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Looper's Delight
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On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 2:50 PM, Simeon Harris <simeonharris40@googlemail.com> wrote: > i'd like ot be able to kinda recreate this lot in a laptop > > so my questions are - will i be able to set up a bunch of plugins on one > midi channel and put the loopers on other channels, so i can control > everything the way i am now Yes, that would be perfectly possible in general although maybe not in every detail. But with software you don't need to think the old hardware biased way like "sending MIDI into a plug-in". Modern software has its own protocol for controlling plug-ins besides the universal VST and AU protocols. Both Live, Mainstage and Bidule becomes more powerful and easier to use if you take advance of the host's interface instead of just sending MIDI into the looper plug-in. Since you say "recreate" your present rig and since this rig is based on effect presets that you call up by floor pedals my guess is that Mainstage will serve you best. Maybe also Bidule. These two hosts can host a big number of alternate effect chains for the musicians to play through and they both off-load the CPU all patches not in use. This is not the case with Ableton Live, but Live might be better for bringing in pre-recorded audio and MIDI synth/sampler clips to mix into your guitar playing. I don't dare to say this will not also be possible with Mainstage in the future, but today Mainstage is just a pedalboard/effect rig substitute, not a DJ-rig as well. Bidule has the most advanced data routing options (its own data, MIDI, VST and AU control data), Live is quite good (I guess Andy's friend just hasn't discovered that yet) and Mainstage "just works". Although Maisntage won't let you do any advanced or spectacular routing, it is faster to work with than Bidule if you for example want to set up a patch where your expression pedal works as a volume swell pedal that also freezes a reverb or delay in the "no input" position (i.e. you may use the pedal to swell in slices of your playing to replace parts that is looping in the effect. I use these kind of effect programming with both Bidule and Mainstage, often almost the same patches, and they both sound better to me and are simpler to handle in Mainstage (I'm a player rather than a programmer). My own first choice is Mainstage because of the good sound and the easy handling. Bidule was good for me under Windows but the Mac version has not yet gotten multi core support to work sound crystal clear with the plug-ins I want to use. Best plug-ins for you to replace your Eventide Eclipse would be the SoundToys Native Bundle. http://www.soundtoys.com/ I had been eying them for long time but when they released AU versions I finally picked them up afte recommendations from musicians I've heard play stuff I like in this typical textural department (Steve Stevens, Eyvind Aarset). I'm not sure what you mean by saying that "it should sync to MIDI clock"? All software mentioned here does that. Some loopists though, especially the EDP christened, like to use the looper to generate the tempo that all effects and other gear has to follow. That's the way I'm used to play and this works well with both Mainstage and Bidule. Today it works well also with Live if you use live 8's new Looper plug-in for the tempo detection. You can use it just as a dummy to set the tempo and catch your audio in a better looper like SL or Mobius. If you are used to the LP1 SooperLooper may be fine for you. For EDP guys Mobius may feel more familiar (option to cue many loops on each of the looper channels). I'd like to agree with Andy - don't even try to estimate "the endless options with software" because that way you will never get up there to make music. Start out by envisioning exactly what you want to do and then set up a laptop system that works that way. Then use that as the platform to expand your tools slowly in the software world, one new trick at a time. Per