hardware + laptop interaction

topic posted Sat, February 9, 2008 - 9:05 PM by  Je'si
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my ideal setup would use a hardware looping device, with some pre-recorded audio thrown in the mix (e.g. parts played by instruments that are too large for me to gig with).

does anyone have any experience making this combo work?

i'd like to trigger audio on the computer and have it play in sync with the loops i've just recorded. is this possible, or is my best bet just to set the tempos to match beforehand, and just trigger the audio with a midi key, hoping it all lines up?

basically i'm looking for the simplest way to have prerecorded sounds interact in time with live-looped sounds.

thanks!
: )
posted by:
Je'si
Vancouver
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  • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

    Sun, February 10, 2008 - 5:32 AM
    Both Imogen Heap and Zoe Keating are using an Electrix Repeater and a laptop running Ableton's live, Je'si
    with very, very efficacious results.

    this combination allows one to have the so called 'first loop' capability of the Repeater used in conjunction with all the powerful
    loop oriented real time things one can do with Ableton's live.

    Other people are using hardware in conjunction with loopers designed in Max/MSP as well.

    The place to ask this question, however, is really at the granddaddy of live looping sites, www.loopersdelight.com

    Go sign up and join the daily digest there and ask your question. Many of the top loopers on earth go there regularly and they also
    have ridiculously extensive archives of thousands and thousands of post over the last 10 years on every concievable aspect of live looping from hardware/software intergration to laptop and software selection to midi footpedals to aesthetics and cultural and social history of live looping.

    This tribe is just a puny little adjunct to that incredible site, started by the looping visionary (and one of the developers of the Echoplex EDP)
    Kim Flint.
    • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

      Sun, February 10, 2008 - 7:45 AM
      Thanks Rick - I'll go explore that site.

      I was aware that Imogen Heap uses the Repeater/Ableton combo, but I'm not sure how she gets the two to sync up / crosstalk. i assume this has something to do with midi, which i know next to nothing about.

      : )
      • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

        Mon, February 11, 2008 - 2:24 AM
        Yes, the way she syncs things (and the only way that is possible to sync loopers) is by using Midi.

        Music Instrument Digital Interface is a standard digital mode of communication between digital
        gear (and analogue gear that has been retrofitted)

        If you want to understand this world it is very important to understand , at least cursorily, how this language works, practically speaking.

        MIDI has 16 possible channels and both units must be set to the same MIDI channel (unless both are in OMNI mode)
        to 'talk' to each other.

        I highly recommend that you spend a bit of time and at least go to the wikipedia MIDI page so you can figure out how to start syncing your music.

        essentially, though, you must use a hardware looper that has MIDI send and return and a midi software looper equipped with the same.

        The Repeater, the Lexicon Jamman, the Gibson Echoplex EDP, the Looperlative all have MIDI sync capablities.
        There are others too, but I don't own them so you should look up each respective looper to let you know whether they have
        such capabilties.

        Additionally, your PC desktop or laptop computer must have come kind of MIDI input and output capabilities. Standard computers
        do NOT have MIDI capability but there are a plethora of inexpensive solutions to add that capability to your computer, for as little as $30 or $40 bucks (if not cheaper).

        Any decent sound card worth it's salt will have MIDI capabilities and you have to have such a card in order to put live musicall
        input into your computers particular Looping software (Ableton's LIVE, Mobius, Sooper Looper, Max/MSP, Augustus Loop, ,etc.)
        • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

          Mon, February 11, 2008 - 8:34 AM
          Thanks again Rick - your passion for looping shines in your posts. : )

          After looking around the web, reading about MIDI, posting to Looper's Delight, etc., it seems to me that the easiest and most portable solution for integrating pre-recorded material with live loops is to just keep it all in the computer, i.e. use a software looper plugged in to a sequencer (for instance, the mobius/ableton combo), hooked up to a MIDI controller.

          And though I'm on a mac, I suppose picking up a used windows laptop to use just for performance would be about the same price as buying a hardware looper.

          (though i've still got my eye on electrix's 'virtual' repeater - not out in Canada yet!)

          : )

          • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

            Thu, February 14, 2008 - 1:42 AM
            no, Je'si, you don't have to switch to a PC to do this.

            Ableton's LIVE works well on a Mac and you can use SOOPERLOOPER as a VST loopers for integration.

            If you have an Intel Mac, just use boot camp and find yourself a copy of WINDOWS XP (and make sure you
            update it to Service Pack 2 level) and buy Ableton's LIVE and use it with MOBIUS , the freeware VST looper.

            No need to spend extra money................save it and spend it on a really good breakout box with good microphone
            preamps and midi in/out capability.
            • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

              Thu, February 14, 2008 - 3:26 AM
              ps unless you hear otherwise,
              Electrix is out of the water completely.

              They were absolutely and resolutely supposed to be at NAMM (and I was supposed to be endorsing them)
              and they just had an empty booth.

              I can't even get a response out them via email anymore.

              They've been plagued with capital problems from what I know and it's reputed that they had
              a lot of trouble with their Virtual Repeater software.

              I'm sad to say that I would NOT count on them to release this software unless something huge
              changes.

              I say it makes me sad because the Repeater is a wonderful unit and to have multiple instances of it
              with state of the art audio specs in software would just be a dream.
              • Re: hardware + laptop interaction

                Thu, February 14, 2008 - 8:35 AM

                Thanks Rick - saved me much time and trouble as usual.

                And a 'breakout box' is the interface through which my live sounds interact with the software? is this something separate from a full midi interface with hardware controls?

                i suppose this might be a better question for looper's delight, but can anyone recommend a great midi interface for controlling both mobius and triggering pre-recorded data?

                : )