Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
On 8 apr 2006, at 04.05, loop.pool wrote: > Why don't we take an informal poll and list what we think are our > very favorite plugins for processing loops I'm not processing loops, but I loop my processed playing. I finally settled for this solutions because I find laptops not enough powerful, stable and controllable with regard to effect parameters. I also see a big difference in playing the effects as part of your instrument to be looped, comparing to first playing and then altering the sound. It just suits me better for live performance. So I run INSTRUMENTS --> FX BOX --> LAPTOP. However, the effects I us in my box, a TC FireworX, are just the usual stuff. I combine effect chains (including feeback loops as part of the effect chain) as patches to call up for playing. I also layer differently processed sound by stepping through effect patches, while playing, and record loop layers colored by different effects. Here's the list (not a feature list, only the processing I tend to use): - Expander, compressor, gate - Distortion, - Resonance filter, bandpass filter, phaser, resonant chord filter, - Formant, - Vocoder, - Ring modulator, synth waveform generator, - Pitch (harmonizer, dual or mono. Quadra achieved by linking two dual etc), - Chorus (an effect use very rarely, I kind o dislike the sound of it) - Flanger (sometimes applied to delayed signal, never to direct instrument sound), - Delay (many kinds - stereo, multi tap, often tempo synced) - Reverb, - Pan, - EQ (usually applied to wet effect signal to help defining the dry instrument tone) This is the basic "universal audio processing tool kit" and I don't feel the need for more. Eventually with the exception for Pluggo Rye and SpeedShifter that has to be applied by software. If I work a recorded piece I like to use Logic, which has about the same set of effects built into the application code - so no other plug-ins are needed. Generally I also tend to use less effects these days as I mangle sound directly by looping techniques. Working with a looper like Mobius makes it easy to experiment with complicated series of command actions, as you can sequence them in scripts, not having to to the actual high-speed-tap-dancing on the floor pedal controller ;-) For example, I was looking for "drums" to use when looping, but never found a stable software solution because everything had to be run as plug-ins and that leads to the need of a host application, and I have found that Mobius suits me much better when run as a standalone looper. If Mobiuse had been an OS X applications I would have been able to just open software drum machine (like GURU or RMX) on the same laptop, but since Mobius is Windows XP dependent there can only be one application using the sound card drivers. Finally I just settled with making up drum beats with my voice, or other instruments, and loop that. An old technique I've been using for long with the EDP came in handy here: sing a hi-hat pattern in HalfSpead and it will sound like a crispy super fast and tight dance hall hi- hat when brought back to normal speed. etc, etc... To achieve a cool machine-like static percussion effect I set up a couple of tempo synced gating patches in my effect box, so whatever noise I make it will arrive into the laptop as sliced up chunks on sixteen notes, triads or whatever. I also have a lot of Mobius scripts that go in and out of overdub mode in the same pattern as a hi-hat would play. That's a lot more fun than trying to adapt "a drum machine" that wasn't even designed for experimental looping in the first place. The "granular synthesis" plug-in in Rick's list appears interesting. Can be used on a real-time audio stream? I've done some granular synthesis in MetaSynth, but only as a way of altering already recorded audio. Greetings from Sweden Per Boysen www.boysen.se (Swedish) www.looproom.com (international) http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast)