Ableton Forum

I was kind of surprised last night when I at home I tried using the APC20 for live looping while playing guitar. It wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be.

I considered the APC20 to be OK for scene-launching while playing guitar, but now I'm wondering if it's cool just to go with it for the live recording and looping as well. Sure, a foot pedal would probably be better, but this might be cash I do not need to spend.


So.... has anyone used an APC for real in a performance to do guitar recording and looping?

Thx,
-- Joe

Hi There,

I'm a guitar player and own an APC40, it's a great controller that gives you full control of Ableton Live without touching your mouse and keyboard however if you are wondering how the APC40/20 works for guitar I'd say "nay" because you have to use both hands to use it, you can't use APC40 and Play guitar at the same time unless you are an octopus. For guitar looping I would head elsewhere... consider getting a MIDI foot controller instead. I'm actually saving up to buy a SoftStep Foot Controller by Keith McMillen Instruments (USD $260.00), You can also get a Behringer FCB1010 (USD $150.00) but is not as sleek and as intuitive as the SoftStep. The FCB1010 is a bit difficult to program as well.

I hope this helps

Get a pedal switch and plug it into (I think) external jack 1, and it hits the play button the last clip that you selected, so basically you only have to hit the button once to start it and can hit the switch to stop recording/start it looping.

Hi there,

I use an MPK mini for everything in Live, including looping guitar and vocals. Everything I play is improvised around everything else, and particular numbers of bars and beats bore me, so I have no problem using a hand in the middle of a chord change to slap a pad on the MKP that's mapped to Looper's record button.

Also, I have a Softstep foot controller, that is pretty much brand new. I just don't like it much, don't know why. I'd be happy to part with it if anyone wants to make a decent offer.

vrt,

Thanks for the reply.

The Softstep ain't cheap for a MIDI foot pedal, so your reply is pretty interesting. Again, I was surprised with how it didn't seem so bad to play guitar and use the APC20 at the same time. If you got a few beats to push the right button or two, and you have the nice visual feedback on the APC20, it might work out OK.

Thx,
- Joe

I've used my apc40's footpedal jack to be assigned to the Looper plugin's functions, it works well but you just have to find the right type of pedal. I tried with a yamaha piano sustain pedal and it worked for momentary effects, but for a bypass type of switch I found an old digitech switch pedal that worked.

Those type of switch pedals are also used to trigger tremolo or the distortion channel in tube amps, many guitar players already have some lying around...

Hmmmm... I got the APC20 in front of me here. No external footpedal switch.

BTW, I don't have the Looper plug-in with my version of Live. I have a Lite version that came with the APC20. And I'm trying to get by without spending another $300 for the full Ableton version. Actually, there is a heck of a lot you can do live looping-wise with the Lite version... just a matter of getting my hands or feet on it

Thx,
-- Joe

joegrant413 wrote:Hmmmm... I got the APC20 in front of me here. No external footpedal switch.

BTW, I don't have the Looper plug-in with my version of Live. I have a Lite version that came with the APC20. And I'm trying to get by without spending another $300 for the full Ableton version. Actually, there is a heck of a lot you can do live looping-wise with the Lite version... just a matter of getting my hands or feet on it

Thx,
-- Joe

Mmmhmm, I came close to getting the Lite version, but when I realized Live doesn't allow overdub on audio clips, I went for Suite for Session Drums, Operator and Looper. Since I sold an RC-50, the extra money to replace it seemed really well spent in Drums, synths, sounds, and excellent quantize functionality.

best regards,
Sal