Looper Improvements

Share what you’d like to see added to Ableton Live.
philipc
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Looper Improvements

Post by philipc » Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:58 pm

Looper is flawed but it wouldn't take much to improve it. In descending order of importance:

1: Crossfades to eliminate clicks and pops at loop start/end (where loop start/end don't sync perfectly).
2: Eliminate clicks and pops when starting a loop (a buffering bug, I believe - see for example: http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... 6#p1317896).
3: Improve Looper API so Touch-Able and similar apps can implement deeper integration with it (apparently this is quite limited at the moment - third party controls can't communicate with Looper like they can with other parts of Live - see for example: http://help.touch-able.com/discussions/ ... /20-looper).
4: Let Looper open in a large central window like Sampler and Spectrum (to make it easier to see when playing live).
5: Allow multiple undo/redo.
6: Allow the extraction of multiple layers via drag and drop.

1 and 2 are essential, 3 and 4 are highly desirable and 5 and 6 would be nice (but aren't absolutely essential).

Looper is at the center of every set I have. At the moment problems 1 and 2 make Looper almost unusable in a live performance context. With some small improvements it could be amazing.

lx71
Posts: 44
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:57 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by lx71 » Sat Dec 24, 2011 2:19 pm

Can we have the looper functions that are now midi-mappable, also be available in DeviceComponent, so that they can also be controlled through your regular ControlSurface?
I am specifically talking about: 'Pedal', 'Record','Play','Overdub','Stop','Clear' and 'Undo'.
These controls are not available if the Looper is in a rack. You cannot map these functions to a macro knob either.
Actually, I don't understand why they aren't available as such already.

(I searched the forum whether this was already requested, but didn't feel like going through 16 pages of posts...Sorry).

Thanks.
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showbotanist
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Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:21 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by showbotanist » Mon Dec 26, 2011 12:29 am

I also use looper for playing live. I would like to see a midi looper.

For instance i have sounds in the drum rack going to individual return channels which all have a looper on them. One pedal push records them all and loops them all at the same time with each other and I can over dub to add to each channel. I then would like to loop my external synth via midi, but want to be able to undo and overdub just like the audio looper.

chapelier fou
Posts: 6011
Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 12:15 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by chapelier fou » Tue Dec 27, 2011 8:59 am

showbotanist wrote:I also use looper for playing live. I would like to see a midi looper.

For instance i have sounds in the drum rack going to individual return channels which all have a looper on them. One pedal push records them all and loops them all at the same time with each other and I can over dub to add to each channel. I then would like to loop my external synth via midi, but want to be able to undo and overdub just like the audio looper.
midi clips do this, except for the undo.
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kanuck
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Re: Looper Improvements

Post by kanuck » Tue Dec 27, 2011 7:18 pm

chapelier fou wrote:
showbotanist wrote:I also use looper for playing live. I would like to see a midi looper.

For instance i have sounds in the drum rack going to individual return channels which all have a looper on them. One pedal push records them all and loops them all at the same time with each other and I can over dub to add to each channel. I then would like to loop my external synth via midi, but want to be able to undo and overdub just like the audio looper.
midi clips do this, except for the undo.
I thought you could undo the last take you did in midi clips. The only thing about loopingi n a midi clip is you can't play repeated notes. Like if you played C3 in a previous take you can't play C3 again. It'll mess up the timing of that note.

WFWS
Posts: 70
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:02 pm

What about that DRAG function?

Post by WFWS » Sat Dec 31, 2011 4:53 pm

It would be cool to have Looper's drag function be a midi assignable button that put the newly recorded loop automagically into a clip slot- either one in the looper track, or in one that we assign. THEN, have subsequent loops added to the stack below. Loops to clips! Automagically!
Come on!
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kryz
Posts: 39
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:55 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by kryz » Sat Dec 08, 2012 12:00 pm

Please Ableton guys, hear these great suggestions and implement as many of them as possible into Live 9! This would be incredible. Looper really needs these improvements!

ovorigin
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:20 am

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by ovorigin » Wed Feb 20, 2013 2:56 am

IT SURE DOES!

All very basic and logical requests based on what hardware loopers have had for how many years?

People dont want to use pre recorded loops all the time, they want to build sounds up live and tear them down live in any order direction they wish.

how long since looper had a feature update?

come on ableton, Its why I paid you the big bucks, over 2 years later not one more piece of functionality for it?

theinfinate
Posts: 208
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 10:21 am

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by theinfinate » Mon Aug 12, 2013 1:29 am

I can't believe Live 9 is out and loopers functions are exactly the same. Wtf Ableton?? I think it would be better off with overdubbing audio in a clip like you can with midi. This would be so super awesome!

kryz
Posts: 39
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 6:55 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by kryz » Mon Aug 12, 2013 9:27 am

+1

Actually it might be best if everything could be done by clip looping but with all the functionality of the looper pedal.
So audio clip overdubbing, first loop sets tempo/follow global, undo/redo/clear, double/half speed, double/half length, reverse, pitch, feedback amount all easily midi mappable to a nice foot controller.

Maybe one could throw in some extra features for DJ-like live manipulation like scratching, beat repeat etc.

Please, this would make things so much easier!

Using 6+ loopers for a somewhat flexible multi-track looping set really doesn't work very well and gets quite confusing.
Going with clip looping the way it is now is far from ideal too.

I really really REALLY hope ableton will put this on top of their priority list, the live looping situation needs to get a serious overhaul soon!

Isn't this what ableton live was supposed to be all about? LIVE? Actually playing and recording live?

ovorigin
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:20 am

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by ovorigin » Sun Sep 08, 2013 3:14 am

Its just been so long since I bothered coming to the site because nothing has happened with ableton for so long, It was the first software I thought was worth buying, having done it It I have to say its been a bit of a let down after my intial excitement of what looper could do and knowing what other loopers are doing.

Hearing ppl still with the same valid requests for the looper after so many years shows me ableton isnt really interested in what I am interested in anymore.

maybe I will check back in another year, maybe I wont.

I definitely wont be paying for another upgrade until looper gets some MAJOR loving, even then, I expected at least some functionality development after its first release.

sad face ableton, :(

phattline
Posts: 176
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 5:54 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by phattline » Fri Oct 25, 2013 6:09 pm

Can we have the looper functions that are now midi-mappable, also be available in DeviceComponent, so that they can also be controlled through your regular ControlSurface?
I am specifically talking about: 'Pedal', 'Record','Play','Overdub','Stop','Clear' and 'Undo'.
These controls are not available if the Looper is in a rack. You cannot map these functions to a macro knob either.
+111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

what I cant do I wrote here
and again my feedback in german:
Das ist nicht euer Ernst oder? - ihr wurdet 2011 hier das erste mal darauf hingewiesen - das Looper die wichtigsten RemoteParameter nicht auf Macros mapbar sind, & das sie als M4L Parameter auch nicht auftauchen!

To big to fail oder was? > Ihr habts echt einen Dachschaden! Wollts ihr verhindern das gute Musik gemacht werden kann oder was? Weil Ableton ein Einziger Workaround ist - Gibt es mal Alternativen wird Ableton dann zum GO-AROUND!

Für mich habts ihr versagt - nicht was Einnahmen Prestige und Bekanntsheitsgrad angeht, sonderen am Umgang mit Menschen!
Gleichzeitig schreibts ihr auf eure Webseite aus das ihr Leute suchts die neue Features testenn....
Die neuen Featueres gehen uns am Arsch vorbei - die echten Geeks und Freaks haben 2006 schon gesagt - Ableton? Neue features! aber leider unzureichend Bugfixes!

UNS REICHTS MIT EUCH!

JES
Posts: 103
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 5:52 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by JES » Wed Aug 27, 2014 3:45 pm

I'm just bumping this thread. I just had a back and forth with Ableton support (best email support in the business) where they confirmed the click problem for me.

This could easily be solved in 1 of 2 ways:

1. Manually adjust the crossfade time so that when you're looping drones (as I do) there is no audible click.
2. A more sophisticated option would be a knob to increase crossfade time. You can adjust crossfade settings in Mobius http://www.circularlabs.com and it solves the problem.

Until then, I have to use looper when I want to set track tempo, but mobius for everything else….

chapelier fou
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Joined: Mon May 15, 2006 12:15 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by chapelier fou » Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:55 pm

Up

looper is still a toy.
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akamed
Posts: 37
Joined: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:16 pm

Re: Looper Improvements

Post by akamed » Mon Nov 10, 2014 12:57 am

The mappable drag and drop to automatically send the layers to individual new clips in empty clipslots and automultiply are both essential and hugely important for me.
The automultiply could be easily done and it would work as when a clipslots is recording, if it is recording, it goes growing bar by bar until you press.

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