

[jtu]

Thanks, I see, you're right I don't have an audio interface, I guess I haven't needed one before; any suggestions? It'll need to be affordable.
I've done only a few short courses on basic recording, therefore all this stuff is different to what I'm used to.
I've downloaded the software and as of the moment, I'm totally baffled. I need other software for it to run from, I think. I have the JACK and the sooperlooper but I think it needs to have some sort of mixing, bussing software, which I'm trying to download long-windedly through some apple software. AU Lab? That's what I'm trying to get, but as it didn't come with my mac, it's really difficult to hunt down.

As a test, I just want to set it up through my mac's microphone, as I'm figuring if I can do it from there, I will then understand how to do it for hardware later on. I just want to see if I can record on the looper and make it loop and repeat; so far it records silence.

[sarpedon]

woah you posted that right as I was adding extra stuff to my post about interfaces, haha
and by the way, the alpha is about $80, tops, and it has amazing quality considering, so its my pick, plus its easy to use; I had a few issues with initial setup, but after that it was smooth. I doubt you'd have the same issues though, no one else seemed to.
EDIT: whats your current setup?

[jtu]

We completely keep posting at the same time. I'm going to just add things to this one so it's less confusing.

Haha, that's strange. Thanks, I will see if I can hunt one down on ebay. Well if I needed phantom power, I can connect that with my preamp, surely? It's the world's most basic preamp, blocky and hilarious.
Oh I wish I understood things better, I spend so much time reading and I still find it difficult haha.


My current set up?
Well, I have been out of recording for a while now, as I've been occupied by other things, but I'm wanting to get into it properly soon.
All I have, is a few different microphones, which I normally put through my preamp to power (SM58, I don't like it at all but I have only been in my room recording demo's etc), then I run it into garageband (which is so limiting and useless really). At Uni I use Pro tools, but I don't have it at home.
If I have success in downloading this software, then I think I might be alright, loopwise. What I have now lacks quality, as is probably obvious.

[sarpedon]

you'd probably only need phantom power if you got like a gigantic mic, and if so your preamp would say "phantom power ready" or something like that if it supported it.
are you recording the amp output with the mic?

[jtu]

I have done it really simply, like this;
Mic, plugged into Preamp (where I can set levels), plugged into laptop, recording live into program.
The sound isn't great, I admit.

[sarpedon]

hmm, thats why I'm recommending an audio interface, since they're made to be hooked up to computers, and serve essentially the same function as a preamp; that, and just to route music into the computer.

[jtu]

Ah! I was just thinking it when reading, that it sounds the same, just better. Okay it's making a bit more sense now, thanks, haha, I'm a little slow which probably doesn't help when you're explaining to me. If I get one of those I guess it will be lots easier if it's via USB.