Comparing SooperLooper and a Boss RC-50 SL Missing features

[wirelessdreamer]

For background: I started with a GNX4 (multifx with builtin looper), but it was limited, and I really wanted to be able to toggle tracks on and off with stomp boxes/midi, for layering, the gnx4 was sequential, unless you leaned down and pressed little buttons with your hands

First I tried sooperlooper, using a Roland FC-300 to control it, but when I was done playing with one idea and wanted to go onto the next, I had no command to send a stop to all loops, and then start playing sync'd to a different temp based on a new primary loop.

I've been using a Boss RC-50 for the past 2 months, and these are what I think sooper looper is missing, that keeps it from being as good as the RC-50

Missing: Stop all Loops, Start all Loops, Save session (track settings and audio data), Load session (track settings and audio data), clear session (keep the number of tracks, and type(stereo/mono) wipe tempo and audio data then restart tracks at their beginning)

With those features implemented I could use sooperlooper as easily as my RC-50, without them though sooperlooper is too painful for me to personally use in a productive manner

This one Is just fun, and would be nice to see.

Single mode:
each loop is a separate recording that isn't layered you can switch between loops for different parts of a song (think verse, chourus, bridge)

start recording on one, you can layer that one, or switch to a new one, at which time it starts recording, then that loop can be stopped and layered, and you can switch (which starts the loops from the start)

[nodonnel]

*Preface* I'm using sooperlooper for (puredyne) linux, v.1.6.14

Hi wirelessdreamer,

Sooperlooper already possesses almost all of these features.

(1) Pausing/Starting All Loops: To select all loops, press '0' on your keyboard, and then press pause (''z' by default) to pause them all. Pressing 'z' again will start them. To select and pause individual loops, press the corresponding number to that loop on your keyboard and then press the pause key.

(2) Save and Load w/ audio are options in the 'Session' drop down menu.

(3) As far as clearing all loops, the closest way to approximate this function is to create blank sooperlooper sessions with the settings & track numbers you use often, and then load these whenever you want a clean slate.

Happy Sooperlooping!

Nate

[nodonnel]

Also, as far as stopping all loops and starting fresh from a new one, one option is to mute all tracks (press '0' then 'm'), then record to the track to which you're syncing (you can record to a track while it's muted). The muted track will auto-unmute as soon as you finish recording.

Hope this helps!

Nate

[IJbassik]

One feature, that I was told the RC-50 is capable of, is different length loops.

For instance, I might want to start a song with a 1-measure bass line, but I want a melodic part to run 2 or 4 measures. Is there an elegant solution to this?

I might also want to go in the reverse time-order... I might want to start with a set of chords spanning 4 measures or so and when I come in with the bass line that repeats every measure, I only want to spend 1 measure recording it...

I have a simple loop pedal, but it's limited to a single track length, but allows overdubbing. Basically, I want to reduce the amount of stage time I spend creating the loops. The biggest problem is starting out.

Would this be possible with multiple instances of SL? It would also be cool to play with multiple time signatures...

[I tried searching the forums in advance and didn't find a definitive explanation here, either]

[sealpt]

Hi,

I haven't actually done this in the Sooper Looper, but It should since it is the same as the gibson Echoplex that I used to own.

As far as the different lengths of loops. If you are only using the one looper then you would need to start with the shorter loops first. For instance: Set your 8th/cycle, start with a one measure bass loop, that will keep loopingwhen you punch out. Then hit multiply. Record like 4 measures of guitar. The bass loop will keep repeating over and over while you do this. When done you will have a 4 measures of guitar and 4 of bass. The one measure of bass will copy itself to the other 3 measures to bring it up to 4 measures. Multiply is the key to this method.

Secondly... if you already had a 4 measure guitar loop going then you would need a second Sooper Looper. You would switch to that second looper and would play your one measure of bass. The guitar would be playing on the first unmuted looper. Now possibly on this method you might have to set your 8th/cycle to something like 16 to shorten the length of the loop, otherwise it will not punch you back out until 4 measures have gone by leaving you with only one measure of bass and nothing for the remaining 3 measures.

Again, I haven't tried any of the above, but it should work out. You need to do some experimentation with this. There are several toggles to mess with so just mess around with all of them and see what works for you.

That is my 2 cents and hopefully it is accurate. There are plenty of folks on here that might have a better solution that what I gave you, but I would probably start with what I've just described.

Shawn

[IJbassik]

Thanks Shawn, for the inspirational insight. That's just what I was looking for.

[sealpt]

Glad to help when I can.

Shawn