Re: "hold" note uninterrupted feature

["Jesse Ray Lucas" <jlucas@neoprimitive.net>]

Here's a couple different ideas:

Cheap Method:  Hit the 'Record' button on any looping device after the
initial attack of the note.  Try to take as small a piece as possible so 
you
don't get a difference in level from the decay of the note, otherwise you
will hear a volume change every time the loop starts over.  If you get a
noticable loop, then you can try doing the same thing again as an overdub 
to
try and smooth it out.  I do this with the Boss RC-20 when I practice 
scales
on my fretless bass, to create a drone note.  Although, unfortunately, the
RC-20 seems to have a minimum sample time of about two and a half seconds
which is enough time for a uncompressed, uneffected bass note to have a
noticable volume decay.  If you're using distortion and/or compression you
could probably get away with it easier.  But, if you're really shredding, 
no
one will care about a small click or volume change in the loop anyway.

Expensive Method:  Sample your guitar into the computer, dump them into a
hardware sampler (or something you're willing to take on the gig), set up a
loop point in the sample(s) to loop seamlessly.  Trigger the note you want
with a set of Roland PK-5 MIDI pedals (or some other MIDI controller) set 
to
the setting where the pedals send only a note on message until you hit the
pedal again.  This will give you exactly what you want, at the cost of a
measly $999 for a Yamaha A4/5000, and $419 for a set of PK-5 bass pedals
(price quoted from the Musician's "Friend" website).  You could also 
trigger
other sounds as drone notes with this rig, as well as drum loops, and
samples of burps and farts.

Does anyone else know of a controller that will send note on messages like
this, without note off, until you hit the next note?

-J



----- Original Message -----
From: <Sorceror777@aol.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 3:56 PM
Subject: "hold" note uninterrupted feature


> Im looking for a unit that will allow me to play one note, hit a button 
>on

> the floor once, and it will sample and hold that note continuously and
> uninterrupted without any hint of decay or repeated attacks. Something
like a
> digital sustain pedal (for a guitar rig), that does not repeat the 
>initial
> attack like a looper does, but will hold a continuous drone of the note I
> play when I activate the unit.
>
> Also I do not want to have to hold the pedal down to keep the note
sounding,
> I want to be able to hit the button once, which makes the note sound
> uninterrupted for as long as I want, play whatever I want unaffected
> (echo-free), and then when Im sick of the background droning note, I hit
the
> button once again to deactivate the unit.
>
> The unit may be a simple stompbox or a rackmount, as long as I can 
>control
> the feature via footswitch.
>
> Anyone know of ANYTHING of this sort,
> thanks
> Jesse Malone
>