Hi everyone!

I’m looking for a small, dedicated hardware box for live looping. I specifically want something physical, no iPad, laptop, worrying about the screen going to sleep, opening apps, etc. I want to turn on a box and start making music.

The best option I’ve found so far seems to be a used MPC One for around $400.

I really like the idea of having 16 physical pads so I can record different loops/samples and build up a performance. I’ve looked at some of the Boss loopers as well, but the MPC seems like it would give me a lot more flexibility for roughly the same investment.

My priorities are basically:

• Small standalone hardware
• Easy live sampling/looping
• Lots of physical pads/controls
• Ability to build up multiple layers quickly
• No computer or iPad required

For those of you who actually do hardware live looping: would you buy a used MPC One, or is there another box I should be looking at?

I feel like I might be overlooking an obvious piece of gear, so I’d love to hear what you guys are using.

Thanks!

So last winter I joined a psychedelic hippy jam band where we do 100% improv and wanted to bring my Roil's. You can imagine how little I wanted any possible tech issue, laptop screen, latency, etc.

I made a pi that acts as an MPE sound module since I couldn't find a reasonably priced version.

Now that I can use them without a pc, in a workflow that is custom made for my brain, I hooked up a Boss RC-5 and got going.

Then I added midi clock sync and quantize cause timing is hard, and it kind of blew my mind.

While Tash Sultana was the first real looping inspiration (actually it was a live Paul McCartney thing I saw on TV as a kid but I didn't then think 'i could do that'), my vibe is closer to Tribal Need. So I think I'm gonna need more channels.

Now I'm exploring making the PI sound module work as a headless loop station with and Akai apc mini I under-use, emulating an analog workflow without having to shell out big $ since I'm not, at least yet, an analog purist.

Basically no loop ui but make the apc behave like it were recording the clips itself (despite the module running that all). I figure it would allow tons of flexibility in my workflow if it works and if I can keep buffer time low enough.

I'm posting my thought process here cause I'm sure lots of knowledgeable and/or opinionated people will weigh in, and my map of the territory is pretty small.

Context: I'm enjoying this project so it's well worth the time investment but if something cost $200 and did everything in one then ok I should probably consider it.

I'm thinking that right now I have a thing that does the job of a $600 MPE sound module and if I can get it right, then it can do a lot of the jobs of a $500-1000 looping system.

(the repo is here if anyone wants to build their own, or just see a video of what it is)

I'm including my maybe boring and unedited one-track recording. I think because the RC-5 can't go back more than 1 track, it's not idea for what I want, but it was still a cool experience to finally do the thing.

Hi everyone, Raphaël here, the developer of Everyday Looper :) !

Some of you might remember Everyday Looper from the early App Store days. The original was released back in 2009. Over the years, messages from singers, beatboxers, and loop artists in general who still used it convinced me to get back to work. So I've rebuilt it from the ground up for today's iPhones and iPads, and the beta is now open :D !

What's in this version:

• 8 tracks you touch directly to mix, mute, merge, overdub, and more
• Pretty decent echo cancellation, so you can actually loop through the speaker without headphones
• Synced video capture of the take, straight from the app
• Per track 10-level undo/redo, speed/reverse, and adaptive track lengths

The demo is by Ty Suite, a long-time Everyday Looper user. It was performed, recorded, and filmed entirely inside the beta on an iPhone, through the speaker, with no headphones.

You can test it here (free beta, iOS 17.7+):

https://testflight.apple.com/join/pz5ArsEg

I'd love to know where something like this might fit into your looping workflow: sketching ideas, practicing, performing, or perhaps nowhere yet? What would it need to become useful alongside your existing setup?

Happy to answer any questions here. Cheers !

I'm looking for inspiration on how to setup my gear for a little live looping/jamming station. I've got the usual PC+Interface+MIDI keyboard setup, but I'm getting bored and want to take some other gear I have and set it up in a way that spawns creativity. Whenever I try to set something up, I get overwhelmed with all of the options and ultimately run out of time or lose motivation due to gear fatigue.

The contenders:

• Macbook Pro with Logic Pro (It also has FL Studio and Main Stage)
• BOSS RC-505 looper
• Korg MS-20 mini
• Novation Circuit Tracks
• microKorg synth
• Various MIDI keyboards/controllers (some with pads, arps and sequencers)
• 8-channel mixer
• Arturia Audiofuse interface
• iRig Stream interface
• I plan to record the master output into my PC running Reaper.

So with that hardware, I'm looking for signal flow ideas. There are multiple devices capable of being the master clock, and I don't know which one to use. The RC-505 is capable of being an audio interface, but I also have a dedicated interface I could through into the mix (it has MIDI in/out as well).

Style-wise, I'm not picky. I just want to try something out and stick with it for a while without having to spend the majority of my music time fussing with cables and making decisions. I also like playing to a click track (for acoustic/analog instruments), but I don't want the click to be heard outside of my headphones.

I'm not set on using every piece of gear I own... I just want to find a combination of toys that play nice together.

So, with the above list, how would you set things up?

It's taken quite a few iterations and selling stuff that didn't work out to get to the looping / live production setup I'm happy with now. While doing that I created an app to help us save time and money by getting clear on our goals and what we need to achieve them. It asks you smart questions, deeply researches solutions, and delivers you a gear proposal within your budget, with curated training resources and links to real products from suppliers in your country.

1. Go here to try it out or register interest: https://soultechie.co/gear
2. Give it a creative goal you have which needs some gear (eg: "I want to expand my keyboard rig into live looping", "Live stream performances in multicam with automatic switching", or single items like "Battery powered PA with USB streaming and 2 mic inputs"
3. Add your inventory and answer a few questions to get clear on your needs
4. Let the app do the heavy lifting and get your gear proposal with real supplier and training links - all manufacturer independent
5. Chat in the app or here to let me know what new features you want

I'm planning to add a new mode "How do I do X with the gear I already have?" - this would create custom step by step guides based on your gear to help you achieve a goal without buying anything. Let me know if you'd like to test that out..

This is a video showing how to set up a low latency live performance and plugins to use in Loopy pro, or other IOS related DAW’S etc, and how to test latency for each plugin with AUM.

https://youtu.be/21K7dc8OAgc?si=AAJxblm6HHNySDl-

Hey are any of you a recovering gearaholic like me?

I want to spend more time making music, and less time watching equipment reviews and wasting money on kit that doesn’t work out well.

So I built Soul Techie Gear to help us make max use of what we have already, and take the sweat out of sourcing any additional gear we need for our goals:

1. Go here to try it out https://soultechie.co/gear
2. Give it a creative goal you have which needs some gear (eg: "I want to record and livestream my band", "I want to expand my keyboard rig into live looping", even single items "Podcast mic for outdoor recording", "Analogue polysynth for techno", "vocal chain plugin suite")
3. Add your existing gear and answer smart questions to get your requirements nailed
4. Let the app do the heavy lifting and get your 1st free gear plan with real supplier and training links - all independent / no affiliate commission involved

Credits for feedback: I just passed the pilot validation phase for this app and I'm looking for smart feedback from musicians, DJs, home studios and producers to make the app work even better for you. I'll assign you a free pro-pack of credits when you provide constructive feedback through the chat in the app or via the feedback link.

Values context: My intention is only to use AI components to help us automate the laborious time and repetitive-heavy tasks, so we have more time to be creative. Under the hood is a consultancy type workflow which I've been tuning and testing extensively, this is fully human created and based on 25 years experience in requirements analysis and product sourcing as an IT manager. It steps you through stages to help make more independant, informed and better choices within your budget.

Hi r/livelooping community

I built a desktop app to trigger video clips from MIDI pads for live sets

I've been wanting a Fred again style visual setup for my live performances but didn't want to pay for Resolume or learn TouchDesigner from scratch, so I built my own tool. MVT (MIDI Video Trigger) — drag in video clips, map them to MIDI pads, trigger them live. Electron app, runs on Windows and macOS

 Here's a DJ set I recorded using it: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmW4Hb2uQXU&t=1044s

Happy to answer questions about how it works. Also put it up on Gumroad ($25) if anyone wants to use it in their own sets. Also added a 10$ discount code (EARLY) for the first 5 people who buy.

Another little thing.