Re: Accelerando and Ritard in Looping Softs (was: New "VirtualRepeater" Software Announced...)

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 7:15 PM -0500 8/15/07, Jeffrey Larson wrote:
>  > Under Windows you would be able to run Mobius as a VST plug-in inside
>>  the VRP host. That would give you all the EDP power plus the few
>>  strong points added by the Repeater.
>
>The main feature that sets the Repeater apart from other hardware/software
>devices is its "time stretching" ability, or as discussed in another
>thread the ability to do ritardondo and accelerando without changing
>the pitch.  Technically this is a combination of a "rate shift" where
>you change the speed of the loop loop plus a compensating pitch shift
>where you bring the rate adjusted loop back to its original pitch.

Well, sneaking back to (erm, a different thread's) core topic of 
using software to emulate ritardondo and accelerando ala the 
Repeater....

Ableton itself notwithstanding, there is (at least) one other piece 
of Mac looping software that implements this just fine, although it 
feels like I may be the only person on list still using it at all: 
Plasq Musolomo.

You need some source of master tempo clock (I'm using it in Live 6), 
but it will follow tempo changes fine.  Within a few BPM, there 
doesn't even appear to be obvious aliasing.  And, at the extremes -- 
20% to 200% of tempo, for instance -- the degradation is more of the 
"interesting" nature, just as on the Repeater.

You don't even have to assign an extra CC inside Musolomo to 
accomplish this (although you could do that too if you wanted); it 
automatically syncs and chases clock.  Assign an external control to 
your workstation's master tempo; your loops and backing tracks can 
all push or drag together.

I just now tested it again to make sure I wasn't mistaken.  Twist the 
tempo value up and down, and it follows like a champ. Also, like the 
Repeater, you can do the opposite and implement pitch shift without 
futzing the time domain.

As I've stated on a previous occasions, there are some issues with 
the software, not the least of which being that Plasq has moved on to 
graphics-oriented software (e.g. Comic Life) and abandoned its audio 
line entirely.  Also, Musolomo really functions best receiving clock 
from another source, so forget about "first loop" capability. 
Finally, my biggest complaint is the lack of any feedback function, 
making it more a phrase sampler than looper, IMNSHO.  Still, if you 
can accept those limitations, it's a pretty neat little toy...

        --m.
-- 
_____
"the wind in my heart; the dust in my head...."