Re: surround looping

[Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@Sun.COM>]

Reading these interesting ideas about surround looping made me realize
that I have been thinking only about surround panning applied as an effect
AFTER the loop.  Either positioning multiple loopers in space or making
loops move through space as they play.

It is also possible (at least in software) to put surround panning
BEFORE the looper to create multi channel surround loops.  The panning
is essentially recorded into the loop and repeats as it was recorded.

A simple application is to manipulate location using an X/Y touch
panel as you record a loop.  Where it gets fun is that you can change
the location on each overdub.  This would let you build loops
containing layers that have different locations in space, and would be
a lot easier to control than using several synchronized loopers.

In software what this requires is a looping plugin capable of managing
sample frames containing more than 2 channels, the ability to merge
samples from several VST input ports into a single frame, and the ability
to distribute frame samples among more than 2 output ports.    Hmmm ;-)

Jeff