Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
A newbie's struggle with BM3
I know there are lots of BM3 fans here and for what I am about to say, really means nothing to anyone. Because I am very new to IOS music making. In fact, I just started at the end of June. I have done a lot, A Lot, A LOT of experimenting, watching Jakob and Doug ( Thank you guys for what you do ) and trying to figure it all out. For the most part all the apps that I have purchased, yes I’m broke now, ( Also thanks to Jakob and Doug ) I have learned enough about them to create some, in my own mind, pretty cool stuff. I purchased BM3 the day of the release, hearing that this was going to be the end all to music production on my iPad. I was very excited and done the same as always, watched the YouTube videos and tried to get this thing to work for me. I have since went back and watch more and more. At this point in the game I have grown so frustrated that I have all but given up. Everyone keeps referring to this as a DAW, I really don’t see it as a DAW. I see it as a very creative drum machine/sample machine but not a DAW. Trying to get anything other than a sample assigned to a track/bank is a terrible thing for me. Scenes? I don’t get them at all. Is this supposed to function like ModStep/Infinite Looper kind of thing? Trying to make patterns is even a struggle. I struggle with the work flow all the time and I don’t think it should be this non-intuitive. I do not have this kind of struggle with any other app, not Cubasis, Auria Pro, RemixLive, Gadget ( this was somewhat of a struggle ), Launchpad, Looperverse, Blocs Wave, Hook ( I told you was broke right? ) you get the picture. I want to like this app, I want to love this app, visually its very appealing and has lots of versatility and function for sampling, I just don’t see it as a DAW.
Anyone else?
Comments
I read the manual (online version at that point) before I even loaded the app for the first time, so I can't comment on it's intuitiveness as I already understood the basic concepts of operation for its workflow paradigm before trying to do anything.
It's definitely not immediately intuitive for 'traditional' DAW users (and I still track and edit all samples in Auria Pro) but once I got to grips with how it worked I found it fantastic and a very quick and creative workflow.
I'd say with any complex app such as this one (I did the same with Auria Pro) read the manual from front to back before you use it. It's not a 'one button quick fix' like many iOS apps are designed to be, it's a complex machine that requires skilled operation.
I think you have to get in the mindset that while it is a DAW, the workflow is different from how the usual DAWs work
I can totally understand getting frustrated but all i can say is stick with it because it's worth it. Or don't and use one of the other DAWs. They're really good too but really, BM3 is worth learning
The scenes are similar to Modstep/Infinite looper and an alternative to the linear song mode. Patterns are the building blocks
As for samples, i went in to BM3 without having followed the beta posts or watching videos so it was simply a matter of trial and error for me
Just poke around. You can't break anything
Maybe put BM3 aside for serious projects for now? Then use it as a playground for messing around in as a learning experience
That pretty much sums up exactly what I think about BM3.. well said.
I can actually do way more with BM2. BM3 is too fiddly, too many steps, to much hidden.. not beginner friendly at all.
Hmm. Perhaps the iPhone version will be appropriately streamlined and easier to use. I hope!
I can't think of any reason why the iPhone version will be any easier to use. It's going to be the same app, just cut up and squished around into even more bits and pieces. I can't wait for it, but don't have any expectations other than it will be totally worth the compromises needed to fit the format.
definitely not traditionalDAW in my opinion too... creative drummachine / groovebox is better name... it's like NI iMaschine 2 on steroids :-)
Can you post some videos to show these wonderful features.... I cant seem to get started ..... Loving Maschine now.... Just wait and see 'Real time audio stretch'...
Yes, I'm not sure I express myself very well in text.
Just forget scene mode. It's a mess IMO. However, the leakage of that functionality over to the timeline is golden.
Where BM3 shines for me is in the ability to quickly get a few patterns looping, then generate a bunch of other patterns to choose from later on to structure the song. I just start something running then mess around with a new bank until I get roughly the character of sound I want, then I jam until I have a repeatable idea that is worth capturing. A couple of takes, then repeat until I run out of ideas on that bank. Move to a new bank, or revisit a previous one, and repeat.
The key is not having to commit to a time line while creating. Then I've got this stock of patterns I can flip between right on the timeline (by touching them, thus making them active, rather than by placing them on the timeline). Gradually a structure emerges and all I have to do is drag patterns onto the right place in the timeline. Set another looping section and repeat.
This fits my workflow perfectly. It gets me over the creative barrier I've always had with swapping things in and out of particular positions in the timeline, while helping me out of the trap of only generating loops that I fall into with clip launchers like Modstep and Blocs/Launchpad.
If it's not your cup of tea though, no sense doing more than just learning enough about it to understand the basics, then set it aside. Things often click later on as your work style and knowledge evolve.
Wim... I don't suppose you would make a short video of how you create and flip between various loops, then put them on the time line ?
I can't get my head around that scene mode...
Henny has a very nice overview which touches on a lot of BeatMaker 3 parts...
I think I have a good handle on the scenes, patterns, songs. Thought about doing a live session if I can get the kinks worked out.
plus plus
Nope. Don't do videos. Sorry!
Thanks. Hadn't seen this one.
i got bm3 when it was first released but things only just clicked in to place last night. i created a few progressions and then had a great time jamming, un/muting the pads and mixing it up. it's like my electribe but far more capable and complex.
cubasis is a quality DAW, with a traditional linear-record a track, play, then record another approach. that might be your bag.
blocs wave is sweet for instant gratification, especially with their drum loops, but it's really limited for progressions.
i recently decided to uninstalled gadget because korg remind me of apple-they want everything and everyone contained in their world (plus the support from korg for the electribe was pretty abysmal!).
i've only been playing around with ios stuff for less than a year but i think this might be the best thing i've purchased.
suppose it depends on how you want your work to flow.
good luck
Work in the timeline, not the scene mode. IMO you'd have to have a really weird shaped head to get it around the scene mode in its current state.
Realize that in the song tab, you can have banks playing under "song" mode, in which case the row is bright colored and whatever shows in the time line plays - or you can touch a pattern in the list at the left, which will turn the row dark colored and will repeat the pattern until you press "play song" near the bottom.
This gives you the flexibility to try out other patterns against each other without having to actually place them in the timeline and move things all over the place. Once you have the combo you want, drag the patterns into the right places and move your loop points to another place in the song.
Sorry that's the best I can do when I'm actually supposed to be working instead of doing this.
Gadget is pretty cool as a sound module for BM3.
@wim yeah, i imagine it is. but..send my electribe off to get the sunken trigger pads sorted and they sent it back in exactly the same clip.
so, damn, i gotta beef with korg! hehe
@wim good tips, by the way. cheers.
watching the vid now. so thanks for that too, Henry
Thanks Wim.. I get it now.. awesome... I can now create loads of loops to work from.. thanks bro...
And this is why I love this app...it embraces exploration, curiosity and serendipity
just tried this flow and man...new way to work. YES!
Thanks so much for the video. I am still trying to get it. I don't give up easy. I think my hang up might be that I want to assign an instrument like say Kaspar to a track then drop in some midi notes and then Kaspar will play those notes. Or assign Kaspar to a track and record the audio created in Kaspar strait into the track. Like you would a regular DAW. I don't think I like recording 8 notes from Kaspar into the slicer then assigning them each to a pad then wrighting the midi to play the pads. Because now I am limited to the editing of BM3 instead of having the full tweekability of Kaspar plus the automation and arp stuff.
I'm still trying and I am sure one day I too will get that AHH HAA! Moment when it all comes together.
But I still don't think it should be this hard.
Thank everyone for there comments.
Nicely done Mister @wim....
There's nothing you mentioned here that you can't do, and do well, in BM3. The sampler stuff is just icing on top of the cake, not the cake itself.
Thanks for this... I'm going to make a print of this to keep me focussed
I hope it helps.
It’s not just you. I’ve tried a number of different workflow approaches with BM3 and decided that it just doesn’t work for most of them, and others can be accomplished more easily in alternative apps. It really needs a redesign or it’ll end up a niche app rather than the one we’re all talking about in 2019.
The sampler is great though.