Home › Forums › Guitar Techniques and General Discussions › Looping pedal
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October 7, 2015 at 7:56 pm #26822
I am interested in getting a looping pedal and working with it for some song composition. Just wondering what you all think about them and if you have had any experience using one? Boss RC 30 seems to get a lot of good reviews.
Appreciate any advice on this subject.
Cheers. -
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October 7, 2015 at 8:02 pm #26824
I was going to buy the Boss RC30, then since I already have FL studio and mixcraft 7 I am going to see if I cant just record a loop with the guitar and have it play over while I play over the top, not so convenient I know but would save $150.
I havn’t tried anything yet, it’s just an idea.
Neil.
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October 7, 2015 at 9:55 pm #26829
I am interested in getting a looping pedal and working with it for some song composition. Just wondering what you all think about them and if you have had any experience using one? Boss RC 30 seems to get a lot of good reviews.
Appreciate any advice on this subject.
Cheers.Debra
I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never used a looper but the Boss unit and the Digitech JamMan are 2 great pedals and I’m sure that they will do what you need
I have my sights set on the Digitech Trio Band Creator Pedal. the pedal has 12 different styles of music to choose from. You choose one of the 12, play your progression and it generates bass and drums. There is a demo video on this page from Sweetwater.
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TrioPedal?utm_source=MSN&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=none&utm_term=Bing_PLA_All_Products&device=cAs far as looping is concerned, you will find none better than Phil Keaggy in the use of the JamMan. Many have never heard of Phil even though he has released over 50 albums and they are in the Christian music niche. Don’t think that Phil is sitting around strumming a guitar to the old hymns that many us heard as children. He is widely revered as one of the greatest guitarist that has ever touch the instrument and that’s not me speaking, its a matter of record coming from Guitar Player and other magazine.
Here is Phil in concert using the looper. Notice the audience laughing as he sets up his loops, obvious they don’t know what or why he’s doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m2hoNVugKACheck this out for some of his electric 70s blues influence rock (all instrumental album)
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October 7, 2015 at 10:37 pm #26832
Hi Debra, and welcome to this exceptionally supportive community.
You asked about loopers; I have the Boss RC 30, and use it for 2 purposes.
First, I like to play my own chord progression and then practice improvising over it.
Second, for performing live, it’s like having an accompanist when I want to add a solo. I lay down my chord progression on the first pass, then suspend it (there’s an extra little foot pedal (about $25) that lets me put the looper on hold) then click it on when I want to play a solo.
Also, for instrumental pieces, I can add layers of chords, bass, solos, fills, on and on and build up a whole multi-layer instrumental thing. If it goes well, it creates a fantastic performance; but it’s easy to overdo it and create a racket.But Loopers takes some getting used to, and like all musical technology, they have a zillion settings and functions that I’ve never even tried. There’s even drum and rhythm settings.
So for me the main use is live performance where I either want to let the looper play chords while I add an instrumental solo verse, or when I want to do the multi-layer instrumental thing. Some folks are real experts at that, but a little bit goes a long way.
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October 7, 2015 at 11:48 pm #26837
@Cheese8800 uses a looping pedal in some of his videos he has posted on the forum. You might shoot him an private message.
-Bryce
Anchorage, Alaska -
October 8, 2015 at 6:58 am #26843
I have the tc electronics Ditto x2
it does what I need it to do and more, I use mine like others said to play a chord progression and then play lead over it. if i remember they are about $170 unless you catch them on sale -
October 8, 2015 at 10:40 am #26849
Thanks everyone for your feedback on this! Gnlguy, Phil Keaggy is amazing- I had not heard of him.
Well now I just need to get one and start looping, start looping. (Couldn’t resist)
Cheers. -
October 8, 2015 at 8:05 pm #26870
Hi Debra. I have the ditto looper and i totally reccommed it. For what you want it for, its perfect. It does not have all the other crazy options on it that some other more expensive ones have. Those can be awesome but also confusing and too many options you will never need. The ditto is a simple yet effective looper pedal to use at home that will give you lots of good practice options. Anyway, just my thoughts. Let us know what you decide….scott. ps:its also relatively inexpensive compared to other looper pedals.
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October 8, 2015 at 10:45 pm #26874
Scott, I will check it out for sure. I know what you mean about having too many unnecessary options. Appreciate your input.
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October 9, 2015 at 2:21 am #26878
HI Debra: I love my Boss RC-3 Looper: it’s simple but it has the 3 features I need
1) Looping (and with a additional switch you can also stop the Loop very prciisely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S8BsyxoDSI
2) You can Store your Backing Tracks as Wave Files. This gives you the advantage to start the backing track with your foot
3) A simple Drum machine
Have fun
Rolf
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October 9, 2015 at 5:28 am #26880
Hi Debra. I have to add my vote for the Ditto X2. It will do all you want and is easy to learn. The biggest problem (and not a huge one at that) is tapping your foot and getting it timed to hit the record button exactly on the beat. It only stores one loop, but you can change it out via USB from your computer.
To tell the truth, I had a Boss looper but it came with a whole encyclopedia of very confusing instructions and the type was so small that it was near impossible to read. I finally got disgusted and GAVE it away, and good riddance.
The Ditto won’t disappoint. Let us know which one you decide on.
Larry
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October 12, 2015 at 1:40 pm #26973
I have been using the ditto for some time now and love it’s simplicity. It has to be one of the simplest loopers available. Creating my own backing tracks was a huge step forward. I am always now thinking of the chords I am soloing over.
I’ve just bought another pedal to use with my looper which is called a “beat buddy”. That is also an awesome bit if kit. There are some great reviews on utube if anyone’s interested.
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October 12, 2015 at 10:06 pm #26982
G’day Debra,
Here is a alternative to the looping pedal, that might do what you want re songwriting.
I was going to buy a looper, mainly so as I could put down chord progressions and then practice playing improvised lead over them. However since getting familiar with Apple Logic Pro X, I’ve found that you can use the software’s Record and Play-back functions to put down the rhythm part, loop it and play lead over it, and record and save the combined rhythm and lead if wanted. This is all done with a few clicks of the mouse, and without the need of a looping pedal. I presume you can do the same with GarageBand and the equivalent PC music software.
The software also does the job of the amp by simulating a variety of amps and their effects, and Logic even allows an impressive range of pedal effects to be added.
You do need a USB audio interface to connect your guitar (or keyboard) to your computer. If played through a pair of good studio monitors rather than the computer’s speakers, the output is comparable to the sound from a good amp – and at volumes that won’t rattle the windows or upset the neighbours. In fact, I do most of my playing through this set-up in preference to playing through the amp (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 3) because you can have good sound at low volumes.
Anyway Debra, it could be worth your while to check out GarageBand or trial copy of Logic too see if they’ll do what you want.
Rick
[My set-up for anyone interested:
Computer: MacBook Pro
USB Audio Interface: Steinberg UR22
Mixer (not essential): Mackie Mix8
Studio Monitors: JBL 3 Series (powered)
Good quality cables (Mogami)] -
October 13, 2015 at 10:09 pm #27016
Gnlguy, Neil, Keith, Bryce, Canada Moose, Deluxestrat, Scotty117, Rolf, Larry, Alan and AussieRick, I really appreciate all the feedback on the looper.
I do like the idea of simplicity with the Ditto and it seems like a lot of you enjoy using it. Also, Aussi Rick, I am going to check out your alternative process using Logic Pro–I do use that DAW but had not thought of using it that way.
The people in this forum are awesome!
Cheers. -
November 17, 2015 at 4:54 pm #28490
Hi Debra,
I have a Ditto Looper: like the other respondents here, I record a chord progression and then jam over it. For my latest attempt, I learned a riff, rather than a chord progression, from the D minor Pentatonic, which I played into the Looper. Marty described it as a kind of ‘Born under a Bad Sign’ type riff. I have then set the Looper going, and jammed over it in that scale. Please see this link:
The only minor thing with the Looper is knowing when to stop! I could have gone on for hours! I simply ran out of recording space!
Next thing I am keen to do is to record a Slow Blues progression on the Looper, and record an interpretation of BB King’s ‘The Thrill is Gone’!
So, the message is, Get a Looper: they are great fun!
Cheers,
Rich.
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November 17, 2015 at 5:13 pm #28491
Hi again.
By the way, just listened to Phil Keaggy. Absolutely Brilliant!
Rich F.
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November 17, 2015 at 9:00 pm #28506
I’ve seen Phil several times, as a solo performer and with a band. Either way, brilliant is a great way to describe his skills.
In his solo performances, he usually has 2 guitars, his processor and his Jam Man system. Every time that I’ve seen him in this setting, the show was 3+ hours, non stop and no breaks. He never repeated himself and his music never ‘just dragged on’. Every note and every lick is fresh.For electric, he likes the Vox AC Top Boost amps and he used a Les Paul Standard and a Parker Fly. Again, non-stop, no breaks – just Phil playing his heart out.
Below is a Phil tunes titled Zee Blues that gives a good example of his electric playing. Note the song titles – Phil has somewhat dry sense of humor that is very…. I suppose that random is a good way to describe it. He catches you off guard at times.
Zee Blues comes from his album called Jammed!! and I think that its an all instrumental album. Here is the link to that album
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