Lopping?

Joli Gadjo

Believe or not there are gigs where we have a hard time to find 2 guitars.
It becomes really a challenge, as I am not the kind of guitarist who can really play without having a Gypsy Rhythm Engine in the background... I can't really do the bass lines and the chords melody and all that...
So, yesterday at the gig Craig and I were wondering:
How many of you have used some of those looping pedals to create your own rhythm in a live performance (I am thinking simple toys like the Boss RC3 or similar)?
How did that work for you?

Jazzaferri

AT first I thought this thread was about pruning ones guitar :shock:

I have tried with a Boss RC 20 XL pedal..after taking a week long course with Victor Wooten..... as yet....the only guy I have seen do it and get the timing bang on live is Vic Wooten.

I found it soooo hard to get the punch out right. the punch in was quite straightforward...but then I am old and slow sooo perhaps with more practice it would have come. It was easier in the studio but still getting the punch out seemed to me to be the hard part to prevent hiccups in timing.

Easier to record my own rhythm backing track and bring it along.

Good luck if you try it. I would be really interested to know how you made out.

Joli Gadjo

Timing is definitely a challenge...Thanks for your comments, I'll keep you posted.

hanear21

I think you definitely can do it. I've seen a guy named Bob Balsley do it all the time. He usually played other types of music, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for gypsy jazz. Better than playing unaccompanied if you're not able.

lacrossehotclub

Not jazz manouche, Jarle Bernhoft, a guitar and a looper...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=morLAolNCtY

It's all in the tim-ing.

MaximusVolumus

For the past year, I've been gigging alone with a Boss RC-300.

Instead of the traditional way of looping (where one records the progression of the tune live and the machine repeats it for the duration of the song), I typically set the looper to "One-Shot" mode, write out an arrangement for a song, turn on the built in metronome (so my time remains consistent) , and then record the song in its entirety. Then I can simply press the play button with my foot when I'm ready to start, and I've got the entire song.

This way, I can work in dynamics, stops, etc., to make it feel more authentic and lively than the monotony of a repetitive chord track.

Steveareno

I got the little red Boss looper a couple of years ago to fool around with don't really have the patience to figure it out completely. Printed out the manual and it was about 40 pages! I've heard some players do some really cool self accompaniment live. I just use the auto record feature to lay down a rhythm track and then play over it for practice. When I record my GJ guitar (using its on board p/u) it sounds kind of harsh, so I record my Tele for rhythm, with the tone dialed back and then play lead on my GJ guitar. They're incredible little contraptions and capable of a lot more.
Swang on,

crookedpinky

I've used a Digitech Jamman on a number of occassions with a violinist, usually laying down a backing track live while the fiddle plays the melody then I'll kick in with a couple of guitar solo cycles.

The trick is definitely starting the recording and the playback at the right time and for me that's about making sure the pedal itself is physically accessible, in the right place and that I've got the feel of how hard the footswitches need to be pressed. If you're not sitting just right it's possible to miss a footswitch completely which means that your timings right out.

Another thing is to make sure that your signal levels etc are all balanced or you have some way of adjusting without interfering with your rhythm keeping duties.

I have tried transferring pre-recorded backing tracks onto the Jamman and this is great but I'm not sure that the Jamman is recognised under Windows 7 as a mass storage device and the Looper Jamman librarian and editor doesn;t work under Windows 7.

I might post an example of my own looping over the weekend.

Paulius Volkovas

I use Boss RC3 and i have additional footswith connected to stop or clear the loop. I use it for duo gigs with singer or a horn player.Works great and the cool thing is it has stereo in so i can record both piezo and mic from my guitar.
I usually start recording the loop when the horn player or singer plays his last chorus and hope the tempo doesnt speed up . The timing is very important here, but its doable, just takes some practice.

Keith Murch

I am on my fourth looper, currently a Boss RC-300. This one is is a little pricey, but if you plan to gig with a looper, it will pay for itself in just a few gigs. These days I am finding that there is a lot more work for singles and duos and not as much opportunity for a "real" band. The looper opened up a lot of new opportunities for me, so buying the best one was a good investment that continues to pay back over and over. I love to play with a trio or quartet whenever I can, but I actually enjoy doing looper gigs too. I often play in a duo with a sax player, and I create loops on the fly by laying down a rhtythm track while he solos. When it's my turn to solo, I just kick on my looper to back myself up. I also use some saved loops on solo gigs, and the RC-300 has lots of space as well as the ability to name your saved loops. I never record anything but my own guitar on the pre-recorded loops, so when you are playing background music in restaurants etc. the looper is not that noticeable. As others have said, you need to learn how to start/stop your live recorded loops in perfect time. It is quite easy though. Let's say you are creating a loop on a 12-bar form. Press the rec/play button on the first beat of the first bar and play through the form. When you reach the end of the form, press the rec/play button on beat 1 of bar 13 (which is where your loop will start again). People sometimes think they should press the button on beat 4 of bar 12, but this is wrong. You need to think of it as the starting point of the loop. If you have a good sense of time and follow this rule, it works great.
Keith

Archtop Eddy

Great tip Keith -- thanks! AE