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Post by bonzo on Jun 9, 2018 10:34:12 GMT
Hi guys, me again! I'm zeroing in on the ditto looper, l think I could manage it. Problem is it doesn't seem to have a memory function for storing looped tracks. (On the off chance I might actually record something I want to keep!) Am I correct in thinking this? If so is there one similar with memory function you'd recommend? Also should I have facility for a mic? Or what?!
Best wishes to you all, John
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Post by jono1uk on Jun 9, 2018 11:07:56 GMT
Hi John i thought you were looking at ones with 2 footswitches?
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Post by bonzo on Jun 9, 2018 11:17:41 GMT
Hi Jono, correct. I was/am thinking of 2 switches from an ease of use point of view, but after watching some of the videos I think I could manage a single switch. Best wishes to you all, John
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Post by jono1uk on Jun 9, 2018 11:22:30 GMT
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Post by lonelyjelly on Jun 9, 2018 11:37:15 GMT
Hey John, there is a 2 switch version of the Ditto Looper pedal :-) Lew
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Post by creolian on Jun 9, 2018 12:32:41 GMT
Hi TT, I think I might have a mindset similar to yours (and probably a few other forum members I might think of) when it comes to gadgetry! I'm looking for something to give me an end result similar to your video, except I'll be using it for practice not performing. I think there is one with 2 switches so you don't have to double tap! Simpler the better. I'll have another look at what's available today, fresh start and all that! Best wishes to you all, John Hi, I have a different mindset! I have a JamMan stereo that does lots of things and has a whole lot of buttons and it suits me for fiddling about at home. I think it would be straight forward to use on stage too though. Bill Hello Y'all, I've been BZ... Missed this place. I also have a jamman stereo and I agree that although straightforward without beau coups practice, a bit kludgy for stage use. I use mine primarily as a recorder to play along with at home. A few things I like are... the aux in which allows me to "jam" with whatever music is on my phone, CDs, computer etc. the stereo outs I use to sometimes drive two amps simultaneously. The metronome is gravy I don't use enough... I looked at the manual last night with the intention of exploring overdubs but the gibberish put me off. There's just no substitute for repeatedly pressing buttons until these gadgets features and potentials become familiar. I figure it would be like learning another instrument for someone wanting to use one in front of an audience... Certainly a vast improvement over the drum machines that appeared in the 70s, never near the fun of jamming with other people. All best, Jeff Psedit: I also use the mic input as i have a couple of guitars with no pickups.
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Post by slide496 on Jun 10, 2018 12:21:44 GMT
Here's a Boss VE-8 looper pedal demoed by KT Tunstall with her supplementing with additional effects while she's playing, I like the idea of using both and thought it might be of interest. Harriet
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Post by Stevie on Jun 10, 2018 13:22:30 GMT
I thought KT used an Akai E2 Headrush? Actually I know she did. I suppose that such a high profile looper user would audition and indeed use competing products. Fact is: the Headrush is built like a tank but on the downside, it has a fairly restricted loop time and no means to save a loop. On the up-side, it has four delay outputs and believe me with four amps in four corners no one needs drugs! At this point I have to 'fess-up and declare that the timing required to make anything musical out of these is beyond me. I bought a cheapo looper too and it only confirmed it's my problem! If you want a professional looper (as in one you can depend upon on stage) consider the Akai. If you want functionality go for a Digitech. Last I heard KT was involved in development of an Akai E3 but I haven't heard anything more so I guess it's dead in the water? Go for it KT!
e&oe...
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 10, 2018 14:32:42 GMT
KT does, or certainly did use the Akai Headrush. A few years ago I produced some tracks at KT's home studio near Hungerford. I enjoyed spending time with her.
Shine On Michael
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 15:10:43 GMT
What she's doing takes a bit of practice, but it's nothing particularly tricky. Good performance still. TT
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Post by slide496 on Jun 10, 2018 15:54:23 GMT
I think both Deruce's and KT's give some ideas as to creative choices as well as about length of loop, as did MM's earlier post, which IMHO is helpful for those of us who are clueless.
For myself I am so inept at this that I tried a looper in a local store and the sales personnel had to work with me to demo the pedal as I did not even get the concept of where to end the loop so it would go around. From MM's original post:
"Here's one I built many years ago when I got hold of a piece of software in 1998 called Acid Pro. I built this using Elmore James, Bukka White and Robert Johnson. The loop is over a minute long and there are four of them joined together. It was meant to be a backing tracking for a song I had written, but this was as far as it got. I have got a lot better at doing it thanI was back then, but making loops to play over, without using a loop machine, is a creative process and a lot of fun. They are all built in real time. In other words, I turn them into 5, 7, or 10 minute WAV or mp3 tracks that have a beginning and an end.
...and this is a loop I built for the Lucky Charms album. The first few seconds are the loop reversed. The only instrument that is looped is the rhythm guitar, in this case, Catfish Blues.
Shine On Michael"
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Post by Michael Messer on Jun 10, 2018 20:54:51 GMT
Harriet, thank you for posting those two MM loops. The Elmore James one was made four years before I recorded the Second Mind album, which contained a few homemade loops. The album also features some vinyl drum loops that were available back then, which our drummer played along with. The track "Blue Letters" features that sound. I like it because it doesn't sound clean, it is scratchy and dull sounding. And because it is coming from vinyl it has a warmth and truth that is very musical, rather than mechanical. Most of my realtime loops have timing errors here and there, because my cutting & pasting has not quite landed in the right place. This creates imperfections in the rhythms and makes them sound less mechanical. The first time I became aware of using loops in the way we use them now, tape loops at the time, was in the mid 70s when I saw Robert Fripp & Brian Eno doing what eventually became known as Frippertronics. It was a system of tape looping that dates back to the 50s, but Eno & Fripp were using it in a different way to make soundscapes and abstract music. The BLUESLOOP-98 track was an idea that I was developing for a song that was similar to minimalist music, where there would only be the slightest changes every once in a while. That is why there is only one short burst of a Robert Johnson lick every minute or so. I used Elmore James sounds because there are so many different ones that are all so similar in style, key and tempo. So with a little pitch adjustment and care about how they sit in the musical structure and in the mix, most Elmore licks fit over most Elmore tracks. Listening back to that BluesLoop-98 track this evening, I wish I had continued and made an album of that type of stuff. It would have been a publishing nightmare, but creatively very interesting. What I was doing back then was a totally different type of looping to what today's musicians and loop pedals do. They are closer to Robert Fripp's tape loops than they are to my method. I like the fact that you can build a track on the fly as you go with a box that fits in your pocket. You can certainly do some cool things with them, but I think I prefer a more Heath Robinson approach to getting interesting sounds and effects. Nobody showed me how to make loops and build tracks, I just found my own way of doing it. I never thought KT's use of the Akai Headrush was particularly innovative as I had seen loads of people using them in that way, but in the true old ways of show business, she certainly caught the public's attention when she appeared on TV performing Black Horse & The Cherry Tree. It was a superb performance of something she had been doing for a long time. I just found this.... a line of mine & KT's guitars from September 2011..... Shine On Michael
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Post by slide496 on Jun 10, 2018 21:55:19 GMT
Thank you MM for the interesting read and sharing your knowledge - and the photo! That particular video is not viewable across the pond, though
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2018 6:49:37 GMT
If I had to say anyone influenced me with loopers, it's this guy, Tom Forbes. He's local and a whirlwind of madness and trickery. He's a great player and singer too, in a sort of pop / beefheart way.
TT
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Post by twang1 on Jun 11, 2018 9:57:25 GMT
It might be just me but I find 95% of video of artists using loopers...sad and boring! I find K.T videos embarassing! If you have a good song you can always deliver with just a simply strummed acoustic guitar, if you can't play it any better. Otherwise, go home woodshedding, learn how to fingerpick, use bass, add percussion, stomp your foot. Many different techniques to be learned. Anything you want but do it live!
On the other hand I find loopers extremely useful when practicing at home, expecially when learning how to improvise. Frank
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