How to start a looping session without a loop?

fishmac · Post by **fishmac** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 12:29 pm

Hi everybody!

I try to figure out something and could need some help!
For a theatre-performance, I want to start a loop-built-soundscape with a microphone. I use a Midi-Foot-Controller for that purpose.

I don't want to use a loop before I created one on stage to get me in sync right from the start. I want to make the first loop and use ist as the reference for all the loops that come afterwards.
So I would record the first loop by selecting Quantization to None and it keeps looping. But now I would have to change the tempo of the track. By tapping in my own recorded rhythm to get the tempo, Live changes the speed of my recorded Loop, because the program suggests that the tempo of it was the preset Tempo (120 BpM).
The only way of getting rid of this is disabling warp mode for the clip, but then you can't loop the clip anymore.

Anyone has a suggestion how to use the first recorded loop as a "master track"? It seems impossible to me, and even more impossible with midi-files...

Thanx for any help,

Fishmac

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:51 pm

live does not have first recorded loop sets tempo (it does have first loop dragged into set sets tempo). so you can't easily do what you want with live alone. but there are looping VSTs you can use in live to do same (there are many threads on this).

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:52 pm

by the way, you can loop the clip without warp by using follow actions. but this doesn't solve the problem of having the first loop serve as master.

fishmac · Post by **fishmac** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 6:44 pm

Thanx a lot for the answer? Do you have a preferred Loop-VST to do so?

Greetings,

Fishmac

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:01 pm

i use mobius, others use augustus, angstrolooper, musolmo, etc. many looper VSTs are free or have free demos, so see which one you like.

chapelier fou · Post by **chapelier fou** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:11 pm

If your audio card allows it, you can route the metronome to earphones.

fishmac · Post by **fishmac** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:58 am

Thank you both very much!
Helped me a lot!!!

OvertoneZero · Post by **OvertoneZero** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 3:32 am

If you look at the Imogen Heap Repeating Looping thread in this Tips & Tricks forum I posted a detailed explanation of a workaround for this using Augustus Loop to create a Master loop.

fishmac · Post by **fishmac** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:09 pm

I read it and Augustus seemed to be the right thing for me, but unfortunally it's a Mac only software, I'm PC. So i try the Mobius, but this one seems a bit complex to me (actually i just need the Tempo-Master-Option).

OvertoneZero · Post by **OvertoneZero** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:23 pm

Yep, Mobius is really popular among the computer looping crowd. I'm not familiar with setting it up, but the same principles should apply. You will need MIDI Yoke / MIDI Ox to create virtual out and in. Send clock out from Mobius back to virtual in and set Live to 'Sync' to that virtual In and set Live to follow 'EXT' clock source.

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:04 pm

mobius seems complicated, but it's really not. it's deep enough to do anything you might want, but it should take you no more than a few minutes to map record and overdub to a footpedal (and then you can do exactly what you want).

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:05 pm

and you don't need midiyoke or anything with mobius. just open mobius as a vst in live, open the midi map in mobius (not live), check capture midi, step on the pedal you want, then assign it to record, overdup, multiply, whatever.

fishmac · Post by **fishmac** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:37 pm

Alright, but I still would need to do the virtual MIDI thing to set Mobius as the SYNC Master in Live - as long as I get it, thanks to the helpful explanations from OvertoneZero. Actually, it's all about the one missing function in Live for me that could be called: "Set first recorded loop as tempo master". I think that's a must-be for V8...

The pedals of my board are already assigned for looping in Live - it's a FCB 1010 and there is a great midi map that I downloaded. The whole looping thing works very well, includung fx control via Racks. Again, and after checking out other threads I saw that's a common problem - it's all about the first loop that should set the tempo.

Greetings,

Fishmac

dj superflat · Post by **dj superflat** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:13 pm

you don't need to set mobius as midi sync master. i run mobius as a vst in live, with live being master. but it doesn't matter because i just use length of first loop in mobius to set things, regardless of what tempo is (if that makes any sense).

OvertoneZero · Post by **OvertoneZero** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:45 am

How do you 'set things'? Do you manually set the tempo in Live after recording your first loop? Or do you do all of your looping exclusively in Mobius?