Ableton Forum

hey, sorry for the new thread. ive searched but cant find info specific to what im doing
my band is now synched with ableton and its great for launching clips and looping midi stuff
but i want to loop my guitar- how do you guys get the best sound of the guitar in ableton while performing?
1) split out of your board then amp modeling?
2) line out of an amp?
3) some folks say micing the amp but im getting too much drums and bass seeping in with my sm57.....

how can i get the best guitar tone in looper for live usage?

thanks for any info in advance

use a midi guitar or run your line in via pickups. mic-ing is always gonna have bleed if there's background noise.

or... play inside a sound proof booth.

thanks for the response
well midi guitar is out for now....
uh, line in via pickups? you mean straight into the interface from my pedal board? i feel like amp modeling is needed to get an authentic sound

what about a super nice directional mic?

connor117 wrote:uh, line in via pickups? you mean straight into the interface from my pedal board?

yes

connor117 wrote:what about a super nice directional mic?

results may vary...

if you think about it the nature of the problem is that looper is "hearing" what the mic is picking up... so when it plays back it gets everything that the mic picked up (before), so its not just playing what you want (now).

connor117 wrote:i feel like amp modeling is needed to get an authentic sound

why not run from a real amp into into the interface? 2 for 1

No no no no NO.

Guitar into pedal board (like a Pod X3 Live, or traditional pedals, etc)
Pedal board into interface (Motu Ultralite, etc)
Interface Outs to Your fav amp or speaker setup
Done.

This setup is very simple, and allows you to do modeling at the pedalboard or laptop level. I actually run my Sticks and guitar through powered PA speakers at this point. It's amazing how many people who do a shitload of modeling, FX, and mangling will still insist on having a prestine 60s Fender Twin or some shit because they think it's going to make some kind of difference after they've processed the shit out of their sound, lol.

I think LoopStationZebra's answer is solid... better even.

however, I was talking about skipping the modeling all together. use the amp head to get what it is your modeling... analogue.

either way, you pretty much have to get the mic out of the equation or Looper will be looping a lot more than your six stringed intentions...

If I understand it correctly, you want to use Ableton to loop a guitar, and you want it to sound (except for the looping) like your guitar normally sounds.

You haven't said whether you want Ableton to produce other sounds, such as other instruments, percussion, etc. at the same time.

Here's how to do it.

1) If you do want Ableton to produce other sounds, you need an audio interface with additional outputs. You send those outputs to your PA or whatever, but you reserve one output for your guitar amp.

2) You connect your guitar to an instrument-level input of your audio interface. You connect one output of your audio interface to a reamping box such as this one, and you connect the output of the reamping box to your guitar amp.

3) You set up an audio channel the input of which is connected to your audio-interface input that has the guitar connected to it. The output of that channel goes to your reamping box, which goes to your guitar amp.

Now when you switch on monitoring on the channel that connects your guitar with the reamping box, you should be able to play your guitar and have it sound completely normal. But if you then interpose a looper in that channel, you should be able to loop your guitar to your heart's content. Meanwhile, whatever other other channels you have in Live should go to your PA, so they don't get colored by the guitar amp.

I work in stereo and all my sound goes through the PA. Guitar to amp modeler to interface to Live back to the interface and out to the PA. MIDI foot controller for volume and wah on the amp modeler and to control Live (tap tempo, track select, record arm, sends on/off, looper functions).

- Joel

Joel David Palmer
iTunes, Amazon, Myspace, LastFM
Drone Zone

I do what Loopstationzebra suggested:

Guitar>pedals>my audio interface>Ableton using the looper>my amps....

For me the best thing to do is :

Plug your guitar in your guitar amp.
Put your amp as far as possible, so it doesn't record too much other sounds when looping.
Mic in front of the amp, straight to your soundcard, so you can work with computer's stereo effects.
Monitor your guitar on stage with the wedges.

Actually, I don't do this (guitar straight to the soundcard), but I really want to give it a try. Tell me if this seems stupid.

I think micing an amp to go into a computer for looping isnt a great solution. The noise degradation you pick up through the mic outweight the benefit of the amp tone.

Sorry but I really don't think so. After all, it's how it's done on stage for rock bands. It's just a matter of chosing the good mic, the good amp volume, and good mic position. I may be wrong though, I am do not pretend to be a specialist.

LoopStationZebra wrote:No no no no NO.

Guitar into pedal board (like a Pod X3 Live, or traditional pedals, etc)
Pedal board into interface (Motu Ultralite, etc)
Interface Outs to Your fav amp or speaker setup
Done.

This setup is very simple, and allows you to do modeling at the pedalboard or laptop level. I actually run my Sticks and guitar through powered PA speakers at this point. It's amazing how many people who do a shitload of modeling, FX, and mangling will still insist on having a prestine 60s Fender Twin or some shit because they think it's going to make some kind of difference after they've processed the shit out of their sound, lol.

Don't tell me you own one of those (you said Sticks) - awesome! :


Back on topic I think this is the best setup proposed here, although the 'self cool effect' of the Twin still makes self-gratification better...

I have been trying to figure out this too in a way. I want to be able to have my guitar run into ableton, as well as my midi keyboard.

I want to make beats via my midi with the sounds on ableton, and be able to run my guitar through ableton and use it as a looping station.

Still trying to figure it out. I mean, I am getting great advice from people, but I am so dumb when it comes to running all pieces of equipment into and out of ableton.

http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php? ... 92&start=0

chapelier fou wrote:Sorry but I really don't think so. After all, it's how it's done on stage for rock bands. It's just a matter of chosing the good mic, the good amp volume, and good mic position. I may be wrong though, I am do not pretend to be a specialist.

It does depend on what level of processing you are going to do though, if you're really mangling your guitar sound then you may as well DI. Plus, being that we're not in professional rock bands by and large, no-one in the audience will know you're using an amp sim instead of micing a real amp.

YMMV and it's personal choice of course, but as i say for me its never really been worth the extra hassle of taking amps and mics, just plug into your soundcard and go!