Looping in Mianstage? Stock Looback? Mobius? Other?

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Looping in Mianstage? Stock Looback? Mobius? Other?

So I REALLY want to loop in Mainstage. I am still new to the loopback feature, but I'm already feeling that it is a lesser looper than my hardware version (boomerang.) I am hearing things about the Mobius looper. Is that an option in Mainstage? Are there other options? I usually use my looper to in three ways: serial sync (where I lay down a short rhym and then sync other loops up to it) or in a standard verse, chorus, bridge pattern. Oh, and I like to be able to layer over the top of any of those things I laid down.

Any suggestions? I'm willing to invest the time necessary to learn this, but I'd like to start with the best option before I learn it up.

Thanks!

MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo, iMac Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Apr 8, 2011 6:47 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 9, 2011 3:16 PM in response to Pianafiddle

I think that LoopBack (included) is a pretty good plugin. The only difficulty is that you need to map separate controls to each looper - this works if your foot controller can have it's own banks setup, so you would switch banks on your controller to control different LoopBack instances. Works well and everything can sync up with other things in mainstage (Ultrabeat patterns/PlayBack tracks).

SooperLooper (Another free looper) has some better control options, but getting it to integrate with mainstage can be a bit more difficult and buggy, at least the last time I tried. http://sonosaurus.com/sooperlooper/ . The developer was very friendly when I made suggestions - implemented them the next week. Can't beat that. I can't remember the details of how I got it all working with MainStage - it's been a while, probably set it up on a bus at the concert level. However, I do have a video up showing it in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7V-E5tT5zc

I need to check out mobius. If it runs inside a AU plugin and syncs up and simplifies mapping, that would be great.

Message was edited by: sam squarewave

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Answer 2

Apr 10, 2011 3:44 AM in response to Pianafiddle

Mobius has a great workflow for serial style looping where you record separate song section loops. There is a hefty learning curve with Mobius but it was totally worth it to me. Sooperlooper is also an amazing looper and is used professionally by many successful loopers. They are both free so if you are really into looping it would not hurt to learn both. Start with Mobius and slowly go through the new documentation at circularlabs. Have fun!

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Answer 3

Apr 14, 2011 1:33 PM in response to George Matthews

Don't know how you're going to beat using a Boomerang III. Its got the stuff ('cept I don't like how close the buttons are, as I hit the wrong one sometimes).

I've tried all the software loopers I could get my hand on, tried them with a MIDI footswitch controller, within and without MainStage, but never could match the ease of use and reliability of the Rang. Also tried several hw loopers (Boss loopers, JamMan, etc).

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Answer 4

Apr 18, 2011 10:49 AM in response to Pianafiddle

After trying Loopback, Mobius and Sooperlooper for a Mainstage-based duo, I finally got what seems to be a solid system:

I use one instance of Sooperlooper with three tracks for the guitar player, and he controlls it with a basic FCB1010. SL takes a bit of trial and error to get the right feel for loooping, but once it's dialed in, it's great. And it has enough functions to make your head hurt.

It took forever to figure out a decent way to hook everything up, but I finally figured out that you're best off by bypassing Mainstage's MIDI mapping for SL. Use MIDI Patchbay to hook up your controller to SL and make a preset in SL for the mapping. This is the only way I could get the controller recognized every time. USB controllers seem more reliable in that sense.

I also use a few Loopback instances for bass lines and keyboard layering controlled with an APC20 Might switch that to SL, but the simpler LB functions work fine for now.

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