How many are using external loopers w/ Fractal?

Do you use an external looper?

  • Total voters
    101
Holyoli said:
@VittorioAngelo

Hi Vittorio, could you explain your routing in / from the AxeFx ? Thank you !
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Hello @Holyoli ;

Happy to do so. It's a bit involved, so please do excuse the long post.
  1. Routing
    The routing is as follows:
    [Bass]->[AxeFX Input 1, Front Panel]->[Motu Ultralite MK5]->[Ableton]->[AxeFx]

    I need to breakdown the [Motu Ultralite MK5] and ultimate [AxeFX] blocks as well:
    1. The Motu has a number of I/O ports, I'm currently only using the following:
      1. Axe Block Out 3 goes to the Motu In 3&4. This is where I put my Mood MKII
      2. Axe Block Out 4 goes to the Motu in 5&6. This is where I put my Hologram Microcosm
    2. The ultimate [AxeFx] block is Axe Block In 3 & 4 running through the same Reverb block Axe Block In 1 is using.
      The screenshot in the Axe Preset section should elucidate nicely.
  2. Axe Preset
    Screenshot 2024-02-04 at 21.49.15.png

    The preset is included in the attached zip file.
    Please excuse any rough edges on the preset, it's a work in progress.

  3. Ableton
    This is the hairiest part of my setup:
    Screenshot 2024-02-04 at 21.46.51.pngI've included the Ableton set in the attached zip file too. It was saved using Ableton 11.

    Please know that I'm constantly fiddling with the set, so before you use it please do zero out all levels. I don't want you being surprised by a sudden blast of sound!

    The tracks, left to right, are as follows:
    1. Audio
      This is the master group for all the audio coming in from the AxeFX. I.e.: Bass, Mood MKII and Microcosm.
      There's an Ableton-native mastering rack on this track to even out all the incoming audio.
    2. Axe Raw
      Axe Out 1 Block
    3. Motu 3/4
      Axe Out 3
    4. Motu 5/6
      Axe Out 4
    5. Motu 7/8
      Currently, I don't use this track.
    6. Arturia
      This is for my keyboard's incoming Midi
    7. Ext
      This group is to send midi clock information from Ableton to the Mood MKII, Microcosm, and AxeFx.
      When Ableton Transport is running, the clock/tempo is communicated to all attached Midi devices.
    8. Return sends
      I think these are self-explanatory.
  4. Midi
    I've got MIDI cables connecting all devices (including the Motu MK5) utilizing the Midi In and Thru ports
  5. Foot controllers
    I've got the Axe FC12 and a Morningstar FC6 Pro to control the Mood MKII, Microcosm and Ableton.
I hope you find good use for this @Holyoli.
 

Attachments

  • Vittorio AxeFX Ableton Set - 2024.zip
    1.2 MB · Views: 5
Last edited:
Maybe @Reanimator will chime in. At band rehearsal yesterday (actually, lack of as we lost power for almost 12 hours right as we were preparing to start!) he was espousing how much he was enjoying Loopy Pro for working on his solo looping material.

It sounds like it has a ton of capability. I think the only "limitation" may be that's is iOS only right now with MacOS coming soon.
 
Anyone use Logic’s ‘live loops’ for looping or Ableton type clip work successfully for on the fly stuff?

I have a couple loopers but want to take it back into the box. I’m pretty familiar with Ableton on this front, but haven’t used it in years. I moved over to Logic. Love its default plugins for mixing linear stuff. Have yet to use Live Loops at all.
 
simeon said:
yeah, i'm using albeton this way as well. i've never used it as a daw, not once. it's an incredible digital mixer though. so easy to route audio and midi in, out and through and so easy to control via midi. i'd be lost without it.
Click to expand...
... that's an interesting way of looking at and using Live - "an incredible digital mixer". Perhaps I need to reset my perspective in that direction.
 
simeon said:
yeah, i'm using albeton this way as well. i've never used it as a daw, not once. it's an incredible digital mixer though. so easy to route audio and midi in, out and through and so easy to control via midi. i'd be lost without it.
Click to expand...
I use Cubase as my main DAW but little over a year ago started using Ableton but don't use it like a typical DAW either. i'm using it more in the way as a digital mixer of sorts as well. I have my Akai APC40 mkII to quickly select channels. I have one set that just has combination of my main fav synth tracks for example that i like to switch between. I still have much to learn with Ableton...but I like how it differs from Cubase in that I can quickly get sounds going

@VittorioAngelo I'm looking at your configuration of I/O in ableton. Man I gotta step up my game. me looking at your setup is like this> mind you, I'm still not confident with Ableton as I need to spend more time with it
1707248133385.png
 
Ableton LIVE is only good at dealing with lots short loops IME, or being used as a mixer with great FX like Ya'll are doing, though it really sucks for traditional linear music production (full tracks head to tail).

We use LIVE on stage for everything (click, cues, teleprompter, lights, drum samples, guitar and bass FX automation/fades/cross-fades, quantized Loopers, backing tracks, and additional vocal FX), but all the audio and MIDI tracks are first created in Pro Tools, then exported and imported into LIVE (some light editing is done in LIVE for simple arrangement updates at times after the fact). The audio and MIDI track import works well, allowing for tempo and meter changes as desired.
 
I've been watching youtube vids this afternoon on using looper in LIVE. One cool trick I saw was placing two loopers next to eachother; midimap a footswitch to the 'record' on first looper and to the 'stop' of the second looper. Midi map a second switch to do the inverse for each looper. this allows you to bounce back n forth between two parts and build a simple performance. I'm definitely going to play around with LIVE more before opting for an external pedal. Only drawback to all this as mentioned already is having to fire up your computer/DAW.
 
vika12 said:
I use the Looper contained in the Fractal. There's no reason to use anything else.
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Reason #1 - no Fractal unit can stay in sync (by reading Midi clock) to a device like the Singular Sound Beat Buddy (a popular rhythm tool for acoustic players). It makes the Fractal looper unusable in that Use Case.
I use the Pigtronix Infinity Looper for this purpose. Stays in sync.
 
Chewie5150 said:
I use Cubase as my main DAW but little over a year ago started using Ableton but don't use it like a typical DAW either. i'm using it more in the way as a digital mixer of sorts as well. I have my Akai APC40 mkII to quickly select channels. I have one set that just has combination of my main fav synth tracks for example that i like to switch between. I still have much to learn with Ableton...but I like how it differs from Cubase in that I can quickly get sounds going

@VittorioAngelo I'm looking at your configuration of I/O in ableton. Man I gotta step up my game. me looking at your setup is like this> mind you, I'm still not confident with Ableton as I need to spend more time with it
View attachment 134518
Click to expand...
I'm glad you're finding use in it @Chewie5150. I can't wait to hear what you do with it!
 
  1. TCE Ditto+ at the start of my chain- I've got a number of pre-recorded loops of dry guitar signal so I can dial in tones, e.g. pull up my "chugga chugga" loop for metal sounds- this lets me focus on what I'm hearing, rather than what I'm playing, and leaves my hands free to tweak, rather than play, stop, adjust, play, stop, adjust.... I also have some white noise & other test tones saved which are helpful for troubleshooting and other analysis.
  2. Strymon Volante in Loop 4- not a traditional looper, more of a soundscape generator SOS thing. I realize the Axe-FX can probably do everything it does, but there's something about the physical controls to manipulate tape speed, degradation, etc.
And then I'll use the internal looper for more traditional compositional stuff.
 
simeon said:
would people be interested in that, do you think?
i love that axe makes it so easy to interface with other bits of gear. i can use one usb cable to the macbook, or even use a usb plus the camera connector straight to the ipad. i can also use the macbook and the ipad at the same time, so it's kinda modular.
ok, i'll have a think and try and figure out an interesting way to do it.
Click to expand...
Perhaps take a look at any of the Premier Guitar “Rig Rundown” videos on YouTube for a good starting point.
 
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