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Using Sampler/Loops Live

TD3691

TD3691

May 20, 2009
148
9
35
England (United Kingdom)
#1
Hey guys
Know alot of people have mixed feelings on bands using sampler and loops live but i was wondring...

1. What equipment is good for using them
2. How they are triggered
3. people exspirience using them

I use to hate when bands used samples but its a key part of modern music now and i think it would give me the ability to write new genres like electro and fill out performances.
 
#2
Samples and loops are one thing...something you trigger live with a pad. I'm fine with it. We use an Roland SPDS for depth charge drops, and congas, etc. Tracking on the other hand, is bogus and cheating. Find another way to do the part live or don't do it at all. It's almost as bad as auto tuner. You can do modern stuff without all of the processing, but you won't sound like the cd. Leave that for the Dj and keep your dignity. :)
 
#3
Wes Whitmore said:
Tracking on the other hand, is bogus and cheating.
Click to expand...

That's entirely your opinion.
And in MY opinion, tracks can make a great band sound amazing, and a bad band sound terrible. It's all a matter of getting everyone on the same page, and understanding what can and can't be done.

Some context would be helpful in determining what you're trying to achieve. What kind of band? How many members? What is the end goal?
 
#5
TD3691 said:
Hi,
Curently just drummer, guitarist and bassist so 3 of us...
Were all really into Two Door Cinema Club they have a good mix of samples and live insturment simlar to what were aiming for
Click to expand...

I've never heard of that band, but that sounds like a good lineup to use tracks and samples. The fewer people, the better, in my experience.

You'll need at least two tracks; one for the drummer to listen (a click and whatever else he needs) and one for the front of house mix. More is better, but two is bare minimum. The last band I mixed that used tracks had a multitrack recorder with the backing tracks coming out of four outputs. One click, one synth, one guitar track, and one backing vocal. Only the drummer got the click, but everybody got everything else. It was super-easy for me at FOH, once I got the in-ears set up. Sounded great, too. They had a drummer (who was running the tracks), a bassist, a guitarist, and a lead vocalist. The backing tracks helped a lot on the Journey and Bon Jovi stuff, where the lack of backup vocals and guitars would have been sorely missed. The tracks being split up into four channels really helped me get a good mix out front.
There are a lot of ways it can be done, you'll just have to find one that works in your band. A laptop with an audio interface, a multitrack recorder, even an mp3 player will work.
 
#6
I guess I'll weigh in on samples (not so much tracking and such).

There are a lot of DAW's that allow for easy management of clips/samples.
Ableton Live is fairly common.

After that, all you need is a controller, probably with pads. There are many possibilities:
MPD32 (or MPD18 if you don't need knobs), APC20, Launchpad, nanoPad, etc come to mind.
It all depends on how many triggers you need and whether you need CC controls.

Also, if you have an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, considering using a mobile OS interface such as TouchOSC or Charlie Robert's Control. (There's also Lemur, but it's rather expensive.)
 
#8
Remember that if you end up with multiple sources of tracking, you will need a FOH mixer that can handle all of the extra channels. You might start running out of channels quickly if you use a common 16 ch board, especially if you mic up your drums. Most FOH install bigger boards, so it might not be an issue, but it's worth considering. We run our own sound (dedicated soundguy), and only have 16 channels available.
 
#10
I once saw Christian artist Mitch McVicker "accompany" himself by sampling absurd items like a hubcap, a pink plastic flamingo, a whistle and himself (backing vox for the chorus) into a Line-6 pedal (don't recall which one) to the amusement of the audience, before launching into the songs themselves. Very cool.

Here he is on youtube:
 
#11
I used to play in a Stoner rock/doom metal band and I would run a Boss RC-20XL to play gregorian chants and twisted biblical quotes over the P.A. mostly as a filler between songs to keep the set without a break.

If your going to get a whole band to play along to a live looper you will need to be tight as hell, like ridiculously tight, doing it to a track would be a little easier in that instance, but I agree with the thoughts of "If you can't do it live, you can't do it period."
 

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