Real-time looping in a performance context

[The Pezman]

My school's annual performance venue is coming up, and as performing runs in my veins I always do something. Now that I finally have my Macbook Pro I'd love to do something related to digital music. My roommate, a guitarist, would also love to be a part of it. He's wondering how easy it would be to play something, have it keep going in the background, and then layer stuff on top of it. I'm sure it's possible but I'm not quite sure how. I'll be able to interface his guitar to my computer by using the Apogee duet. Can anyone tell me the best and quickest way to record something and then loop it, all live?

[Matney X]

The quickest, and easiest, will be for him to get a loop station and learn how to use it. :p

I hear that Abelton can do this, too, but I haven't played with the live function of it, much, since my desktop is hardly portable. And I don't know much about Apogee. Sorry for not being much more help.

[OverCoat]

Most people who perform live with a computer use... Live :P I'd say that's something to look into.

[audio fidelity]

depending on how long the phrases your recording are you could also do it all with something like this

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SP404

i'm not sure about recording your friend live and resampling on the fly in ableton (i've never done it) but this is essentially what this is made for

i saw this one avante garde performance where someone was doing something similar - this guy was kinda randomly sampling this girl's voice and mangling it with fx on playback - pretty cool and creative

[The Pezman]

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SP404
Sorry, should have mentioned... no external hardware beyond what's necessary. I'm a minimalist when it comes to hardware, preferring to push my computer's capabilities to the max. Truly the Computer Scientist in me.

[analoq]

You're not a Computer Scientist, you're an Obstinate Adolescent.

A more productive philosophy is to use the right tool for the job. The aforementioned loop stations work very well for live performance.

I've tried to do loop recording in Ableton; it's possible, but I found the solutions cumbersome. There are threads dedicated to this subject on Ableton's forums, check them to get an idea of workflow possibilities.

I have seen a program specifically for this purpose but it was windows only.

[Zephyr]

A really horrible way to do it would be to run the audio through a delay with the time set to the tempo you want and a feedback of 100%. Seriously, it's a horrible idea, don't try it.

[The Pezman]

A more productive philosophy is to use the right tool for the job.
Let's not forget I'm not a professional musician. It's not like such a tool would be useful for years to come. This is a little stint at my college, and as I'm a senior it's likely I won't get a similar opportunity for a long while.

[Hy Bound]

Seriously, get Ableton Live... That is exactly what it was made for. When I saw Thomas Dolby he used it REALLY quickly and easily. I've messed around with doing that myself and though I don't fully understand how to use it to maximum effect, its very simple and easy to make simple loops.

You can get it with a school discount for like 250 bucks.

Also, I love it... :D

[analoq]

It's not like such a tool would be useful for years to come. This is a little stint at my college, and as I'm a senior it's likely I won't get a similar opportunity for a long while.
And that's a perfectly fine reason. Compare and contrast that with "I only want to use my computer because I'm like.. a scientest!!" and see that is a stupid reason well deserving of my belittlement.

Regardless, if it's just a stint are you even wiling to invest the hundreds of dollars into Live or other software solution?

[The Pezman]

Regardless, if it's just a stint are you even wiling to invest the hundreds of dollars into Live or other software solution?
Not really, which is why I'm wondering what else might be possible.

[analoq]

That narrows down your options to just about nothing. But let's see... what software do you currently have at your disposal?

[The Pezman]

Well, one reason I don't want to spend money on Live right now is because I've spent about $1500 combined on two cutting-edge hardware products. One of them is a DJ hardware/software package, and the software has the ability to loop any tracks I load into it. It wouldn't work if I had to record, bounce, and load it in, would it?

[Hy Bound]

Well, what is it? Traktor Scratch or something? I don't know a whole lot about this kind of thing, but I'd be willing to help out if i knew what all you have to work with.

[Nase]

That narrows down your options to just about nothing.
Huh?

I've never really delved into making live loop music, but I've seen a lot of software looping devices, a couple of them free.

Here are some that I remember:

http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/augustusloop.html

http://www.rekliner.com/?PageID=14

http://www.plugins.timeshard.com/angstrolooper/index.htm

If you check out these or some alternatives, give some feedback. It's something I want to get into at some point as well.

[analoq]

http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/augustusloop.html
Costs $50.

http://www.rekliner.com/?PageID=14
Mac version is not Intel compatible.

http://www.plugins.timeshard.com/angstrolooper/index.htm
No Mac version.


If nothing else, GarageBand can be used as an AU host so cheap/free looping plug-ins are well worth looking into. But still, no, not a lot of options in general.

[Matney X]

The hardest thing you're going to run into with looping with more than one source, if you do decide to go that route, is syncing your tempos and your loops. If you can, link the loop sources and assign one to send and the rest to receive a midi clock sync.

[Nase]

Ah, right, Intel Mac...

Well, 50 bucks is still a tad cheaper than Live or hardware (Maybe there's some crap by Digitech that comes close.)
Version 1.5 is only €23 btw (30$ i guess).

I'll tell you if I find anything more of interest. Sadly, Windows is where the freebies are at :/

[The Pezman]

Windows is where the freebies are at :/
Well, it's not as if I can't look into using a Windows partition. But one reason I switched to Mac is because its CoreX audio drivers have the latency issue down to allow live playback with no extra hardware.

Maybe I'll look into Live after all...