OK... so i know you dont all make your own ....

[eandersonase]

So where do you get your loops from? besides the ones that come in ableton
do you buy them from your neighbor billy, some person selling 14 cd's of them on the internet, make them all yourself b/c your proficient in all instruments, have millions of CD's and just cut parts out and make them loops?

[squelcht]

yes I do.

[AceLuby]

yes I do.

me too...

[UKRuss]

You were definitely asking for that response.

Most people don't use loops after a while, but it is a good place to start, particularly in Live since you can apply clip enevelopes and effects to turn that loop into something unique, start with the ones that come with Live.

STOP TRYING TO SPEND MORE MONEY!!!

[1nfinitezer0]

i heard some people that one time took loops from records or something...
le gasp!

[nuxnamon]

i get my loops from all over.. vinyl, mp3's, internet (soundflower on MAC), sample CD's, whatever.. just tweak it your own way and don't leave it as is.. i don't feel guilty for using loops at all.. even Stylus RMX is just really a bunch of loop.. many well know producers use loops albeit they don't advertise it..

[eandersonase]

Well I have an apc40 and that is mostly a looping machine or am I wrong?

[H20nly]

^ wrong. that big group of buttons is used to launch clips (which could be loops) but there are a lot more controls on that device.






I get loops from Men At Work cassettes.

[bosonHavoc]

ya who cares.. i play instruments, i chop loops and play them or tweak em more cause its fun then any other reason..

their are some communities that share royalty free loops and samples like
http://www.looperman.com/
http://ccmixter.org/

also, sampling from records is fun.. nothing like a bargain bin sample bank

i still have a ton of old 4-track tapes i need to go through too
those tapes have recordings of my old bands and a bunch of stuff i did with a sp202

[squelcht]

Well I have an apc40 and that is mostly a looping machine or am I wrong?

You do know what you bought...right?

[eandersonase]

Ok please don't rip on me to hard as I'm just getting into this
what is the difference in a loop and a clip? Sorry for the dumb questions I'm just learning

[eandersonase]

Well I have an apc40 and that is mostly a looping machine or am I wrong?

You do know what you bought...right?

to be completely honest. not really. i havent even received my mpk25 or my apc40 in the mail yet. i just purchased ableton suite 8 and just installed it 2 days ago

Let me give u some background

I love music and I'm no dj I actually suck compared to most everyone but willing to learn very willing. I started out with 2 1200's and was looking recently on the web for something to control my ram songs when I came across the vestax vci 300 which ran serato itch and while looking at that I found out about the bridge which led me to ableton. After doing some research I discovered the awsomeness of ableton so I have been browsing the web about midi controllers and recently purchase suite 8 and mkp25 along with the apc 40. I am very much a newb but have been watching the tutorials. I love all the music I have listened to on the link your music, you all are very talented and hopefully I can get to ur level some day.

so i really dont know what i am doing but i have been watching youtube videos for about 2-3 weeks on all the midi controllers and saw the potential of both the mpk25 and the apc 40 i know haveing this stuff doesnt and will not make me good but i saw the awesome things you could do with both of these great controllers so i purchased them. i am very excited about getting into making my own music. i know yall look at me and think "what an idiot, he just thinks he can buy these things and make music." i know that is not the case and i am very dedicated to learning this stuff. I love music. no i do not think testo is a good dj or producer. i love all types of music except crap country. i listen to a lot of electronic music and a lot of good beat music such as jay - dilla. i also listen to anything under the ghostly international label. i play the guitar. but i am just looking for a little guidance. a few of you have pm'd me and i really appreciate it. i am just starting out and i know i have a lot of reading an playing around to find my way. i have never dealt with any type of music software before. i have quite the ram, cd, and vinyl collection. and i am very excited of the potental of ableton as it seems to be one of the best programs out. if yall have any post or good documents that you think i should read please let me know. I normally would not be able to get into something like this but my job recently gave me a bonus and i wanted to spend it on something that i could enjoy for years to come. im also not computer illiterate either as i have a strong back ground in computer networking and programing and a little bit in web design. I really thank all of you for all your help!!!

[H20nly]

loops are loops... they can be any size. Normally, clips are loops but a clip might not necessarily be a loop. It can and will loop, but for example:

you create a drum pattern that is 4 bars long, then you loop it and record yourself playing guitar along with it for 5 minutes. You can launch the guitar part as a clip (in session view) but you don't necessarily need it to loop... it can play straight through.

its my understanding that the APC40 and MPK do a lot of the same things. Getting both at once might be good, but you might not need both. The MPK has keys and I believe drum pads plus controls that you can map in live. The APC 40 will launch clips and will control many of those same components in Live as the MPK without even having to ask/tell it to. So if you want diversity the MPK may be better to start out with... if you've got the cash its cool to spend it and all, but you may find later that one of those 2 controllers just sits there. If you take that couple of hundred bucks/pounds/euros (whatever) and add that to the money you throw down on a soundcard/interface you could go from run of the mill to dope as hell in one transaction...

my .02


edit: P.S. my Men at Work loop reference above was a joke, but in all seriousness its something you should consider if you're going to be "borrowing" other peoples music... http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=135844

[eandersonase]

what sound card would you get? and why would i need a sound card.

as i see it everything is usb ran so music is all run on the computer and the computer records it aswell so what would be the benefit of having a good sound card and which one would you get as it would have to be a usb ran sound card as i dont have any pc express slots availble. thanks!!

[H20nly]

I would get an RME if I had the loot. http://www.rme-audio.de/en_index.php
I don't know how much of a bonus you got... there are a lot of threads about what the best interface is for XYZ price range...

I think though, you are thinking soundcard as in Sound Blaster... don't think like that. There are some nice pieces of equipment for recording audio that plug in that way, but what you want is an interface... you have to decide what is best for you....

I'd say it sounds like you want:

Phono/RCA ins for your records
At least one line in for your guitar
Stereo out...
USB or Firewire is a matter of preference, but I think its got to the point where it doesn't matter anymore... although Firewire was a pretty solid answer at one time.

I have this: http://www.tcelectronic.com/DesktopKonnekt6.asp works well and was a huge audio quality upgrade, but I forgot about phono ins when I bought it... there are none...

I probably should have got this http://www.tcelectronic.com/konnekt8.asp

Still, don't listen to me though... I'm no expert, I've just been on the path a little longer than you have. You know best what your needs are... if you don't... then wait, you will know.