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Re: Mobius first impressions... and questions.



Mark,

Truly sorry to hear about the "third paragraph".

As far as Mobius, I only started using it in the last few weeks myself. I 
felt that the learning curve was pretty steep, but I had never used an EDP 
before.

I spent quite a while with Mobius without using the foot conroller, just 
to figure out what things did, and eventually began using it with a POK. 

And I'm still learning new things!

One of the important things I've learned is that Mobius offers a massive 
set of options for customization, either through configuring the display, 
track defaults, etc., as well as the use of scripts. I'm barely tapping 
its full potential.

As far as the distortion thing, it is easy to overload the digital output 
if you have a few beefy tracks. My solution was to put a Drawmer 1968 
Mercenary Edition on the stereo output, then set the input levels lower 
that I normally would. This gives me plenty of headroom for multiple 
digital passes while still being able to hear the quieter passages.

I'm trying to avoid digital processing as much as possible, so compression 
is analogue, and reverb is soon-to-be a spring unit. I do this as much for 
artistic considerations as for the desire to avoid additional latency.

I'm running Mobius in Bidule, inspired by Per's example. I find the 
combination extrememly flexible and powerful.

As for getting MIDI, you could just get a cheap 1x1 usb MIDI interface. If 
you were local, I'd just give my spare.

3 hours is not nearly enough time to get comfortable with this software!

-George

--- On Tue, 9/30/08, mark francombe <mark@markfrancombe.com> wrote:

> From: mark francombe <mark@markfrancombe.com>
> Subject: Mobius first impressions... and questions.
> To: "loopers-delight" <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 12:59 PM
> Hi guys,
> 
> As many of you know from my previous rants aginst the
> "laptop loopers" I am
> a self proclaimed "hardware head" (its a medical
> condition you know).
> 
> But I thought I would write a few notes to the group
> regarding my first
> experiences of.. wait for it, wait for it.... MOBIUS!!!
> 
> But first a raison d'être: I was going to be at Y2k8,
> and perform. I was
> planning a NEW IMPROVED streamlined flight friendly case,
> empty of loopers
> (that I could borrow en situ) but full of... well my stuff.
> (synth modules,
> joysticks, and pitchshiftin, bit crushing madness.) It was
> then that it
> happened, I considered it, for the first time... laptop...
> gulp... and
> mobius...
> As some of you know I have had to cancel my trip and
> performance, cos my
> better half Hilde has been diagnosed with Cervical Cancer
> and we have just
> started her Radiation and Chemo therapy yesterday... some
> things come before
> looping guys. (and girls...go get them thar smear tests..
> don't walk...
> run... )
> 
> Why have I always been against software, well it all stems
> from a period
> where I only produced music on computer, its was great... I
> did 2 maybe
> three great albums, using predominately Audio Mulch... I
> was drawn in by the
> wealth of possibilities, the infinate versions, radical mix
> after radical
> mix... I dreamt up instruments, then I created them, in
> SynthEdit or
> Reactor, I micro edited samples down at the sample level,
> building sounds
> from scratch, morphing one thing into another, I made
> aleatoric systems that
> played themselves getting their only data from weather
> pressure data from an
> alaskan website, I listened and recorded actual live police
> radio from
> Saracuse, it was a blast!!!
> 
> But then I added up the amount of hours spent at a
> computer. As a film-maker
> as my dayjob, then coming home and using a computer for
> fun... I was sat
> there.. 18 hours a day, in front of the screen.
> 
> So I went back to the (now dusty rack and modular synth)
> and never looked
> back... until now (Here comes the Mobius stuff for those
> that thought this
> was a Mobius review).
> 
> I thought.. so what if I just had my guitar and a
> laptop..(reintroducing the
> guitar should keep it physical) and so for a mere 3 hours
> last night I gave
> it a go.
> I was mightily impressed.
> But not without some reservations.
> 
> First-up I should say I couldnt get my FCB1010 to work with
> it. I should say
> that I will buy a PC lap and a decent sound/midi card when
> I have completely
> convinced myself, but for now I thought I would try it out
> with my M audio
> Ozone. Imagine my dismay when I went round the back of the
> keyboard and
> looked at "That other midi plug that should be midi
> IN"... Oh no.. its
> something called USB in... not a USB socket, but a midi
> plug, not sure what
> its for, but it aint midi IN... so no pedal power for
> now...
> 
> And I think THAT issue would probably solve all my
> problems. As everyone
> knows, you cant loop with a mouse click... impossible, but
> I tried, oh and
> this with the new mac version. I will get a PC do do this
> eventually, so I
> can run it inside Mulch (anyone using Mobius in Mulch
> BTW... works?? or??)
> 
> Sound quality was excellent, I think I probably have to
> change the noise
> floor setting, cos it was writing Overdubs every loop, even
> though I wasnt
> playing anything (that is the same as on the EDP right...?
> Dont play, no
> overdub??)
> 
> I loved the fact that I could now SEE what was happening
> with the overdub
> layers, with the quantized up-coming commands.
> 
> I was annoyed by the fact that one track stayed in Overdub
> when I switched
> to another... any need for that?
> 
> And is it still recording into that first track while you
> make a new track?
> 
> So actually I DIDNT like that it had multiple tracks, I
> could use ONE more
> than the edp... so two... and I like that they are stereo,
> but I found
> myself going to new tracks all the time, like it was a
> repeater, and that
> makes a different kind of music... that is unweildy and
> repetative, one that
> you cant change in a moment cos everything is spread across
> tracks... god 4
> tracks is too many on the Repeater for me!!
> 
> None of the speed change or pitch shift things worked
> (apart from the EDPish
> hlfspeed, worked fine) but thats probably a mac version
> port thing-soon to
> be fixed.
> 
> It distorted quite easily for me after a few overdubs, prob
> need to fiddle
> with gain structure I guess, but I am used to be able to
> HIT THE GUITAR!!!
> and stroke it...
> 
> LOVED the idea of the track slip thing (is this the same as
> on the repeater?
> Should it slip by cycles, beats.. what?) unfortunatly that
> crashed Mobius on
> my machine...
> 
> Also LOVED the idea of different presets on each track.
> (But needed to
> figure out how to change the default settings) Does ANYONE
> have UN-synched
> tracks as a default? Why?
> 
> And seriously intrigued (but not enough time to try) by the
> scripts thing.
> One of my current techniques is to fire a bunch of midi
> notes at my EDP from
> my drum-machine. I regularly have pre worked-out sequences
> for example...
> that overdubs then changes the 8ths setting then goes half
> speed, reverse,
> normal speed, forward, multiply... then 25 undos in a row.
> Now Im NOT SURE
> if scripts will let me do the same thing... but I think
> so... and more
> besides... record on track one after an 8th, switch to
> track 2, repeat
> across all tracks, wher all tracks are pre pitched to
> different notes, THEN
> after one bar stop record on one and insert one space
> later... bla bla
> bla...
> 
> What does "Shuffle" do? Button didnt seem to do
> anything.
> 
> I am yet to be able to say how it FEELS... This has been
> one of my things in
> previous posts, that just like a favoured guitar, where you
> love the action
> or the tone, and how it sits against your knee, a looper
> has FEEL. The EDP
> to me has lots of FEEL, I play WITH it, forget it, it
> surprises me, yet
> never tricks me. My OTHER looper the repeater, has NO FEEL,
> I like its
> features, but I must treat it like a tape machine, I switch
> it on, it
> records, it loops, it does what I tell it, but I cant
> forget it, one Undo,
> and 4 tracks means I lose myself in where what is, I need
> to remove
> something and take down the wrong track
> 
> Now... with Mobius inside Mulch... with different tracks
> coming out to
> different bubbleblowers? shiiiiiiiit..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So im not there yet... would like some feeback on these
> questions, but I
> will probably joint the Mobius list and hang out for a
> bit...
> Need to borrow a new soundcard witha midi IN and try it
> with FCB.. maybe the
> FEEL is ok... man...
> 
> By the way.. where is the Mobius list, couldnt find it at
> Yahoo...
> 
> thats it for now... good first impresions... but scared
> what the future
> might bring (in more ways than one - see 3rd paragraph)
> 
> Later kids, dont stay up to late..
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> www.markfrancombe.com
> http://uk.youtube.com/user/markfrancombe
> http://www.myspace.com/markfrancombe
> www.looop.no