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Re: laptop-loopers (guitar)



>> rune fagereng wrote:
>>> Hi !
>>>  I have noticed that some of you loopers have gone from hardware- 
>>> gear to laptops. I have also learned that Boysen (sax) and Kaiser  
>>> ( trumpet) do love the their "laptop worlds".
>>>  Are there are any guitarplayers out there using this gear, with  
>>> the same good experience? Does it work with guitars too ? Please  
>>> send me info on your experience, gear, soundclips and your  
>>> website-adress.....
>>>  Any laptop-looping-gear-info is ok !
>>>  best  regards Rune F.


My "laptop world" is exactly the same when play guitar as any other  
instrument. In my experience looping with guitar and laptop is not  
much about the laptop. What matters is what you send into the laptop,  
The Tone! If you have some amp, preamp or dist box that give you a  
tone you like - use that and simply send it into the lappy instead of  
the usual effect amplifier. I have many amps and boxes here and they  
all bring out different colors from my Strat and Tele (both using lo  
output "vintage style" pick-ups). I have a tube amp top (Sovtek  
MIG60, double EL34 setup) that works well on clean sound if I go out  
directly from the line out after the preamp section. But I never  
carry that bitch to a gig, and it's way too loud when the dist starts  
to sound good. I have a POD1 preamp that sounds good and that I  
sometimes bring for laptop looping gigs, but I dislike the latency of  
it. I also have a little 2x10" GallienKrüger combo that sounds  
excellent when miked.... if you can stand the hiss ;-)  I have lately  
done some guitar playing directly through ordinary effect boxes right  
into the laptop sound-card (RME Multiface or Ecco Indigo i/o). It's  
very hard to give recommendation because they sound like shit in some  
regards and I try to avoid playing stuff that brings those sides up  
front ;-))  Sometimes I go through just an Ibanez TubeScreamer,  
sometimes I use onlo an Octavia (just for the Strat and neck pick-up,  
trimming the filter envelope of the string sound with the guitar's  
tone knob), sometimes just my Big Muff and sometimes both the Big  
Muff and the Octavia (a fav combo, but the noise hiss is just  
screaming!!!)

Last year, when I picked up a multi effect processor in the tc  
Fireworx, I learned for the first time to play with a volume pedal. I  
have always done my "violin style swell notes" with the volume knob  
on the strat but using a pedal is very different and actually better  
for looping (because whatever garbage you play through will be dead  
silenced at the looper's input by a pedal - in my case a MIDI pedel.  
Oh.... and I sometimes also use an AKAI MFC42 filter bank as "guitar  
amp". It has an extremely rude dist that I love - not at all like a  
typical guitar amp, more like some heavy synth dist, ugly and big  
(I'm not very keen on those Marshall and Rectifier type sounds, as  
you might have guessed). Oh yes, the fireworx... yes, it works fine  
to just line the guitar right into.

You asked for soundclips and here are some:

1. Stratocaster played through only an Octavia and lined directly:
http://www.looproom.com/audio/edp_strat_01.mp3
(I like this sound - the Octavia makes the stratocaster sound a bit  
like a tenor sax)

2. Stratocaster directly lined into laptop, only using a PSP  
mixpressor plugin on the input (ouch, horrible latency. Hate it!):
http://www.looproom.com/audio/Numerology_Augustus_Looping2.mp3

3. Stratocaster played though a TubeScreamer right into the laptop (I  
like that setup because it doesn't add latency):
http://www.looproom.com/audio/Playing_Guitar_Solo_Through_My_Laptop.mp3

4. POD: http://www.looproom.com/audio/Slowing_Down_Not_Stopping.mp3

5. Stratocaster directly lined into laptop, only using a PSP  
mixpressor plugin on the input (ouch, horrible latency. Hate it!)
http://www.looproom.com/audio/Numerology_Augustus_Looping.mp3

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.boysen.se (Swedish)
www.looproom.com (international)
http://tinyurl.com/fauvm (podcast)
http://www.myspace.com/looproom