In this second part of an ongoing series regarding “live looping”, I’d like to cover the basic functions that make a looper the powerful and creative tool that I love so much. I’m going to cover these functions in their basic forms in this post, with only quick references to the more complex things that can be accomplished with this simple toolset. In a future post I’ll cover ways to use these functions in a lot more detail.
Also note that I am using some diagrams from the manual of the illustrious and powerful Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro (EDP). Many thanks to Kim Flint, Mathias Grob, Warren Sirota and Gibson for designing and creating this tool. In my opinion, the EDP is still the very best looping tool available. After you read this article and have a feel for the basic functions of a looper, you might get the courage to browse through the EDP users manual (PDF format, 442 kb) and see all of the things that this powerful unit can deliver. If you do, get ready for mind blowing functionality (and a steep price tag!) - you have been warned!
So let’s jump right in…
Record
The most fundamental tool in the looping kit is the Record function. In the context of live looping, a looper is only useful if the start and end points of a loop can be defined on the fly using the record function. This is critical - if the looper requires that a tempo be established beforehand, and then forces the start and end points of the record function into the pre-defined tempo - you’ve got a looper that won’t work well for live looping techniques. There are a number of loopers on the market that work in this (IMO) flawed way - the Electro Harmonix reissue of the 16 Second Delay, and the Boss RC-20 and RC-20XL are two that I’m aware of. Pre-defined tempos may work in studio situations - but they fail miserably in live looping.
So, in the ideal situation, the record function allows you to press it once to start recording the loop, and press it again to stop recording the loop, define the end point, and immediately begin playing the loop back.
As an example, let’s say I’m playing a guitar part in 4/4 time, and I want to capture one measure of that playing and play it back as a loop. I’d press record on the first downbeat of the measure (beat 1), play the guitar, and then press record on the first downbeat of the second measure. This is an important concept in live looping - the timing of the record function is critical in capturing a loop that sounds good. Notice that I pressed record the second time on the first downbeat of the second measure. This is because I want to capture everything that’s played throughout the entire measure into my loop.
Visually, it might look something like this:
beats: ONE - two - three - four - ONE - two - three - four actions: RECORD RECORD sound: live playing...............loop starts playing back
Hitting those record functions “on the ONE” is critical when you are trying to loop musical material that has a strong rhythmic feel. This is a common problem experienced by people just starting out with looping. Good live looping requires a strong sense of rhythm and time.
Overdub
The second magic wand of live looping is the overdub function. Just as it’s name implies, this function allows you to overdub a second layer of audio into your loop. While a loop is playing, pressing overdub begins the process of adding new sounds to your loop. Pressing it again stops the overdub process.
Here is a graphical representation of how overdub works. The “button actions” (O) show where the overdub button is pressed:
Overdub is where much of the power of live looping begins. Using this tool, I can capture a loop and then begin to play harmony or syncopation over the top of that loop, and capture that new material into the original loop. Within a few passes, I can transform a series of simple melodic lines into a symphony of sounds.
Multiply
Again, much as it’s name would imply, Multiply allows you to layer (for example) a 4 measure melody over your original 1 measure loop. In effect, the multiply function “multiplies” the original loop while it captures your new live playing, with the final result being a single loop that contains multiple copies of the original loop, mixed with your newly played material.
Sound complicated? Let’s see if this graphic helps. The “button actions” (M) show where the multiply button is pressed during this example. What you’ll notice is that the existing loop is repeated 4 times, while new material is layered on top, and the final result is a single loop with 4 copies of the original, plus all of the new material:
The multiply function makes it easy to make interesting, changing loops from a few simple building blocks. Multiply ensures that you’re not stuck with the length of your original loop as you continue to play - you can multiply the material out into longer and longer pieces.
Feedback
The last basic function that I’ll cover in this post is Feedback. Feedback is sometimes called “regeneration”, and refers to the amount of loop signal that is fed into the loop from one pass to the next. A feedback setting of 100% means that the loop would never fade away - each pass of the loop would be at the same volume as the original loop. Feedback settings of less than 100% allow the loop to fade over time. A feedback setting of 0% would let the loop play only once before it disappeared completely.
Feedback is a powerful control in live looping, because it allows the musician to “evolve” the loop as it plays. With feedback settings of less than 100%, the musician can feed new material into the loop (typically, using overdub), and that loop will slowly change as old material fades away and new material takes over in prominence.
Feedback settings of less than 100% are also a great way to “fade out” a loop at the end of a piece.
Other Functions
Most looping devices have other functions available that allow even more control over how sound is captured and played back in a loop. Among these functions:
- Retrigger - allows the musician to restart the loop from it’s beginning with a single button press. Note that this function is absolutely critical to using a looper in a multi-musician or band setting. Being able to restart the loop on the band’s downbeat when the band and the loop drift apart is essential for keeping the two in sync. Notice that I said when, not if! This drifting will happen, no matter how “tight” the band is. I recommend that anyone who is considering using live looping in a band context always purchase a looper which has a loop retrigger function, otherwise, you and your bandmates will quickly become frustrated.
- Undo - allows material that was previously added to the loop to be removed. Depending on the sophistication (and onboard memory) of the looping device, many layers of undo may be available. This can allow the musician to incrementally remove many layers of overdubs, and return the loop to it’s original status.
- Insert - allows new material to be inserted into the loop, shifting the existing material forward, and resulting in a new loop that is longer than the original loop (longer by the amount of time inserted into the loop). This graphic helps explain how the insert function behaves:
- Reverse - allows the loop to be reversed, creating all kinds of beautiful and haunting sounds
- HalfSpeed - allows the loop to be slowed to half speed (and/or to be sped up to double speed)
I’ll discuss some of these functions in more detail in future posts on this subject. All of these functions have their own unique possibilities. Used wisely, the list above can be enough to provide a lifetime of sonic exploration and discovery.
