guitarist: how do you loop things live on stage?

[naburo]

hi folks

i am just curious how i should do looping in a live situation
i want to use it in a jam band - and improvisational setting

a) with a mic in front of my amp?
b) with a switcher ? using on way for my amp and and the other for my laptop

i tried to use native instruments guitar rig but to my mind it uses way to much cpu energy
and with a mic in front of my amp there might be signals from the other band mates

please write your way of doing it
thx for your endevaour

[dj superflat]

mobius, i run direct.

[OvertoneZero]

With Guitar Rig, did you notice a degradation of the audio quality in the 'Loop Machine' tool? On my system it imposes this terrible hash on everything that runs through it.

[sparklepuff]

I use Guitar Rig 2 as a plug in Live, set up a couple tracks to record audio and use my FCB1010 to record/launch/stop the clips. The CPU is only an issue depending on your computer, I suppose. With my MacBook Pro, even the heavily reverbed tracks only use about 15%. AND, a very good thing to remember, is that you can click the Hi Quality button on and off which cuts your CPU usage in half. I really don't think that the sound quality is actually cut in half to my ears, especially when it's live and with a band. For recording, Hi Quality only, but live, I don't think it matters. I also don't use the loop machine tool, it doesn't like to play nice. Clips play nice.

[OvertoneZero]

Use hardware


Electrix Repeater is my personal favorite, but I do not have vast experience with many different units.

[Tone Deft]

behringer fcb1010 and plogue bidule

[tjwett]

i've always had the best results with hardware pedals, on bass as i'm not a guitar player. BUT a knob does not give the same kind of useful info as a real BPM readout, especially if you need to sync with other stuff. i've been practicing like hell lately with Live and it's tough getting consistent enough to do feel ok doing it live on stage. i'm going to need some kind of floor pedal action, maybe the behringer thang. i've been watching kid beyond videos for inspiration too. totally different kind of music to mine but he's definitely got the live looping thing licked.

[bvl]

hi folks

i am just curious how i should do looping in a live situation
i want to use it in a jam band - and improvisational setting

I'm using a PodXT Live with Ableton Live, and I love it. Here's how I've got mine set up.

The guitar is plugged into the input of the PodXT, and the outputs of the PodXT go to the sound system. The PodXT is also plugged into the laptop over USB, and it's selected in Ableton Live's preferences as the audio interface, both for input and output. I've got some channels of empty clips set up and those channels are record-enabled. I use a USB QWERTY keyboard to trigger recording into those clips, and they automatically start playing after I hit the key a second time.

You can see a video of me using this setup here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgsCV7gh88

You could also do as you suggest and put a mic in front of your amp. A dynamic with good rear rejection like an SM57 probably won't have too much bleed from your bandmates, and in a live setting it won't matter that much anyway.

I'd probably stay away from Guitar Rig - having Live function as just a simple loop record/playback tool & doing all the guitar processing in the hardware PodXT takes a lot of the hassle out, in my experience.

Hope this helps,

Bill

[Nightrider]

hi folks

i am just curious how i should do looping in a live situation
i want to use it in a jam band - and improvisational setting

I'm using a PodXT Live with Ableton Live, and I love it. Here's how I've got mine set up.

The guitar is plugged into the input of the PodXT, and the outputs of the PodXT go to the sound system. The PodXT is also plugged into the laptop over USB, and it's selected in Ableton Live's preferences as the audio interface, both for input and output. I've got some channels of empty clips set up and those channels are record-enabled. I use a USB QWERTY keyboard to trigger recording into those clips, and they automatically start playing after I hit the key a second time.

You can see a video of me using this setup here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgsCV7gh88

You could also do as you suggest and put a mic in front of your amp. A dynamic with good rear rejection like an SM57 probably won't have too much bleed from your bandmates, and in a live setting it won't matter that much anyway.

I'd probably stay away from Guitar Rig - having Live function as just a simple loop record/playback tool & doing all the guitar processing in the hardware PodXT takes a lot of the hassle out, in my experience.

Hope this helps,

Bill

it's not often I sit through a full youtube video but I sat through yours!!

very nice performance

[naburo]

thx bill

this is getting me in the right direction.
i just saw your youtube vid

well i was wondering if the typing on your keyboard comes a bit distracting, you could use an additional midi floor board to get your hands free


any way i ´ll appreciate further comments

[YILA]

i just plug straight in, With a few pedals...

I miss having the amp there mind you...because sometimes i cant hear myself in the club properly....so an amp with switching would be a good idea....

[feyshay]

For on the fly guitar looping.
I use POD XT Pro. Or I'll go with a reamping device back to the amp from my Fireface. I'll use a Behringer FCB 1010.
One question I've always wondered. I'll have to use a metronome click or Midi drum clip in order to get the timing right so that the click is perfectly launched.
Unfortunately, that requires a drum sequence to get things going, which I'll turn off when I get my first rhythm guitar (or acoustic rhythm) sequence.
Any way to get a tempo going that is correct without using drums or Midi sequence?
I've often thought that if I had a device that flashed a light for tempo, that that would be preferable.

[nebulae]

hi folks

i am just curious how i should do looping in a live situation
i want to use it in a jam band - and improvisational setting

I'm using a PodXT Live with Ableton Live, and I love it. Here's how I've got mine set up.

The guitar is plugged into the input of the PodXT, and the outputs of the PodXT go to the sound system. The PodXT is also plugged into the laptop over USB, and it's selected in Ableton Live's preferences as the audio interface, both for input and output. I've got some channels of empty clips set up and those channels are record-enabled. I use a USB QWERTY keyboard to trigger recording into those clips, and they automatically start playing after I hit the key a second time.

You can see a video of me using this setup here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGgsCV7gh88

You could also do as you suggest and put a mic in front of your amp. A dynamic with good rear rejection like an SM57 probably won't have too much bleed from your bandmates, and in a live setting it won't matter that much anyway.

I'd probably stay away from Guitar Rig - having Live function as just a simple loop record/playback tool & doing all the guitar processing in the hardware PodXT takes a lot of the hassle out, in my experience.

Hope this helps,

Bill

BVL-
Dude, that was an awesome video! I love your use of the volume pedal to create wonderful pad-like long attack sounds. Also, I agree with your advice to have Pod as a front end. I recently did a laptop deathmatch with a bass, and Pod was my front end (alleviating mic-ing issues and noise) and then I had Live do looping and further processing. I agree that once you have a nice tone going into the computer, then you can use the various modelers to enhance the sound, but initially, having a hardware box to really get your sound thick before you process is pretty important. My two cents.

[OvertoneZero]

Any way to get a tempo going that is correct without using drums or Midi sequence?
I've often thought that if I had a device that flashed a light for tempo, that that would be preferable.

You could do that, or use the tried-and-true DJ method of feeding the cue mix, in this case, your click track, into one ear.

[YILA]

Any way to get a tempo going that is correct without using drums or Midi sequence?
I've often thought that if I had a device that flashed a light for tempo, that that would be preferable.

You could do that, or use the tried-and-true DJ method of feeding the cue mix, in this case, your click track, into one ear.

of course!