An original song composed on my new multi-track looper and harmonist, the TC Helicon Voicelive Touch.
It features the first recorded use of what I call the "Cher-Harp Sound": a harmonica played through hard-tune software. It gives some interesting and useful effects, as it can be set to override your usual bends and give you new ones. On this video, the 2 hole full bend on a C harp comes out as E instead of F. Check it out:
now that's the way to use them machines. very nice, very real ---------- Sun, sun, sun Burn, burn, burn Soon, soon, soon Moon, moon, moon
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 10:17 AM
That's amazing stuff. There's only one drawback, as I see it: it would be terribly dangerous to drink on the gig. You'd end up with screwball loops--weird loping extra fractions of a beat--and you might lose track of where each self-cycling loop was lurking within The Machine. I can see myself ending up in an apocalypse of meaningless (if amazingly processed) compu-blather--a tumble of sound-shards puddling on the floor.
I like what you're doing with it. I just know I'd get in trouble if I.....went there.
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 10:12 AM
That is why I use the Boomerang III. You get up to four separate loops that sync. Each loop has its own "channel" that starts/stops in multiples of a master loop. So if I just beatbox one bar, I can have three more loops of ANY length that are in time with the master.
The catch is in the math, and some of the timing. It helps to have great timing, but technically, you can stop the recording loop anywhere between the 2nd and next to last beat and it will stop/replay on its own.
My biggest pet peeves when looper are long set-up times and lack of dynamics. I override this by using a multi-channel looper and effects.
Adam's heard what I do, so he can comment on it if he likes, but I am don't use drum machines or the like. I try to play/stop different instruments throughout and layer effects to add dynamics too.
Mike, I’m a bit new to this whole looping thing but some of your past threads really heightened my awareness of the setup time.
I’m finding it’s important to be able to lay down, say, 4 measures, then come in on the second and play through the first, then come in on the third and play through the second to add another layer. By now there is enough texture you can come in on the fourth and add some percussion while still keeping interest. That leaves you finishing on the third and perfectly set up to start in on the main melody before anyone really noticed what you were doing.
I’m really impressed by the way this player sets up his loops. The first song or two of his I heard were not tunes I knew. I was enjoying his play so much I didn’t even notice the set up. I like the way he lays down a nice rhythm or harmony and then lays down something else interesting on top before taking the time to lay down the percussion. I think this really helps keep the listener involved. I also like the way he quickly jumps on a loop and starts playing or adding another layer. (And he’s only using an RC-2 or 3, nothing fancy)
You can see in some of his earlier videos where he would wait for the loop to cycle and I’ve seen this with other players. I think that’s the one thing I’ve noticed that can really detract from a looping performance, especially if you’re laying down 12 or 16 measures.
I think it's the amount of interest and the amount of time that's important in a set up...
Edited to add proper link
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 12:58 PM
Sorry Brendan, I forgot to comment on your post and, I’m not trying to hijack your post. I always love your playing and I like what you’re doing here. I’ll admit that it sounds a little too processed for me. I think effects are fun for a song or two but then become tiring.
For someone like you who could do an entire set with just a harp and an acoustic mic I think a tool like this is great. It’s a way to throw in something different and appeal to a broader audience. I can, however, imagine some players relying way to heavily on the effects.
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 1:39 PM
I am using the 'Rang III and the VoiceLive Touch! I use the 'Rang for much more livelooping than the TC unit--although, the TC loops the vocal microphone and the guitar, while the 'Rang only records the guitar, so it can be a great option. I certainly don't work the TC as hard as Brendan is! It also responds to MIDI, BTW . . . the 'Rang doesn't, but might be implementing clock soon. It is a strange coincidence that the Boomerang World Headquarters is located in Grapevine, TX, only a few miles away from the hotel where SPAH is happening. http://www.boomerangmusic.com/E156.shtml We should get Mike Nelson to the convention to demo the new looper stuff and jam some guitar for us! Mike can be reached at 800-530-4699.
Last Edited by on Jul 17, 2012 3:00 PM
Thanks for posting that, Brendan...the processor and your use of it is very cool.
Also thanks to Mike and Issac both for posting info and results of their experiments with loopers, processors, etc., in the recent past.
I'd like to get into this technology, but with a limited budget, haven't been able to decide what's the best overall device or combo to acquire.
Pod500? Zoom G3? The appliances demonstrated above?
I'm looking for the looping capability of, for instance, the Boomerang, with effects capability such as reverb, chorus, etc.
Ease of use during performance would be very helpful.
This would be for use with harp and vocals/minimal beatboxing, probably.
It might be useful to be able to set the tempo(maybe they all come with this function?)
Anyway, I could use a solid recommendation, as I am new to the idea of using this technology,and there seems to be limitless options, but a limited budget.
Thanks for the comments and interesting info/videos.
@ smwoerner: I enjoyed Bryson's performance, thanks! You and Mike make some good points about looping, especially about keeping the set-up stage musical in itself.
Making interesting loop performances requires quite a lot of thinking and experimenting, as their intrinsically repetitive nature can be boring. I find the process of working them out really interesting and creative, as it forces you to think in new ways.
Gnarley, you have the Voicelive Touch AND the Boomerang?! Wow, it's mind-boggling to imagine the complexity of stuff you could generate with those two.
Adam: you're right, there is a lot to think about when using loops, especially multi-track. The one in my video was two tracks, but the VLT will allow you to have 20 or more tracks if you want...
This video exaggerates the looping complexity a bit, as the VLT is placed to my side (for the operation to be seen). When I'm performing live I have the looper in front of me, so operating it doesn't require looking away from the audience. That's quite a bit easier.
As Gnarley will attest, the VLT has heaps of functionality in there - not just in the great multi-track looper but also the incredible harmonies! It took about 6 months to learn how to drive it, and there's still lots more to discover.
As a harp player/singer I'm only using part of the Voicelive Touch. If you're a guitarist or keyboard player you can plug into the VLT and it will generate the correct harmonies for you based on what chord you're playing. It has lots of inputs and outputs at the back: twin XLR ports, 4 guitar in/outs, MIDI, USB, the works.
The 'Cher-Harp' autotune effect is fun! I found it disconcerting at first bending down 2 draw and getting a note through the speakers a semitone lower than the one playing on the harp (E instead of F), but if the volume is reasonably up you only hear the E. Once you get used to it, all sorts of new licks are possible.
The notes you get depend on the key you've selected for the tune (in this case G). Because there is no F natural in the G scale the note flips to the nearest one in the scale. Because I was bending hard it went to the E. If I bent a little less it would select the F#.
Looking forward to jamming with Todd and others at SPAH! For those interested, I'm doing a seminar on 'Live Looping for Harp Players' there.
It should go without saying, but this sort of stuff puts the "modern" in "modern blues harmonica," even if it's not necessarily blues, strictly speaking. Cutting edge stuff is happening in the modern roots scene. Thanks for making this forum a go-to place to discover it.
Speaking personally, I'm thrilled by what Brendan is doing. Yes, it is highly processed, but it's also extremely musical. Those two things CAN go together, although they often don't. But here they do.
Last Edited by on Jul 18, 2012 4:32 AM
Brendan...six months!? Wow, it's worth realizing that with any new skill, there is quite a learning curve to becoming competent.
My interest in all this has arisen mostly because one of my regular gigs is with a guitarist/5-string electric cellist duo who both use looping/synth/processing technology in their performance. I manage to fit in nicely without any looping,etc., but I didn't want to be left out of... the loop, so to speak.
Thanks again for demonstrating this...there is certainly some things to consider.
I enjoyed your original song, btw...I forgot to say earlier, as I was all caught up in the technology...
I pikced up a used vl touch and it's a great gizmo. I don't like that all your loops have to be the same length though.
I've done some experimenting wtih Loopy - http://loopyapp.com/ an iphone, ipad app that is quite intuitve and does what NInja says the boomerand does. You set an inital loop, then can designate what multipe of that loop you want use on subsequent loops. They will all synch to that first master loop.
you can trigger them on and off (the full length "from the top" only though) -and vary volume and pan. Of course you have to get a good I/O set up to make it reliavble.
Brendan - will you have it (the VLT) at SPAH - and do you know when your loop seminar will be scheduled? ----------
Last Edited by on Jul 18, 2012 11:32 PM
I just got access to an iPad 2. How do you connect it to all your gear to do that? I'd like to try that out. For me though, I'd have to go through my pedal board first than to the iPad.
I will have my Boomerang at SPAH, but not my full effects board. Brandon and I tried to line up a seminar time to do a looping seminar together, but the only slot open was 45min after I fly in, so I thought it would be too tight.
The Boomerang also lets you control your volume via knobs or expression pedal. The dynamics you can build with it are amazing.
If I could use the iPad in similar fashion with a small board, that would let me take a travel board very easily! ---------- Mike VHT Special 6 Mods Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas - When it needs to come from the soul...
Ninja -There are a lot of ways to go about that - but two basic ways to get in and out of the device
First off - you can go in and out via the miniplug - or headphon/mic jack. This is generally cheaper and you would use inexpensive hardware such as irig http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/irig There are also simple y cord mic/ headphone splitters you can get and configure with whatever mic you can adapt to it.
Second - Go in/out digitally via the broad flat 'charging' connector under the home buton. This gives you many more options once it's set up.
Sonoma Wire Works 'guitar jack' does this with an elegant little 'piece of kit' http://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjack
Alternatively - you can get an apple usb camera connection kit http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A. Designed for importing pic.s from your camera via usb - It enables any USB compliant device - including most audio usb interfaces and mixers, - to connect to the ipad. With that set up I use the ART USB Dual Pre or an Alesis Multimix 8 usb fx. Voila, lots of routing and multi sources, mic.s , instruments ready to mix into the pad.
If you go the digital connector route - I highly recommend extending out fro the iPad with Cable Jive That way your hardware is not directly connecet to the Ipad, and the Cable Jave makes a very secure connection you are not likely to bump out.
Garage Band as well as Loopy are amazing tools on the iPad. There are also many amp/ fx sim. apps as well. All this stuff works on the iphone as well - but with the cramped screen.
have fun
I forgot - there is also the alesis iO Dock Pro http://www.zzounds.com/item--ALEIODOCK I haven't used it -- there was some issue with it not working with iOS 5 - but that's probably been resolved by now. ----------
Last Edited by on Jul 19, 2012 11:02 AM
