Re: building our own looper

[David Trenkel <improv@peak.org>]

On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, A.S.P. wrote:

> 
> Hello Loopheads,
> 
> I've been lurking on this list for a couple of weeks and am enjoying it
> quite a bit.
> 
> The reason I got on the list is because I'm seriously contemplating
> getting an Oberheim Echoplex.  I recently finished building my first
> modular synthesizer.  I bought an Emax II sampler to complement it, but
> I'm finding that non-realtime instruments less and less attractive.  One
> thing I'm trying to figure out is if the Echoplex would be redundant,
> because I use an analogue sequencer to drive the modular, which in 
>essence
> is an "analogue" of a tape loop.  Do any of you use loop delays with
> synths and sequencers?
>

I do, in fact for the last few days I've been using 4 looping delays in a 
synth setup (JamMan, LXP-5, Vortex AND Echoplex, but the 'plex is 
borrowed and will be going away in a few days), and I think that the 
loopers 
integrate well. The synths are mostly elderly analogs, + a Roland MC303. 
I can think of several good reasons to use a looper along with an analog 
sequencer.

One thing I love to do is set up an interesting sequence, loop it into 
the JamMan, then change the tempo of the original sequence by a bpm or 2, 
against the loop still playing at the original tempo, with the 2 moving 
in and out of phase with each other. Instant Steve Reich! In fact, I had 
a couple of loops like this that I left running for 2 days recently. It 
took something like 6 hours for the downbeats to coincide. This isn't 
really something you could pull off live, I doubt most audiences have 
that kind of patience, but it can be pretty interesting in a hardcore 
minimalist sense.

Also, on a more practical level, I could see using the looper to expand 
the polyphony of your synth. Set up a pattern on the sequencer, loop it, 
then use the sequencer to develop new material against the loop.

You could probably even use the looper as another oscillator in the 
modular system, sending loops into filters, modulators, whatever. 
Actually, I'm starting to get really jealous of the possibilities you'd 
have with a modular synth and a looper....

Have fun!