Re: Mobius first impressions... and questions.

[Luca Formentini <luca@unguitar.com>]

Ciao Mark,
I really wish you and your "better half" the best luck and energy.

I have had a 6 months side by side looping life before deciding to seel 
my edps and go laptop.

I am more than satisfied to have decided this way.
I think Mobius is now reaching a level where considering it a clone to 
the edp would be very limitative.
Yes, it takes the basic, smart, UI concept of the edps as a root, but 
you need to leave that reference after a short while, otherways you risk 
to miss most of Mobius potential, or misunderstand it.

I am using Mobius in Audiomulch with great success, no problems at all.
At this reference let me update you about AM: next version will be 
available for Mac as well; Mobius already is, so you might consider to 
stay on a Mac...
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/mulch-discuss/

While most of them will be "interface issues" I bet you will sort out by 
yourself with some use, I would like to help you save some time on the 
following:
-volume: I keep the output volume of each track to "110" instead of 
"127". this way you keep some headroom to be overloaded by growing loop 
layers or multiple loops.
-Speed change is still something Mobius ( dear Jeff) has to develop 
further, so don't expect too much out of it right now.
-the list is here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/zonemobius/

Wish you all the best,
Luca

www.unguitar.com




mark francombe ha scritto:
> Hi guys,
>
> As many of you know from my previous rants aginst the "laptop loopers" 
> I am a self proclaimed "hardware head" (its a medical condition you 
>know).
>
> But I thought I would write a few notes to the group regarding my 
> first experiences of.. wait for it, wait for it.... MOBIUS!!!
>
> But first a raison d'être: I was going to be at Y2k8, and perform. I 
> was planning a NEW IMPROVED streamlined flight friendly case, empty of 
> loopers (that I could borrow en situ) but full of... well my stuff. 
> (synth modules, joysticks, and pitchshiftin, bit crushing madness.) It 
> was then that it happened, I considered it, for the first time... 
> laptop... gulp... and mobius...
> As some of you know I have had to cancel my trip and performance, cos 
> my better half Hilde has been diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and we 
> have just started her Radiation and Chemo therapy yesterday... some 
> things come before looping guys. (and girls...go get them thar smear 
> tests.. don't walk... run... )
>
> Why have I always been against software, well it all stems from a 
> period where I only produced music on computer, its was great... I did 
> 2 maybe three great albums, using predominately Audio Mulch... I was 
> drawn in by the wealth of possibilities, the infinate versions, 
> radical mix after radical mix... I dreamt up instruments, then I 
> created them, in SynthEdit or Reactor, I micro edited samples down at 
> the sample level, building sounds from scratch, morphing one thing 
> into another, I made aleatoric systems that played themselves getting 
> their only data from weather pressure data from an alaskan website, I 
> listened and recorded actual live police radio from Saracuse, it was a 
> blast!!!
>
> But then I added up the amount of hours spent at a computer. As a 
> film-maker as my dayjob, then coming home and using a computer for 
> fun... I was sat there.. 18 hours a day, in front of the screen.
>
> So I went back to the (now dusty rack and modular synth) and never 
> looked back... until now (Here comes the Mobius stuff for those that 
> thought this was a Mobius review).
>
> I thought.. so what if I just had my guitar and a 
> laptop..(reintroducing the guitar should keep it physical) and so for 
> a mere 3 hours last night I gave it a go.
> I was mightily impressed.
> But not without some reservations.
>
> First-up I should say I couldnt get my FCB1010 to work with it. I 
> should say that I will buy a PC lap and a decent sound/midi card when 
> I have completely convinced myself, but for now I thought I would try 
> it out with my M audio Ozone. Imagine my dismay when I went round the 
> back of the keyboard and looked at "That other midi plug that should 
> be midi IN"... Oh no.. its something called USB in... not a USB 
> socket, but a midi plug, not sure what its for, but it aint midi IN... 
> so no pedal power for now...
>
> And I think THAT issue would probably solve all my problems. As 
> everyone knows, you cant loop with a mouse click... impossible, but I 
> tried, oh and this with the new mac version. I will get a PC do do 
> this eventually, so I can run it inside Mulch (anyone using Mobius in 
> Mulch BTW... works?? or??)
>
> Sound quality was excellent, I think I probably have to change the 
> noise floor setting, cos it was writing Overdubs every loop, even 
> though I wasnt playing anything (that is the same as on the EDP 
> right...? Dont play, no overdub??)
>
> I loved the fact that I could now SEE what was happening with the 
> overdub layers, with the quantized up-coming commands.
>
> I was annoyed by the fact that one track stayed in Overdub when I 
> switched to another... any need for that?
>
> And is it still recording into that first track while you make a new 
> track?
>
> So actually I DIDNT like that it had multiple tracks, I could use ONE 
> more than the edp... so two... and I like that they are stereo, but I 
> found myself going to new tracks all the time, like it was a repeater, 
> and that makes a different kind of music... that is unweildy and 
> repetative, one that you cant change in a moment cos everything is 
> spread across tracks... god 4 tracks is too many on the Repeater for me!!
>
> None of the speed change or pitch shift things worked (apart from the 
> EDPish hlfspeed, worked fine) but thats probably a mac version port 
> thing-soon to be fixed.
>
> It distorted quite easily for me after a few overdubs, prob need to 
> fiddle with gain structure I guess, but I am used to be able to HIT 
> THE GUITAR!!! and stroke it...
>
> LOVED the idea of the track slip thing (is this the same as on the 
> repeater? Should it slip by cycles, beats.. what?) unfortunatly that 
> crashed Mobius on my machine...
>
> Also LOVED the idea of different presets on each track. (But needed to 
> figure out how to change the default settings) Does ANYONE have 
> UN-synched tracks as a default? Why?
>
> And seriously intrigued (but not enough time to try) by the scripts 
>thing.
> One of my current techniques is to fire a bunch of midi notes at my 
> EDP from my drum-machine. I regularly have pre worked-out sequences 
> for example... that overdubs then changes the 8ths setting then goes 
> half speed, reverse, normal speed, forward, multiply... then 25 undos 
> in a row. Now Im NOT SURE if scripts will let me do the same thing... 
> but I think so... and more besides... record on track one after an 
> 8th, switch to track 2, repeat across all tracks, wher all tracks are 
> pre pitched to different notes, THEN after one bar stop record on one 
> and insert one space later... bla bla bla...
>
> What does "Shuffle" do? Button didnt seem to do anything.
>
> I am yet to be able to say how it FEELS... This has been one of my 
> things in previous posts, that just like a favoured guitar, where you 
> love the action or the tone, and how it sits against your knee, a 
> looper has FEEL. The EDP to me has lots of FEEL, I play WITH it, 
> forget it, it surprises me, yet never tricks me. My OTHER looper the 
> repeater, has NO FEEL, I like its features, but I must treat it like a 
> tape machine, I switch it on, it records, it loops, it does what I 
> tell it, but I cant forget it, one Undo, and 4 tracks means I lose 
> myself in where what is, I need to remove something and take down the 
> wrong track
>
> Now... with Mobius inside Mulch... with different tracks coming out to 
> different bubbleblowers? shiiiiiiiit..
>
>
>
>
> So im not there yet... would like some feeback on these questions, but 
> I will probably joint the Mobius list and hang out for a bit...
> Need to borrow a new soundcard witha midi IN and try it with FCB.. 
> maybe the FEEL is ok... man...
>
> By the way.. where is the Mobius list, couldnt find it at Yahoo...
>
> thats it for now... good first impresions... but scared what the 
> future might bring (in more ways than one - see 3rd paragraph)
>
> Later kids, dont stay up to late..
>
> Mark
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> www.markfrancombe.com <http://www.markfrancombe.com/>
> http://uk.youtube.com/user/markfrancombe
> http://www.myspace.com/markfrancombe
> www.looop.no <http://www.looop.no/>
>
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