Double Bass Loop station for solo playing

[JBarz]

Hey gang,

I've got one of these older style EHX 4500 loopers that I used to use for saxophone and guitar stuff that I have long dreamt about applying to upright bass.

Theoretically, this sounds awesome - I can play a chorus or two while singing the head of a standard, then switch to a horn and/or arco for solos, then head-out ... boom, I gotta solo shtick.

In practice, though, I can't really seem to get it together. I can't hang with the quantization, but it's high art to line up the beginning and end of a loop and not drop the groove. Playing with a click track in headphones feels soul-less. Not to mention the whole rig is cumbersome AF and kind of a tone-suck, AND how dreadfully boring it is soloing over looped walking bass lines... The end result is I always feel like I'm practicing the looper more than whatever freakin' tune I'm shedding, and I put it away for several months.

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? Is there another loop station anyone can recommend that is maybe a little more bass-friendly, or is this as good as it gets?

Thoughts?

 

[Amygdalum]

So, I know my reply to this is quite late, but here goes:

So far, I'm only familiar with the RC-300, which has served me well so far, but obviously has its limitations. Namely: only three tracks, only records 44.1KHz 16 bit, weird behaviour when using it via USB, routing can be complicated if you want to use more than one mic, no XLR outs, probably some other stuff I forgot.
By "EHX 4500" I assume you mean the 45000? Do you use it with the foot controller? One issue I see with it is that you only have one button to select the different tracks, which might make switching parts cumbersome. If the loop up/down is unlimited, that would be an advantage over the RC-300. Can you stop the tracks seperately with the 45000?

A few general thoughts on loopers: As you mentioned, one really has to be on spot for catching that loop point, and generally have impeccable time that wavers as minimally as possible. As far as I can tell, a lot of looping artists perform with a click track. Even so, I think one has to think of the looper as an instrument that needs practice in itself, just like any other instrument.
Then, loopers kind of dictate the form of the piece. Unless you play multiple instruments at once, it's always start-build-build-build one element at a time, then maybe a breakdown and finally build the formerly established parts again with some new elements until the finish, unless you're comfortable (and acrobatic enough) deleting one or all of your tracks mid-piece to establish a new section. This is the reason that Renaud Garcia-Fons, for example, to the best of my knowledge, prerecords all of his backings and triggers them with the looper, so that the whole form of the piece can be more elaborate and have backings that aren't just static, but evolve in themselves.

One alternative to hardware loopers is using a laptop plus expression pedals/midi switches, with a DAW and something like Sooperlooper, which is free. In that case, your setup is quite modular and you can have essentially as many tracks as you'd like, as long as you don't run out of computing power or midi pedals. Zoe Keating uses this approach, or at least she used to. Not sure how her setup has evolved over the years, I might actually do some digging.

 

[damonsmith]

One my friends who is very wise said, "anything worth hearing over and over again is worth playing over and over again". Playing with a looper is sort of a synthetic duo.
Solo playing on any instrument is really really beautiful. Don't be afraid of space and silence, use it to work on implying the harmony and counter lines you might want. So my answer is: All loopers are unfriendly to solo playing!

 

[JBarz]

Cool - thanks for the feedback!

I have actually been thinking about loopers again a lot recently and am actually waiting on a TC electronics Ditto pedal in the mail right now. The main drag about the EHX 45000 is that you can't bypass it if only used occassionally, and it tends to dominate and color the whole signal chain. Not to mention, I'm not running stereo signal so the whole L/R two-channel aspect is total overkill for my rig. It's cool when I want to work in a guitar amp or Rhodes piano and loop with them, too, but that's when stuff starts to get a little too complicated and techy for my intuitive musical mind.

I never liked working with pre-recorded loops - that takes some of that intuitive magic out for me, personally. But, I do LOVE Renaud Garcia-Fons' loop stuff. I'm actually pretty good and obsessed with him right now and am desperately fighting the urge to get a high-C 5 string under my fingers (10 years... if I still want one in 10 years, then, maybe...).

Ultimately what Damon says above is absolutely true - in a performance setting, for me, looping becomes a crutch to cover up my weak solo playing; But, as a practice tool while I'm getting my chops together, I'm hoping it can expedite my progress.

Thanks again for stretching my ears with these listening suggestions, BTW, dude! Infinite gratitude. I feel like all this stuff you've got in my ears is healing some cognitive blocks I didn't even know I had - I really mean it! Thank you thank you!

 

[JBarz]

“No more blues” bass+vox+alto sax via loop pedal



I thought I might could be able to play saxophone again after a two year hiatus because of dental issues, but alas - I was only able to play long enough to get a single sloppy take before my teeth started really bugging me.

Im going to experiment with different reed/mouthpiece setups with less resistance, but I might have to just resign myself to doing this only on flute.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a video showing the direction I’m taking my solo loop pedal stuff these days. TC ditto pedal ended up being a great little piece of gear for my purposes.

Onward!

 

[JBarz]

Last video I’ll post, I promise! I’m trying to learn a tune-a-day and these Jobim tunes take more kindly to the looper than most others. I’m having difficulty figuring out how to gracefully transition off the loop and back to playing, but it’s fun nevertheless and I’m grateful to be able to play flute without issues.

 

[16fuss]

Very nice!

(I should search for my looper)