Looper Overdub Help Please

[adam8290]

Okay, I'm new to Looper and beg a bit of help. No problem recording the first 4-bar loop. But when I go to record overdubs, they record, but then are overwritten immediately. Why does the orange overdub change automatically back to yellow playback while my 4 bar sequence is in progress. Very confusing, though I'm sure there's a good reason. Settings: Quantization = global; Record = 4 Bars; Song Control = Start Song; Tempo Control = Set & Follow song temp. Transport is running during all of this. Monitoring is on Auto.

Been there?

I'm using Live 8.2.1 with an APC40 and a Boss FS-5U footswitch.

[ItsAllSticky]

Wow, I had this problem too like 30 minutes ago. Are you using a pedal? I was using a simple sustain pedal mapped to the main button. When you map it in Midi learn mode, look at the very bottom of the screen. when you select the big multifunction button, then depress your pedal or button to learn it, you'll see a little drop down menu. Mine was set to "absolute" I changed to a relative setting and it cleared it up. See if that helps!

-Ian

[adam8290]

Hmmm. I'm in Midi Mapping mode and don't see a drop down menu. Is yours in the Midi Mappings pane, in the Looper plug-in, at the very bottom of the Live 8 program window, or somewhere else? This sounds promising but I can't find it. I am using a pedal and have no trouble stopping, starting, and deleting my primary loop. Just the overdubs.

[ItsAllSticky]

Sorry for the late response. Thought I had my settings set to email when there were replies...gotta investigate.

Try this:

1. Select the track you have the looper on.
2. Enter Midi Map/learn mode (ctrl+m)
3. Delete the current mapping you have of the main Multifunction button in looper (the BIG button)
4. Click on the Multifunction button, click your pedal to map it.
5. After your pedal is mapped and shows up in the mapping window, click the multifunction button with your mouse.
6. Once you click the button with your mouse, you should see the VERY BOTTOM of the screen, just below your looper window, change. The setting should say "Absolute." open that drop down, and there should be a ton of other options, all "Relative (xxxx)." Now I don't know what any of them mean, but when I changed to one of the relative settings, I was able to overdub with my pedal like normal.

Hope this is more clear, we'll get to the bottom of this!

-Ian

[adam8290]

OMG it works perfectly now, Ian! I chose the first relative setting. I wonder what they mean? In any case, the pedal now alternates correctly between play and overdub, and my guitar and brand new Ebow are very very happy!

Do you have an understanding of how metronome start/stop works with looper? I can't quite get this yet. I still need the metronome to get reliable start and endpoints for my loops, using the bar feature. I've been working with 4-Bar loops. I press the pedal and count 4 metronome clicks, then start playing. I click the pedal again on the downbeat of the beginning of bar 5, the beginning of the repeating loop. But the metronome is available erratically. Perhaps only when I have Live's global transport running. I don't really get how loops work like clips, with those "song control" options. If you understand this I'd love to hear.

Thanks again. I think I can now start using looper for composition.

--Adam

[ItsAllSticky]

Yay, no problem Adam. I'm just pumped that after owning Live for a little over 24 hours I could actually help someone else out. Funny we seem to be starting this journey at the same time!

My only experience so far with looper has been playing along with the metronome. This was the whole reason I wanted to use Live instead of my RC-50, so I can drop the drum track AFTER I'd begun playing. So, to loop with the metronome this is what I have been doing:

1. Activate metronome (obviously).
2. I'm not trying to use the loop to start/end songs, so I set Song Control (in Looper) to "None"
3. Because we're using the metronome for our tempo, set Tempo Control (alos in Looper) to "Follow song tempo"
4. Now, I'm sure you can use different settings, but I've got Live's global quantization (top of the screen) set to 1 bar, and Looper's quantization set to "Global."

So, let's say you're getting ready to record a two bar phrase. Press play to activate the timeline/metronome. while the metronome is clicking "1.2.3.4" you can click your pedal anytime and recording won't begin until it gets back to 1 due to the global quantization setting of 1 bar. Try this and let me know if you still have issues. AFAIK, the overdubbing won't wait for the bar, just the initial loop. So you can punch in to overdub at any point in the loop.

[mojofunk]

Here is a setup you guys may want to try (I'm lazy so this is copied from an old post):

Set up two audio tracks and then group them, monitor in on both, audio to the group, group to master (or sends). The first track is your input channel, the second track receives its signal from the first. On the second track place Looper, set Loopers input-output to (surprisingly) never, so that it only passes audio when a loop is present (thus avoiding volume ganging). Audio EFX can be used after the Looper for FSU. Additional loops with that instrument can be had by duplicating the second track within the group, receiving audio from the input track. Then start mapping the FCB1010 switches to the functions you desire! It is amazingly fun!

There are a lot of good looper threads on this forum, do some searching, and for sure you will never miss your rc-50! I sure don't!

edit: oops - wrong thread!

[bartend7]

i wonder if its a sustain pedal thing. if i just click on the record with my mouse it works fine. only when i try to get the pedal going, does the overdub not work. when i changed the settings to relative, the pedal wont even begin a recording. So, i found an easy solution cause i'm an idiot. I had my sustain pedal plugged into an expression pedal port. I did this because it was suggested to me in some tutorial. But when i put the sustain pedal in the sustain port.. wala looper works perfect. so if you guys are using a sustain pedal that may help. i dont think changing to relative is necessary.