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I've never understood looper pedals and how people are able to use them. I know that they loop what you play and you tap to begin and end the sequence, and that you can layer on top of each recorded track, but how do you do it so that they always sync up? I mean, if you stop early or late, the rhythm will be mismatched and eventually it will sound out of place.

Do you just have to practice looping in time or is there something in the pedal that helps sync sections up if they're a few ms off?

I have a Lo-Fi Loop Junky and there is no overdubbing so that keeps it pretty simple. I tend to either use it as a rhythm track over which I will play or a snippet of something more atmospheric that doesn't need to repeat in strict time.

yeah basically a matter of practicing looping & becoming familiar with how your looper works. sometimes that half-a-sec can make all the difference & sometimes an out of "sync" loop can actually sound pretty good. you know how when you hear a tape loop & you can hear it starting over. that kind of gives a loop its character IMO.

i don't loop much w/ guitar but yeah a basic rhythm loop with a basic simple couple note lead is good practice. & then playing over that. is cool: (really the hard part is making a compelling loop that sounds interesting to listen to overandoveragain...). rhythm by nature is mostly repetitive and loops by nature are rhymthic, so it is just a matter of instinctively mastering that.

Thanks for the help. I was thinking about eventually getting a looper to do some ambient work and just to force myself to practice. It's just a thought, but since the Superdelay has a loop mode I've been trying to get myself to work with it. The loop time is just too short, even though the reverse mode is really cool (though it only reverses the first sequence you play).

Guess I should just get off my ass and play one of these days.

Watch these clips. These guys are all masters of looping.

This is Steve Lawson explaining it
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmCVbp_sxl0 [/youtube]

This is Bill Frisell
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svzv-YkUzdk[/youtube]

Of course, there's Mr. Fripp...using a tape recorder -- although he's all digital now I think.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSStufx6jYU[/youtube]

Much more interesting than playing a I-IV-V progression then pentatonic noodling over it.

I've been fiddling with this stuff, and it's not easy but it can sound good.
As you mentioned ambient, you might like Robin Guthrie too. He uses (used?) a Boomerang. Bill Frisell's thing is an old Digitech PSD8000 and Steve Lawson is a big fan of the digital echoplex. I haven't tried any of the newer high-tech loopers except the DL4, which was at least easy to use. The Digitech is cool and I have a lofi loop junky too, which is...odd but fun. Hang out on loopersdelight to get a feel for it maybe?

Nychthemeron wrote:Thanks for the help. I was thinking about eventually getting a looper to do some ambient work and just to force myself to practice. It's just a thought, but since the Superdelay has a loop mode I've been trying to get myself to work with it. The loop time is just too short, even though the reverse mode is really cool (though it only reverses the first sequence you play).

Guess I should just get off my ass and play one of these days.

loop time & features played a MAJOR factor in my decision as to which one i got. if looping is the main function you need have you thought about getting a dedicated looper a la the Line 6 JM4 or maybe the Boss one. becuz sometimes w/ delay&looper combos you sacrifice some things functionally-wise that you otherwise would not w/ a str8 up looping pedal.

looping is not really something you practice at like teaching yrself guitar or something. really just spending an afternoon w/ a loop pedal and the manual will be fine. it is really more about executing yr ideas vis a vis the loop pedal but the then about delay pedals loop pedals is that doing ambient work. i see the Empress Superdelay has a 12 sec looper. i mean apparently that is not much less time than the Line 6 DL4 i think (16 sec.). depending on what you are trying to do, you could accomplish a in 12 sec. or pairing it w/ another cheaper delay...

It's also extremely important to have a GOOD drummer that can hear your amp. It really doesn't take too long to be able to loop tracks in sync...of course they're rarely going to be absolutely perfect (we aren't machines after all) but if they're in time a good drummer who can hear you easily will be able to keep track with the loop. I'll often work out new ideas for my band with just our drummer and loop stuff on the fly as he's playing and it work's great.

Check out the Boomerang III

http://www.boomerangmusic.com/Rang%20III.html

i've seen people effectively loop w/ a Digidelay. like one Digidelay or something. i hate to "repeat" myself, but it is more about ideas & execution more than anything else.

peace.

devnulljp wrote:Watch these clips. These guys are all masters of looping.

COUGH

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSQa9TbcqPE[/youtube]

iblamesummers wrote:i've seen people effectively loop w/ a Digidelay. like one Digidelay or something. i hate to "repeat" myself, but it is more about ideas & execution more than anything else.

peace.

I used to have one, there was only like 4-7 seconds of looping time, but it was very fun to use and also extremely simple.

I understand tempo and all that (in fact I can vamp on drums in most time signatures thrown at me), but I just can't seem to understand how you can get loopers to stay in tempo since there is a margin to be off by a few ms. Though that isn't much at first, it builds up after each repeat. I get that practice does help and that's probably what I need to do.

Also, fuck yeah don cab. #1 math rock.

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

Nychthemeron wrote:I understand tempo and all that (in fact I can vamp on drums in most time signatures thrown at me), but I just can't seem to understand how you can get loopers to stay in tempo since there is a margin to be off by a few ms. Though that isn't much at first, it builds up after each repeat. I get that practice does help and that's probably what I need to do.

I don't think there's a remedy to this. You're never going to be completely on time, but neither is your drummer, unless he's a machine. If that is what's stopping you from buying a loop pedal, it shouldn't be, TONS of bands use them to great effect and I'm sure they aren't on time every time.

You just gots to try it, hours of fun.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auENlvIB_R4[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhNtQTQlE-Y[/youtube]

Annnnnnnnnd

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9uPV66oV_k[/youtube]