Why is so incredibly hard to choose a looper?

[croquet hoop]

Which footswitches did you use?

You could make your own controller for dirt cheap : a box, an old keyboard and enough momentary footswitches for your needs. Some ideas here : https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=112242&hilit=assign+midi+guitar+rig&sid=bcffece29f6330e914f5314eb8a0a892

[raulduke]

As you mentioned, Ableton Live's looper is incredibly powerful (it also does one shot playback  ).

I was playing with it last night, and with a few footswitches connected, it beats any of the hardware variants I have tried hands down.

Interfacing Live with a live guitar rig may be difficult though. Also, if you don't already own Ableton Live, a Computer/Laptop, and an Audio Interface, the cost will be prohibitive.

Which footswitches did you use?
I own everything you mentioned luckily, so I am interested in this option.
In your opinion, could I achieve everything that I mentioned with Live Looper? Mic/Aux thing set aside?

I imagine it could do what you need and more. Mic/Aux/routing etc. would be easier by using a real hardware mixer IMO, which would negate foot control.

To be honest though, your requirements seem very specific, so the only person who really knows what will cater for what you require is yourself.

You will need a good understanding of Live to achieve what you want. Eg. you could also use session view, recording and triggering clips via a foot controller, rather than the looper effect.

Tap tempo on another foot-switch and you have one hell of a powerfull 'looper' at your feet!

Last night, I just used a momentary switch that I use as a sustain pedal (piano that is) with looper in Ableton; Ableton's looper has loads of neat features to dictate how the switch operates (eg. initiate record then overdub, initiate record then play, initiate record then play once etc. etc.).

Ableton is probably the most awesome piece of software ever IMO. It does pretty much anything you want it too when setup correctly.

Also, this could be a potential cool controller for you:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCB1010.aspx

Yes its a behringer, but its only for control so who cares 

[RobA]

...
Also, this could be a potential cool controller for you:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCB1010.aspx

Yes its a behringer, but its only for control so who cares 

I have one of these foot controllers. It's massive, heavy, it's built very well. It's a pain to setup (as is pretty much every other MIDI controller). It does work well.

[Cortexturizer]

croquet hoop that's awesome! I did make a MIDI controller which I still have out of a playstation joystick But of course for what I need I would make a much bigger and better one.

So RobA and Raulduke, in your opinions, if I do this, will I be able to do all the stuff I need? I could absolutely live without the Mic and Aux in options, that stuff is not mandatory.

[croquet hoop]

croquet hoop that's awesome! I did make a MIDI controller which I still have out of a playstation joystick But of course for what I need I would make a much bigger and better one.

The best thing is that you can use pretty much any controller you want, especially if you use glovepie (which takes a bit of time to get used to, but it's quite powerful). I think there has been some discussion about it on the ableton forum. My foot controller was built from a wireless keyboard (yay, 20-footswitches wireless for controller!), and glovepie allowed me to use it as a controller in Live while still using my regular keyboard for typing (whereas Windows does not differentiate between different keyboards by default). I've stopped using that setup a while ago so it's not very fresh in my mind, but I may be able to dig out my config files if you want to go this route.

[RobA]

...
So RobA and Raulduke, in your opinions, if I do this, will I be able to do all the stuff I need? I could absolutely live without the Mic and Aux in options, that stuff is not mandatory.

As far as I can see, yes. I'd go further and say you'll be able to do things you haven't even thought of yet.

There are some fairly inexpensive little mixing boards with USB I/O interfaces that might help you get the I/O functionality too.

If you haven't seen this site http://createdigitalmusic.com, it could be useful to go look around there just to get a feel for things folks are doing in related areas. He covers quite a bit of area in what's going on and what's available from canned software to circuit bending to DIY stuff.

[raulduke]

Yep; Create Digital Music is a great blog. Make sure to check it out.

I agree as well; Ableton Live coupled with a decent controller (the Behringer looks like it could fit the bill) = ultimate live looper.

It's hard to say if it will definitley match exactly what you are looking for, as this is something only you know. It's fair to say that Live can cover pretty much any production/performance requirement/scenario you can envisage though 

I've been using it since V4 and I still have only scraped the depths of what you can do with it.

Seeing as you already own Live, an Audio Interface etc. what do you have to loose in trying it out?

[jkokura]

The reason why I am into one-shot sampling is because no drummer is perfect and we probably won't be playing with the click so it's better to retrigger the same phrase on the start of every bar than rely on drummers to keep their time [and my drummer is not an ace in this department]

The answer to this issue is practice. Honestly, there is no substitute for getting better timing as a drummer than practice. He should be working a metronome and this would solve some of your issues.

Jacob

[lincolnic]

The answer to this issue is practice. Honestly, there is no substitute for getting better timing as a drummer than practice. He should be working a metronome and this would solve some of your issues.

Jacob

This. I'll never understand when drummers tell me they never practice with a metronome.

[kothoma]

As you mentioned, Ableton Live's looper is incredibly powerful (it also does one shot playback  ).

I was playing with it last night, and with a few footswitches connected, it beats any of the hardware variants I have tried hands down.

Interfacing Live with a live guitar rig may be difficult though. Also, if you don't already own Ableton Live, a Computer/Laptop, and an Audio Interface, the cost will be prohibitive.

Which footswitches did you use?
I own everything you mentioned luckily, so I am interested in this option.
In your opinion, could I achieve everything that I mentioned with Live Looper? Mic/Aux thing set aside?

Everything and more. And then there is Max4Live.

Oh my, I really need to go back to my plans for a foot controller.
I see three cheap options:
- recycle a computer keyboard controller (switches only)
- recycle a MIDI keyboard controller (so possibly pots for expression pedals too)
- build a little Arduino MIDI thingy (switches and pots, even display)
(- well,  I see a forth option: recycle a joystick controller, I've tried this with Jack/Linux)

Of these, I favor the Arduino one.

I'd like it to remote control Ableton Live without having to look at the GUI.
But I'm not sure yet what switches will be necessary.

No need to worry about depending on computers. That's inescapable around here anyway

[kothoma]

...
Also, this could be a potential cool controller for you:
http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCB1010.aspx

Yes its a behringer, but its only for control so who cares 

I have one of these foot controllers. It's massive, heavy, it's built very well. It's a pain to setup (as is pretty much every other MIDI controller). It does work well.

It needs mains/line power. No USB MIDI. And I don't like the layout.

[kothoma]

Only thing I'm not sure about is this sync to tempo thing in Ableton Live.
I hope to find some time in September to experiment a bit.
(Or at least install the latest update...)

[kothoma]

I'm hoping I can make something work with a Raspberry Pi running Sooper Looper headless.  http://essej.net/sooperlooper/

Hey, keep us updated!

Any news on this?

At the bottom of this page http://guitarextended.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/real-time-guitar-effects-with-raspberry-pi-pd-and-arduino/ someone states running guitarix on a Raspberry Pi.
See also http://guitarextended.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/making-a-looper-with-pure-data/

[Cortexturizer]

Only thing I'm not sure about is this sync to tempo thing in Ableton Live.
I hope to find some time in September to experiment a bit.
(Or at least install the latest update...)

And what about this kothoma? Have you experimented like you intended?

As to my looper troubles, I bought a line 6 dl-4 AND a digitech jamman solo in the end. Couldn't be happier really. DL-4 is like ten years old [not mine, mine is mint] and still no product in the price range has everything the DL-4 has.

[kothoma]

Only thing I'm not sure about is this sync to tempo thing in Ableton Live.
I hope to find some time in September to experiment a bit.
(Or at least install the latest update...)

And what about this kothoma? Have you experimented like you intended?

As to my looper troubles, I bought a line 6 dl-4 AND a digitech jamman solo in the end. Couldn't be happier really. DL-4 is like ten years old [not mine, mine is mint] and still no product in the price range has everything the DL-4 has.

Sadly no, spent all summer at work and used any little spare time to practice and maintain basic guitar playing skills.
Time is running like sand through my fingers...
Still looking for a way to have (self written) loopers, recording and digital fx without using a full blown pc, even in a living room setting.

How do you combine the DL-4 and the Jamman to achieve your goals?