Re: midi looper

[Mark Sottilaro <sine@zerocrossing.net>]

What's the big deal about defining loop length?  Ever since I've looped 
with a JamMan synced to a MIDI clock I've had to preset how many beats 
my loop was going to be and I never, ever found it to be a limitation.  
In fact, I think it's a kind of nice structure.  Like picking out a 
length of tape and then dealing with it.

Mark

On Monday, July 28, 2003, at 10:48 PM, Mark Hamburg wrote:

> If you can forego feedback, I would say that a lot of drum machines 
> have
> demonstrated that one can do a reasonably job of looping MIDI. What 
> they
> generally seem to lack include:
>
> * On the fly loop length definition
>
> * Multiply, insert, etc. options while playing/recording
>
> I also want to do everything else while the machine is playing 
> including
> saving patterns for later recall, switching which pattern I'm editing, 
> etc..
>
> If you are familiar with the Roland Grooveboxes, the RPS stuff is fun 
> for
> building pieces by adding and removing loops and effects. It's in some 
> ways
> nicer than the simple mute/unmute tracks approach since you can play 
> with
> where a phrase starts. But you can't build up a set of RPS phrases 
> live.
> Instead you have to write a bunch of patterns and then assign them.
>
> MIDI looping shouldn't try to recreate audio looping. You can use audio
> loopers for that. But it should try to recreate the live feel of 
> building
> and evolving the material as you go.
>
> Mark
>