EDP multi-loop and feedback feature requests

[Mark Hamburg <mark_hamburg@baymoon.com>]

I've spent a fair amount of time in the past couple weeks trying to push my
EDP skills. (That's also why I've been annoying the list with more
questions...) One of my conclusions from this was that I just decided to
supplement my EDP with a second EDP rather than a Repeater. I had thought
that my big concern was going to be wanting to go to stereo looping, but
after working with the EDP for a while I'm pretty certain the new unit is
going to be used for running parallel loops.

(FYI: Alto Music's stock is down to 30 some EDPs though there was a bit of
tense moment on the phone when the guy I was talking to thought they might
only have one left and he had to go check. I also needed to mention the
Looper's list to get the $649 price.

Even at that price, I still need to get ready for the looks my wife will
give me when she tells me I'm over budget. I just need to figure out how to
get her to buy an expensive loom...)

That being said, for the stuff I'm doing the following items seem like they
would be useful enhancements:

* An input mode setting with options for input, mute, and "other loop".
Other loop happens to be well-defined for me since I tend to work with only
two loops. For people with more loops, perhaps this would always referenced
the previous loop or the first loop unless we were working with the first
loop in which case it would reference the last loop. The input option would
work as things do now. The mute option would answer the concerns that have
been raised by others about wanting to do things like multiply without
adding sound. (If pushed, I could probably live without input mute, but it
seemed reasonable to list it here since it's something others seem to 
want.)

The other loop option would allow one to essentially paint with an existing
loop. I'm assuming there is some reasonable definition of relative position
in the loops that gets applied when doing loop switching. If the loops are
the same length, painting with another loop would essentially build density
for the material from the other loop. If the loops were of different
lengths, all sorts of polyrhythmic combination could ensue. (For those who
know Photoshop, think about history brush like effects.)

Then there's the issue of where to put it in the UI since that seems to be
the sticking point on various features. I could perhaps see this as an
optional configuration for mute with the following meanings:

    short press of mute steps through the input modes
        -- change takes effect on button up
    long press of mute mutes the loop
        -- change takes effect on button up

This assumes that one isn't using mute in a rhythmic fashion.

* An alternative to Loop v. Delay mode that I will call Mix mode. The basic
mechanics would be that when playing, the feedback level would be set to 
100
(a la Delay). When multiplying or overdubbing, the feedback pedal would
control the mix between existing signal (feedback = 100%) and new signal
(feedback = 0%). The point to this would be to let one crossfade in another
signal for some portion of the loop. The alternative right now seems to me
to be trying to manipulate both a volume pedal and the feedback pedal at 
the
same time.

While the output of the Echoplex (prior to the input/loop mix knob) is
generally always the looped signal, when working in Mix mode, it should
probably be the mixed signal.

While one can remain in Loop and Delay mode without switching, this would
clearly need a way to switch it in and out. Personally, I would be prepared
to sacrifice the Insert switch.

Mix mode becomes particularly intriguing when using an existing loop as an
input since you can do things like softly erase back to a base loop in
spots).

* When switching loops in play mode -- i.e., switching from playing one 
loop
to playing another as opposed to switching into the other loop to modify it
-- it would be nice if there were an option to do this as a crossfade over
say one cycle. I've been working on trying to play over loop transitions,
but that means I'm busy both thinking about playing and about picking the
best point to abruptly transition loops.

Mark