I bought a Digitech JamMan Stereo looper / sampler pedal and I'm very impressed with it. As the only guitarist in the band, my aim was to use it to play my prerecorded rhythm parts when I have to do the solos as otherwise there's going to be a big hole where the rhythm guitar was. I knew there was likely to be an issue with the timing of the sampled parts as the drummer isn't guaranteed to start at the same tempo every time, nor keep to it (but he's pretty good at not drifting to be fair), so I chose a looper pedal that allows real-time tempo adjustment, which mine does. I experimented with it last week at rehearsals and it's very hard to tap-tempo it back into sync with the drummer in the middle of a song. It's fine to set the tempo before you trigger the clip, but it's nigh-on impossible to lock it back in once it's playing - you can tap the correct current tempo in, but the beats will likely be out of sync with the song.
SO.... I'm trying to work out my best approach. Using one of our covers, Quo's 'Rocking all over the world', I initially tried it with Rossi's part (the basic rock chug) recorded on the pedal in a 8-bar loop, whilst I played Parfitt's little riff up at the 8th fret. This worked, but soon the drummer and the loop were out of sync and tap-tempoing it to correct it didn't work, as previously mentioned.
I'm now thinking that it might be better to have Parfitt's riff recorded as an 8-bar loop and I play Rossi's part live. My logic is that I can tap-tempo it during the intro bars before I trigger it so it should be in sync when I do, very shortly afterwards. Plus, if it goes Pete Tong for whatever reason, I can stop the sample and it won't be hugely missed if I'm playing the main rhythm part anyway. I haven't yet tested this out mind.
My next hurdle is the solos. I can't not play them live, so the rhythm part has to come from the looper. I could have the same approach of tap-tempoing it before the solo starts so it ought to be in sync when I trigger it. Obviously this will have to be a different sample patch on the pedal, so I'm going to end up tap-tempoing at the start, triggering one sample (Parfitt's riff) repeatedly then approaching the solos, switching patches, re-tap-tempoing and triggering Rossi's rhythm part while I play the solos - then back to the previous patch etc.
Am I biting off more than is reasonable ? Is there an easier way to approach this ? Should I take up Irish dancing ?
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Comments
Have an escape plan if it all goes it shit, which it probably will at least 20% of the time.
Personally I don't think there is much 'good music' that can be accessed doing it this way.
Better to do it live, arrange it intelligently and play it will confidence.
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I've done a lot of looper-based stuff (I have both a JamMan SoloXT and an old Line 6 DL4) but the only way I'd ever use it with a live drummer would be using drone-like harmonic pads that have no strong rhythmic content. Stuff like that can happily swirl around the beat without problem.
Trying to use a looper for a rhythmic part really needs the whole band to be sync'd up with a click/midi. Otherwise, when it is vaguely in time it's likely to be stilted and forced - and when it isn't it'll be a car crash as noted above.
If you really MUST try it, I'd advise recording a ONE BAR loop set to 'single shot' and trigger it on the first beat of each bar - it may drift out over the bar but you'll be pulling it back at the beginning of the next.
There must surely be simpler ways of 'filling out the space'?
My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youI’ve rarely seen people use loopers well live, I don’t mean incompetently they just sound like they are using loopers - all a bit sub Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.
I had a binge on watching loads of stuff on YouTube by The Ruts a few weeks ago. On one live version they were using a looper for a repeated fill part on Jah Wars - so playing the main rythmn part and just triggering a pre recorded loop of the short riff at the end of each verse ( I guess like the single shot approach suggested above). I guess that way around even if the tempo was slightly off it wouldn’t be terrible.
I think we’ve had examples on here of people using loopers on intros so the loop is dictating the tempo and even if the band then drifts the intro is over anyway.
For me ( as a listener at least) always this. I was thinking of Gary Moore covering Thin Lizzy songs live as an example but there must be loads and loads.
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Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youIf it's mainly Quo type stuff then the ear will be drawn to the solo anyway, and as long as something is chugging in the right octave behind it it'll be far more danceable and fun to play than the stilted terror of looping it all.
Unless you all play to click tracks and the parts are sequenced (as many artists successfully do), you are on a hiding to nothing. Wrong tool for the job.
You could use one side of the stereo out put to be a click and feed it to him...but if he cant play to a click you are fucked
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
But when I stopped using it after a software glitch which made me stop trusting it to work properly, I just worked out a new solo approach and sound which filled the space just as well, and I never missed it. I haven’t used one since, I actually feel more comfortable not relying on something like that.
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Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
Punch him on the 1