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Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:40 am
by aegert
OK so.... I have been watching people using recorded loops for years. I have some studio experience but the instant solo self performance has been a thing to watch for me not to do.. I think its time to change that so I wanted to elicit some help from what I think is a community with tones of experience. Now that being said I am looking to dip my toe in so I can start to learn an hone some rudimentary chops.. I am looking for some recommendations for a lopper to start with to enable me to get a loop down play with it with effects and play with it initially with a guitar.. Now being said it would be great to have some flexibility for growth so recalling of some loops from storage might be nice and multiple loops could be cool... I am a noob so talk slow and deliberate and dont assume any knowledge LOL

Thanks in advance.. some day I might be Reggie Watts ROFL

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gKWfvd-chA[/youtube]

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:47 am
by Grrface
aegert wrote:OK so.... I have been watching people using recorded loops for years. I have some studio experience but the instant solo self performance has been a thing to watch for me not to do.. I think its time to change that so I wanted to elicit some help from what I think is a community with tones of experience. Now that being said I am looking to dip my toe in so I can start to learn an hone some rudimentary chops.. I am looking for some recommendations for a lopper to start with to enable me to get a loop down play with it with effects and play with it initially with a guitar.. Now being said it would be great to have some flexibility for growth so recalling of some loops from storage might be nice and multiple loops could be cool... I am a noob so talk slow and deliberate and dont assume any knowledge LOL

Thanks in advance.. some day I might be Reggie Watts ROFL

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gKWfvd-chA[/youtube]
For a good cheap looper to get started with, I might look at the Ditto. They're incredibly easy to come by cheap on the used market. If stored loops is a requirement, hold out until after NAMM for the Ditto X2, it looks incredibly useful.

As far as looping goes, though, the best way to learn is just to do it and practice a bunch. I loop pretty extensively when I'm at home, but I still can't pull off the timing correct in a band setting. Recently I've started working drum stuff in from the iPad, but even that is rough.

This is the most recent stuff I've been doing with a Flashback, just to give you an idea of some basic looping:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifmJelajUU0[/youtube]

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:54 am
by aegert
Thanks

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:57 am
by behndy
Reggie Watts is the MAN.

so, "intro looping"..... you're really looking at something super simple like the Ditto looper, no learning curve at all. just click to start a loop, click to play that loop, click to overdub, double click to stop.

or something on the low end like the Boss RC stuff that can do the more complicated stuff like hold a loop on a memory card, but the layout is a bit more to get used to.

i'd probably start with a Ditto just to get some looping chops down and see if you want to get into the more complicated pedals?

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:03 pm
by behndy
oop. forgot this was coming out -

http://www.effectsdatabase.com/model/tc ... c/ditto/x2

might be perfect for what you're talking about using a looper for.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:08 pm
by aegert
Just watched the video and it looks cool I will wait for 10 days .. to check that out. Couldnt find a cost on line any ideas?

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:11 pm
by behndy
i HOPE it's released in 10 days. big demand on new loot/close to NAMM sometimes causes delays unfortunately.

i'd guess sub $200? probably around $175.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:15 pm
by Grrface
behndy wrote:i HOPE it's released in 10 days. big demand on new loot/close to NAMM sometimes causes delays unfortunately.

i'd guess sub $200? probably around $175.
Yeah, that's probably about right by my guessing.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:18 pm
by retinal orbita
I had a boss RC-2 that I found really unintuitive and sold it a couple years ago. I just bought a delaylab and really like it, even though I hella suck at looping... I'm trying to practice as much as possible but I definitely need more time with it. I love the delays so it was a great buy....

I guess my advice would be to test drive as many as possible, I like the functionality of mine but it almost does too much, y'know? Too many storage banks and shit..... Find the one that works best for you, interface wise, bc they all essentially do the same thing with different features and options and shit.....

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:16 pm
by Bassus Sanguinis
I agree with guys. It takes a little time to get used to playing and stomping on the switches in time (and some looper pedals are just not too good in that) SO You might want to start with something simple to see if that's where You want to go deeper.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58T4yGJ4J4Y[/youtube]

Sheesh! Seems like my old Boss RC-50 will be for sale. Never had the headroom to handle my pedalboard crazy output levels anyway.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:19 pm
by Disarm D'arcy
Yeah Ditto x2 looks like a rc20/jamman like they should be.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:27 pm
by skullservant
I'm huge into looping.

The Ditto is an excellent place to start, as is the new Digitech Jamman Express XT (from my limited experience for the latter)

Out of all of the loopers I've tried, I've liked the DD7, DL4, and DL8 the best, and here is why:

DD7: the hold function is about 40 seconds give or take, 20 in stereo- which is plenty of time for passages. Crystal clear, no matter how much gain you throw at it.
DL4: Add some soft touch switches to it and you've got one of the coolest loopers ever. Reverse, half speed, dedicated stop and restart buttons. Drawback is there is a little bit of a volume drop.
DL8: True stereo looping. I've added a momentary switch instead of having to press the whole metal lip down. Streamlines looping and makes things easier. Pretty great quality on the loops and the true stereo is really excellent.

Other loopers that are pretty okay but I got rid of for this reason or that reason: RC2, Ditto (was borrowed, but I didn't bond with it), Infinity, RC20XL.

But honestly it comes down to how you find that you loop. Are you big on just playing on top of your own tracks for practice, or do you want to start manipulating loops and making the loops themselves part of it as well? You might find that you start with the first, and end in the latter, which is what I did. All about experimentation!

That Ditto x2 looks great though.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:33 pm
by kbit
Too bad you can't do 1/2 speed and reverse at the same time on the Dittox2, but still looks super bad-ass.

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 6:55 pm
by Grrface
kbithecrowing wrote:Too bad you can't do 1/2 speed and reverse at the same time on the Dittox2, but still looks super bad-ass.
Apparently you can! Check out the note:

Image

Re: Need Looper help NOOB

Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:06 pm
by Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.
agh makes way more sense now. i thought that you could only use the extra footswitch for what it was set to. so like if u were using the reverse, u couldn't stop or half speed.