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Looper's Delight
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hi folks, after a few false starts at getting a linux machine running with the Sooperlooper EDP-styled looping software over the past year or so, I have finally taken the time to get the job done. As such, Sooperlooper now provides me with a standalone looping PC that runs four indendent loops, each capable of over 5 minutes looping time, replete with many of the EDP features we've grown to love and lust after, and few other natty extras thrown in the mix. As such, I thought it helpful to jot down a few points that come to mind with regard to such a setup. I managed to get hold of a couple of old IBM desktop machines, each sporting a 'huge' P3 667mhz processor and 256mb ram. I couldn't get reliable low-latency performance out of the onboard soundchips, so I installed an old Vibra128 card after reading of low-latency success with these cards. They are a little noisy, but I will replace them eventually with a higher end linux friendly card utilising ADAT as the main transport. Firstly, I can't reiterate enough how much easier it has become to install and setup a low-latency linux audio machine thanks to the efforts of groups such as Agnula and the Planet CCRMA facility maintained by Fernando Lopez-Lezcano at Stanford. Just point the machine at the right mirror, or burn the install CD's, select the right packages, and at the otherside of the install process you have a well configured and low-latency linux audio machine. The good news is that SooperLooper has been added to the CCRMA facility, and so doesn't have to be compiled, built, made, tweaked and/or forces you to hunt for dependencies in order to enjoy the software. You still have to learn a little about Linux in the process, but anybody serious about computer oriented music should by now realise that there is minimum of technical knowledge required in order to maintain any computer oriented sound studio. For all intents and purposes though, almost all of what you need to know to get going can be found at the Planet CCRMA website, found here: http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/ After downloading the Fedora Core 1 discs , which seems to be the best solution at the moment for Planet CCRMA, I was able to get set up and configured in under a day (get the RPM enabled discs like CCRMA suggests, it makes system maintenance easier). This seems to me roughly equivalent to installing and configuring a Windows based DAW, but I've done both more than a few times now though, so YMMV. Agnula also has a low-latency single disc solution running under Debian Linux, but for me, Red Hat's OS always seems more accessable, and gives me the control over the base install which the Agnula/Demudi solution seems to hide. There is also a bootable CD-Rom version of Agnula that lets you test out the environment on your PC without installing much, if that takes your fancy - no sooperlooper on it as yet but it can be installed if you allow the bootable cd to make a small drive space on your windows hardrive. The linux audio system has developed a long, long way, and I have to say, with over many years experience with Window's cludgey multimedia environment (it took a third party software developer to actually bring a low-latency and professional audio driver solution to windows), it is easy to tell that a lot of thought has been put into making Linux audio feasible from both a technical and a users point of view. Sounds strange I know, given the reputation linux has for being overly technical, and difficiult to decipher for beginners. By far and away the greatest feature in making inroads to usability has to be the JACK system for interconnecting Audio apps and the physical Hardware I/O (and hence its drivers). In this way, SooperLooper can be routed through JackRack, a virtual effects rack, and then to your inputs and outputs in whatever configuration your imagination desires using the virtual patchbays provided. Given that Jack handles all of the interfacing with your driver and software, it is largely a system level virtual routing system. With over two hundred plugins available out of the box and free in the native LADPSA plugin format , and the excellent work by some in bringing VST support to linux, you can begin to see the power that is lieing in the average PC for performance oriented musicians who don't want to pay for software lock-in. (yes, there are the usual quality issues with regards to plugins, but that means the usual spectrum of so-so to very good) Back to SooperLooper though. At the moment I can run my $5 Soundblaster Vibra128 reliably at 5ms latency (I can go lower, but this takes a fairly large CPU hit). For many, this is still too high a latency to really consider this machine a dedicated looper replacement, but for my naive musicality, there is a lot of fun to be had. Keep in mind as well that there are cards that will enable stable lower latencies in the 2ms vicinity. I won't go into a detailed feature set review, as most of the features are directly modelled on the EDP's feature set (mostly Loop III features). There are some extra features though, like variable speed control from 0.25 to 4x, which allows for some excellent variation accross the multiple loops, and opens the door for very subtle phase shifts or automated pitch control of the loop by rate variation (yes, the rate control also varies the pitch - what were you expecting - professional time-stretching algorithms in free software!). There is also a save and load function for each loop. I should also mention that although I am only running four loops on my machine, this is mostly due to processor limitations at the moment. Running these four loops with close to maximum memory is fine, but running all four at the minimum or maximum playback rate results in a high CPU usage, especially at the low-latency settings. Sooperlooper does allow for as many loops as your machine can handle though, and each with an arbitrary number of channels, so it is highly expandable. It has full midi control, as well as OSC and standard keyboard/mouse control, and is syncable to a partuclar loop, to the Jack central system timing (again routable from any hardware /software source), MIDI and i think a couple of other options. The sync code is apparently in progress, so I didn't test it out (had enough fun with just a basic setup). There is also a scratch feature that allows playback position to be jogged, though this feature is also in early stages pro's -number of loops, and channels per loop, dependent only on hardware limitations. can be used with multichannel soundcards... -multiple loops are simultaneous, much more like the repeater than the EDP's serial looping approach -many of the features of the EDP such as multiply, reverse, overdub, feedback control, insert, replace, delay mode, quantize... -additional features such as redo, scratch mode and variable playback speed -integration with a low-latency software environment allows for a highly flexible live or recording setup. -will run on relatively miminal system requirements, making it ideal for a cheap standalone stereo looper. (my machine cost about us$150 to set up. -open source software means the users aren't stranded if the developer goes bust, disappears, sells out... con's -a learning curve is still present in the transition from windows to setting up a linux machine. I would say set aside a weekend to get up and running, with additional research if you want to have confidence in knowing what's going on under the hood of your machine. -requires PC hardware, which means problems of noise for desktop type machines (can be solved with a little thought, but still requires that DIY ethos, or the money and research to find a linux friendly laptop solution). -smaller userbase means less easily accessable avenues for support. all up though, I would say that Jesse Chappell, the writer of the software, has done a great job and created a unique spin on the original EDP feature set. The EDP still can't be beaten for plug and play flexibility and accessability, but those who can't afford or even purchase one might like to consider sooperlooper as a viable alternative. It's multiple simulatenous loops and mutichannel support also position it as a challenger to the repeater's current crown of multi-looping king. relevant links: http://essej.net/sooperlooper http://ccrma.stanford.edu/planetccrma/software/ http://www.agnula.org/ http://www.agnula.org/Members/sama/demudi_1_1_1_news/view (bootable CD good for checking out audio apps on linux). and of course, the EDP pages at Looper's Delight as painstakingly maintained by Kim... cheers michael noble PS: those with a general interest in linux audio solutions but little or no interest in the technicalities might also check out this product, which bundles many Linux apps freely available elsewhere, together with dedicated support, in a commercial CD: http://www.ferventsoftware.com/index.php