Re: Loopers-Delight-d Digest V01 #705

["Jan Pek" <swirlee@angelfire.com>]

eeee-kids-
 
> Having just lugged my heavy rack on an off of ferries and taxies for the
> last few weeks, I am more interested than ever in finding a software
> solution.
...

>I checked out Reaktor a little bit as a possible way to avoid having to 
>buy
>a Repeater, and in my short experience with it, I found that it was
seemingly impossible to build a looper much beyond a long delay style of
>thing - I couldn't find a way to handle tap tempo, which to me was a
>show-stopper - that's not to say it couldn't be done, but I didn't see how
>it could be done. Of course Reaktor appears to be very cool for many other

ive kept an eagle eye to the software front for a year now. i think a 
software solution will be emerging very soon. the arguments that the 
hardware peeps have been making about tactile user interface, latency, and 
stability, are being rapidly addressed by the software peeps.

user interface, you have these devices like iCube where you can build your 
own user interface, or the peavey fader box, or other flavors of switch 
and pedal comboboards. or if you are more technically savvy, get a basic 
stamp II and wire up your own switches and pots. it all runs into the 
computer. and you get to tweak the UI so that any switch or pedal can 
adjust anything, and so that you dont have any more knobs and dials than 
you really need.

latency, you have MAC OSX claiming 1 ms latency. You have new commercial 
audio software being developed for it. Someone mentioned ableton's Live 
sequencing package (www.ableton.com). I played with it. While its not 
quite fluid and stable enough yet to replace your EDP, id keep an eye on 
it.. and, for the savvy, you can write an EDP replacement in MAX/MSP. with 
the right hardware (the pick seems to be MOTU2408 or MOTU828) you can get 
your latencies down around 5-10ms (check the community pages at 
www.cycling74.com). when MSP becomes OS X ready, the latencies will drop. 

latency part 2, You also have a rapidly growing freesoftware Linux audio 
movement (www.linuxdj.com), reporting stable latencies peaking at 1-2 ms 
with intense disk and system activity. one audio card of choice seems to 
be the RME hammerfall (multichannel digital i/o). as for laptop audio, I 
contacted magma and they are working on Linux drivers for their Cardbus 
which allows you to plug PCI cards like the Hammerfall into your laptop. 
the linux people are puritans, serious about a stable architecture. check 
www.sourceforge.net for a list of free audio software being developed for 
linux. it wont be long before someone writes a multichannel looper under 
linux, and it might be really sexy. and while i really believe in free 
software and permaculture and all that, the linux audio thing is still a 
beta baby. so im waiting on it.

bottom line, the software front is coming. i'd give it another year.

for now, i would hold onto my cash, not be enticed by the toys, and play 
with myself instead. channel that energy into breath and learning, where 
you know it'll be wise. that's what im doing.

love
-yon



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