RE: New Member - was Buying Advice, now That First Loop

["Dave Gallaher" <micdave@hiwaay.net>]

Andy,

Good points, and this is actually what I do with the EDP.  Though it is set
to Autostart, I tap at beginning and end usually, occasionally starting 
from
silence with just the Autostart.  It's much easier with the EDP than it was
with the RC 20, which has more of a plunger-type pedal and had to be hit
firmly.  Sometimes it's fun to do a quick-as-possible double tap on the EDP
and get a very short, buzzy loop.

However, I disagree about the pre-playing of rhythms as being always 
uncool.
I'm not a big fan of playing those patterns exactly the same each time, so
every go-round can have new inflections and syncopations before finally
catching one particular permutation of it.  I guess I see it more as an
introduction than a pattern setup.  Another thing I enjoy doing is playing
unaccompanied leads in tempo before the rhythm is recorded, which also
nicely sets up the entry of the to-be-looped pattern.

I take it as a given that all new loopers will come to terms with any
rhythmic shortcomings or tendencies as they practice, unless they are
entirely ambient or random.

OT, but my EDP foot controller had a mind of its own for part of the gig
tonight.  It's been doing better overall lately, but tonight had some
interesting new temporary 'settings,' such as Undo = Reverse, then Undo =
Nothing, followed by Multiply = Random Subdivision/Weird Window and best of
all, Mute = Hell, No!  I've got to learn how to clean those switches...

dave 
 

Or alternatively:-

The most accurate and reliable  method to create that first loop is
to tap at the beginning of the loop, and then tap at the end.
By using the same method to start the loop as to end it, there's
a slight (but significant) advantage in that any timing discrepancies
between the tapping and the playing will cancel out.
(e.g. if you tap slighty early both times, you still get an accurate loop
length).
Any method that uses 2 different actions to start and end the loop is 
likely
to mess with accurate timing.

While it's often recommended to play a rhythm part through a couple of 
times
before recording it this does not give any advantage, you still have to
learn to co-ordinate yourself ,you don't learn any of the looping 
skills you'd need for more complex arrangements and it doesn't
sound/look as cool.

The tap-play-tap method may seem a bit hard at first, but it's actually not
at all hard to learn, I've seen people "get it" in about 5 mins of trying.
(just practise a short rhythm loop till it works).

Respect to Dave for describing a couple of other techniques.

I'd also say that it's better to turn off the pre-set tempo on the looper,
and just tap in the loop. 
(unless you need to sync up for some reason}

andy butler