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Looper's Delight
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Really nice summary Jeff, I'd just add a couple of things. One the PC I agree that Elottronix and Angstrolooper are the best "first stops". I find Elottronix better for the free-form, amorphous, floating in space kind of looping (if that makes any sense). Angstrolooper I use a lot to make a repeating loops of guitar chords, synced to a rhythm pattern that I solo over. It's a better choice I think for syncing in straight 4/8/16/32 bar increments. Switching between the 4/8/16/32 setting also makes some nice glitch effects. On 8/9/05, Jeff Larson <Jeffrey.Larson@sun.com> wrote: > > I'm not set up yet with a computer, sound card etc. to > > try these out, so I'm hoping to get some reviews of > > how these programs work compared to the EDP for live > > on the fly application from those who've used them > > with live acoustic inputs. > > The first thing you should decide is whether you want to use a Mac, PC > or Linux. If you have a preference, that will limit your choices as > not all of these are available on all platforms. > > Next, decide if you prefer something that runs by itself or runs as a > plugin inside another application. Standalone programs can be simpler > to configure and use, plugins are much more flexible. Some loopers > only run standalone, some only as plugins, some both. > > If you are specifically interested in something that works like an > EDP, Mobius (PC) and SooperLooper (Mac/Linux) will come the closest as > their designs were inspired by the EDP. But the EDP is a *very deep* > device. If you have no prior experience with it and just want to do > overdubs with feedback, you may find these loopers somewhat > overwhelming. Plan to spend some time with the manuals. > > If you intend to use it on stage, then stability is an important > concern. Some of the loopers on this list are commercial products, > others are written by individuals in their spare time. I don't gig > live so I can't offer good advice on this issue. Since the PSP 42 > is a commercial product I would expect it to be stable. Several > people on this list use Augustus Loop live. The others may be > fine depending on what you want to do with them, just never try > anything live you haven't rehearsed in the studio. > > Here is my quick assessment of each looper. I have a personal > interest in one of these (see if you can guess which one :-) > but I am trying to be fair. Others will no doubt disagree, > but here goes. > > > Augustus Loop - Mac/AU plugin > > More of a "tape loop" emulator than an EDP-style looper, but it has > some very nice features. Several people use it live, it appears to be > quite stable. This will probably be the #1 recommended looper on the >Mac. > > Musolomo - Mac/AU plugin > > I would call this more of a "phrase sampler" than a looper. Once a > loop is captured you can do several interesting things with it, > but there is no overdub or feedback that I could see. > > Lexicon PSP 42 - Mac & PC / plugin > > I would call this a delay-oriented effects unit that has some looping > features. I don't have any experience with it but it looks like a > phrase sampler, not sure if it supports overdub and feedback but I would > be surprised if it didn't. For $150 it had better be stable. > > SooperLooper - Mac & Linux/Standalone but supports Jack > > This has a large set of features, though I've heard there may be some > issues with the alignment of successive overdubs. It is not > a VST or Audio Units plugin but it supports Jack which is similar > to ReWire on the PC. Jack can be hard to configure, so I would consider > this a standalone looper unless you're into tinkering. > > > Elottronix - PC/VST plugin > > This has been around a long time and appears fairly stable. It > is designed to emulate a tape looper so it doesn't have the most > features, but what it does it does well. And it's real pretty. > On the PC, I would start with this one and see if it does what > you want. > > AngstroLooper - PC / VST plugin > > This doesn't seem to be mentioned much, but it looks like a nice > simple looper with good basic feature set. The "touch" function > looks unique and interesting. This would be my second stop > on the PC. > > Loopy Llama - PC & Mac/VST plugin > > This one is relatively new, but I think the author uses it live. Its > features are similar to a DL-4 or JamMan, and I found it easy to use. > This would be my third stop on the PC. > > Mobius - PC / Standalone or VST plugin > > Mobius has the broadest coverage of EDP features, but as a result it > has a fairly steep learning curve if you're not already familiar with > the EDP. It is relatively young and has been known to crash, though > basic overdubs with feedback should be ok. Check this out if you > decide Elottronix, AngstroLooper, and Loopy Llama aren't powerful enough. > > AmbiLoop - PC / Standalone > > This has been around awhile, is stable and has some nice features, but > the main issue for most people is that it cannot be run as a VST > plugin. I have had issues with crossfades at the loop point that > cause clicks, so you have to be careful. The builtin effects are > convenient. The ability to run several loops in parallel is powerful, > though may be difficult to control live. > > Coldcutter - PC / VST plugin > > This doesn't look like a looper to me. It takes a loop (not sure > if it can record) chops it up and plays back the segments in random > order according to a set of parameters. No overdub or feedback > that I can see. Interesting but not what I would call a looper. > > Loopitch - PC / plugin > > I haven't tried this and there isn't much information on the web. The > download page has some disturbing comments like "This is an early demo > intended to generate feedback" and "if I can ever get the VST version > happy with a few hosts!" so it does not appear to be under active > development and may have stability problems. > > Divine Machine - PC / Standalone & VST plugin > > This looks more like a static loop manipulation and triggering tool. > No overdub and feedback, I'm not even sure it can record. It is very > powerful but not what I would call a real-time looper. > > > Freewheeling - Linux/Standalone > > This looks interesting but it only runs on Linux. Unless you are also > a computer geek (and I mean that in the nicest way) I don't > recommend Linux for musicians. You will have far more options on > the PC or Mac. > > > > -- Art Simon simart@null.net http://art.simon.tripod.com http://artsimon.iuma.com