Discreet loop recording?

[vincentlepes]

Hi all,

I'd like to be able to record a loop into a clip slot without it being audible in a live performance, while still keeping the previous clip playing. My goal is to layer up the first section of a song in a row, and then to discreetly record the next row while the first part continues to repeat so I can have all instruments switch when I trigger the second section row. I don't want to use a second column for this, I know that is possible but I want to keep all of my stuff in the first 8 tracks and would quickly run out of room.

So, say I record drums, bass, keyboards, some synth and rhythm guitar into row one. What I want is a way to populate row two without the audience hearing it so when the time comes I can switch them all to row 2 and have the feel of an entire band changing sections. I also don't want to stop the currently playing clips while I record the next row. I'm adamant about not using any pre-recorded loops to achieve this, I want to be able to improvise entire songs live in this manner. I would also like, if possible, to be able to hear the 'discreet' recordings through the headphones, to avoid surprises if I make a mistake.

I tried cloning my first 8 columns into 8 more columns, setting each to A and B channels and cross-fading to switch, but this has proven ineffective as there are times I don't want all instruments to switch, for example I may want to keep the same drum beat going as I switch bass/keyboard/guitar into a new key. Using the crossfade method, everything switches when I flip over the crossfader. It also becomes cumbersome to move the APC grid over 8 columns and I'd like to do this in the simplest method possible. I have an FCB foot controller that I can use to trigger new recordings while my hands are tied up in whatever instrument I'm playing. I use the footswitches like a loop station and then use the APC for arranging and 'DJing' my performance in real time.

[Warrior Bob]

Well, it can't work exactly like that, since only one clip can be active at a time in a given track.

I think your idea of crossfading between tracks and duplicates has a lot of promise, although like you said it's always going to be a bit awkward. This has the advantage of letting you use the headphone cueing to preview your new work in whatever tracks aren't currently audible due to the crossfader. I haven't thought of a way to gracefully handle keeping some parts going while other parts are faded though - maybe you can map the A/B switches to some MIDI controller? The downside of course is that you'd probably have to add another controller.

[vincentlepes]

Thanks for the reply, Bob

I've been looking around the forums and coming to pretty much the same conclusion. I wonder if there is just a way to have every clip I record automatically get cloned 8 tracks over, so that track 1 clips would already exist in track 9 for example. Then I could overwrite the ones I want to change in the "B" channel, tracks 9-16, and already have the other parts there. That would help, but I also want to find a way to map the track left/right buttons on my APC to move in 8 tracks at a time so it's only a click away. This could get really complicated though, as I would then have to work it out so my footwsitches moved over 8 tracks as well...I've also been trying to figure out how to have a button to instantly copy a clip down one row, so I can add to a clip but have the first take available, say to record kick/snare in row 1, clone to row 2 and add other drums, then have simple kick/snare still available to go back to during a bass solo or something. I also just realized pre-cloning the clips in the B side columns restricts my ability to make them different lengths. It all gets so complicated so quick!

I guess the best route would be to look into quick cloning options, to clone clip down one row or over eight rows on the fly. Does anyone know a good method for that? I'm not sure how to pull off relative mappings on my APC and FCB.

Thanks