Using a looper??

fretmeister

I have had several loopers in the past and I've sucked at using them.

Is there any type of Beginner Guide?

I love the idea of them and have listened to many great bits of music created with them, but everytime I try, I suck!

Advice please!

d8m

When I first got the ditto I eased into it by doing this as an exercise:

It helped me get my stomping foot in time.(Its harder than it looks to start/stop right on the beat)

EricTheWeary

I can stomp in time but then my brain puts a slight hesitation in when I go to stomp on the looper. For noodling at home that's no great problem as I just adjust to what is coming out the looper but I wouldn't use it live with a band.

Although, TBH,mostly all I've ever done with my looper at home is create 20 minute E minor whale song epics...
3:-O

shuikit

The best tip and best help I've ever had was from a busker (who used two loopers, one into another) was that it's getting the first loop in time that's critical so if you struggle, just make a tap sound for the number of beats/bars that you need and make sure that's spot on first.  When I started doing this, the consistency of me getting loops right increased dramatically.  These days I tend to do this with single down strum only chords (same principle) at a low volume

Monkeybone

Guitarist mag had a feature and guide on how to use loopers a while back, the May 2013 issue.

I've got a Boss RC20XL, my main reason for buying it was so I could do a cheat version of Newton Faulkner's cover of Teardrop (still haven't properly mastered it yet but getting there), and an acoustic version of The End Of Heartache by Killswitch Engage. I also use the looper on my Boss VE20 Vocal processor when playing Write It On Your Skin by Mr Faulkner. It's tough to work it out to start but it does get easier.

frankus

I use one, BUT mine has looping to measures and I've synched it to a drum machine.

Generally I see it as a creative device not a recreative device...
I've recorded the rhythm,bass and drums for Kashmir on it before then played Subterranian Homesick Alien over the top.

If the looper offers a click and quantises use them! that's my advice.

I do like the Uberjam approach to loops - keep them short and to the point.

ROOG

fretmeister said:

I have had several loopers in the past and I've sucked at using them.

Is there any type of Beginner Guide?

I love the idea of them and have listened to many great bits of music created with them, but everytime I try, I suck!

Advice please!

You are not alone, I have a G5 with looper function and drum beat thing, I go to pieces when I have to synch the stomp.

Odd really as a use workstation and arranger keyboards with similar sequencer/looper functions and I "cope" with those. 

57Deluxe

I have a better ruse... I get my students to play the loop and I noodle over the top... they pay for the privelege. Seems a better deal to me.

frankus

I remember a mate telling me he had a teacher like that... for about two more lessons

jaytmon

The RC20 has a quantise function built in, at least if you set up the tempo using tap tempo. That makes life easy. I used to struggle using the loop function on the DD20 when attempting a Howie Day type thing:

He uses Line6 DL4s somehow. Pretty cool what he does, even if you're not a fan.

steamabacus

I've been using a looper for 10 years or more and if there's one thing I've learned it's that loopers will show up your timing issues. At first, it's really common to think that it's some kind of latency in the switching - it's probably not.

You need to practice tapping your foot along with everything you play. Your timing with your hands may be spot on but you've got to get your hands and feet totally synchronised.

When playing a loop into the looper, don't try and record the first pass - get your riff/chord progression nice and steady and don't try and 'capture' it until it is.

I find it helps to 'air' tap your foot along with the rhythm over the switch and then, when you want to hit record, just extend the tapping foot a little further to hit the switch.

ICBM

This is still an excellent illustration…

She has a little mini-mixer going into the looper so she can sample her vocal mic and the tambourine as well as the guitar, but otherwise this whole performance is built on looped guitar.

SimonC

I find that whenever I tap to start recording the loop, I also reflexively hit the first chord / note too hard as well.

So the loop never sounds balanced.

octatonic

fretmeister said:

I have had several loopers in the past and I've sucked at using them.

Is there any type of Beginner Guide?

I love the idea of them and have listened to many great bits of music created with them, but everytime I try, I suck!

Advice please!

Get familiar with it by avoiding anything that needs to be time locked- as in the click to loop has to be absolutely exact otherwise it will sound wonky, type of thing.

Don't do it- just work in free time for a bit- you might find you enjoy it more.

Have a listen to this: http://www.jamesrichmond.com/misc/melancholicscape.mp3

It is one of my very old loops, before I got the Echoplex or the Axe FX- using a Line 6 looper.

It isn't synced in the way that a lot of rhythmic loops are but the push/pull timing of looping in free time is very, er... freeing.