Using Ableton as a Guitar Loop Pedal- HELP!

Share your favorite Ableton Live tips, tricks, and techniques.
TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Post by TheAnimal » Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:37 pm

As far as I know audio overdubbing only works in arrangement view, whereas in session view you can only overdub midi. If that's not right, please someone let me know (*hopefulfacialexpression*).

Machinate
Posts: 11648
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:15 pm
Location: Denmark

Post by Machinate » Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:16 am

....that's not right. No audio overdubbing anywherez. Sorry.
mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.

TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Post by TheAnimal » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:28 pm

So what do you call what happens when (in arrangement view) you arm an audio track, activate the loop switch and the overdub switch, and then hit record and play (with a loop/punch recording region set)? I thought that is what's called overdubbing :roll:

Machinate
Posts: 11648
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:15 pm
Location: Denmark

Post by Machinate » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:30 pm

double post
Last edited by Machinate on Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.

Machinate
Posts: 11648
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:15 pm
Location: Denmark

Post by Machinate » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:31 pm

mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.

TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Post by TheAnimal » Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:11 pm

Thanks a lot, Machinate! So overdubbing means adding sound whereas what the overdub switch does with audio is simply replacing what's been there before. Then sound on sound looping is overdubbing in a loop, right?

All these new terms I have to learn ... :?

underhill
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:16 am
Location: Dallas, TX

I have a Live with the Llama Question.

Post by underhill » Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:28 am

I see that I can sync the Llama's tempo to Live's, but, how do I sync Live's tempo to the tempo set in Llama when in Dl-4 mode. So, live's tempo would be set by my setting of a loop in Llama. Is there a way to do this or. am I on the moon.

rekliner
Posts: 13
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 1:25 am
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Post by rekliner » Wed Jan 11, 2006 4:25 pm

AFAIK Ableton is not able to receive time info from a plug-in. Perhaps that is something for the feature wish-list. You could get the tap tempo functionality by assigning a midi controller to Ableton's tap button...but if you wanted to start a loop like a dl4 does and then sync ableton to that I don't think it can be done....except maybe through rewire... I know Plogue Bidule will receive tempo from a plugin and can run as a rewire slave...perhaps ableton would then sync to that tempo? Completely theoretical and a pain to set up though.

The link for the Loopy Llama is rekliner.com - in my signature...

MKS, I'll soon be releasing a version which allows you to keep overdubbing as a preference...it's not the way I loop. First I had to release the version with a play button so you can choose between the 2 ways. Until that release you could always double click the record button to get it to keep recording - although that might give you a short dropout.

underhill
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:16 am
Location: Dallas, TX

Post by underhill » Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:31 pm

Thanks for the reply. I am having tons of fun playing with the Llama. It is a great tool.

Machinate
Posts: 11648
Joined: Thu Jun 24, 2004 2:15 pm
Location: Denmark

Post by Machinate » Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:16 pm

rekliner wrote:AFAIK Ableton is not able to receive time info from a plug-in. Perhaps that is something for the feature wish-list.
Plenty of people have done this with Augustus Loop and IAC, so it could definitely be done on pc as well.
mbp 2.66, osx 10.6.8, 8GB ram.

dubbyah
Posts: 126
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 2:53 am

Post by dubbyah » Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:26 am

what is IAC machinate?

TheAnimal
Posts: 396
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:31 pm
Location: Germany

Post by TheAnimal » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:41 pm

It's short for Inter Application Communication. In this case it's a MacOSX specific method for routing MIDI from one application to another via the IAC driver which you can enable in the audio and midi settings utility.

pbajzek
Posts: 133
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:35 am
Location: Madison
Contact:

Post by pbajzek » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:23 pm

gregmcnichol wrote:
pbajzek wrote:I like Loopy Lama, but it can't go from record mode directly into overdub mode (at least it couldn't in the last version I tried). This is very important to the way I do live guitar looping. So I have been using SooperLooper, which was mentioned earlier. It basically mimics the behavior of the EDP and is, in my opinion, the best solution on a Mac right now. It's great stuff, though the GUI has some flaws as an AU.
What do u mean going from record to over dub mode? I have it set up where i hit a button on my floor board record a loop hit it again begin play back hit it again over dub another loop and so on. Scooperlooper seemed resource hungry
I mean when I reach the end of my "record" loop, I hit "overdub" and the loop immediately begins playing AND overdubbing at the same time (the Echoplex can work this way). That way I can have delays or sustained notes overlap the beginning of the original loop. If I have to hit "play" and then "Overdub" I will cut off my sustain or echoes. It's not needed so much if you're playing rhythm guitar, for example, but I like to make heavily effected droning soundscapes with no audible beginning/endpoints. I hope I've described this clearly.

Relinker: Perhaps you would consider this feature. I really do like your plugin, but this one thing has kept me from using it.

nolus
Posts: 823
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2004 12:31 pm
Location: Little Blighty On The Down

Post by nolus » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:07 pm

If you know how long you want the loop to be, then you might be able to use the technique I described in this other post, not far down the forum. http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32247, basically it's just a long delay line with feedback. bung a saturator in as well and, with a bit of careful adjustment, you can simulate the sound of a tape loop delay.

It needs developing further but I think it's a good starting point and it does create seamless loops, you just have to set up the loop length in advance instead of stomping on a pedal to set the loop point.
"That very perceptive of you Mr Stapleton, and rather unexpected... in a G Major"

pbajzek
Posts: 133
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:35 am
Location: Madison
Contact:

Post by pbajzek » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:21 pm

Nolus,

Your solution is a nice one, but as you said, it depends on knowing the loop length in advance. The technique I'm describing is generally for creating longer loops(anywhere between 15 seconds to maybe 2 minutes) that aren't tempo-sync'ed. I play until I've created the atmosphere I want, then start things looping. Very improvisational. But I always like learning about everyone's different approaches to looping, so thanks for sharing that.

What I *really* wish I could do is build a guitar loop (rhythmic or not) without knowing my tempo in advance, then somehow have Live (or some other app) calculate a logical tempo/number of measures from that and then start on the 1, so I could sync drum loops to an improvised piece. I know I could play along to a click track, but I hate wearing headphones on stage and it's still not quite free enough. Ah well...

Post Reply