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.
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App overload!
So... I keep getting suckered in by sales. Now I have more synths, daws, and effects than I know what to do with. And then I bought Drambo. I muck about with stuff but I don't really finish anything. What are your strategies for not getting distracted?
Comments
Using only one app to make some noise.
Or music.
I feel guilty for mainly using 2 apps though: Gadget and Drambo
I know the feeling. Lots of playing around, no real output.
This is my plan:
Stop buying apps for a while. If you’re like me, you probably have more than you need.
Make a template in Drambo, AUM, Loopy,
Cubasis, whatever suits you. The template should be simple and allow you to produce ideas from the get-go. Avoid tinkering with too complicated midi setups.
Use a midi controller that will get your hands and eyes away from the screen as much as possible. Use your ears instead. I love my Launchpad Pro, but I’ve made a simple template in AUM where I use my Nanokeys to control 80% of what I need. This way I can easily set up anywhere without lots of cables and get the ideas flowing.
My plan is to use AUM to feed Loopy with ideas and song elements, and then open them in Loopy for playing around with the arrangement and the mixing. Possibly into Cubasis from there for more mixing and mastering, but I would like Loopy to be the final stop. Again, the aim is to produce music without too complex setups and procedures.
Final step: post songs in this forum or elsewhere. Get the music out and move on to the next song.
I think the easiest way to not get distracted is to find the cause for the distraction and get rid of it...
I've been doing some serious app-cleaning for the past year going from well over 700 installed apps (Even if I had a 2TB iPad I could not fit all the apps I have and it would be total chaos) to ~250 and still going down.
Keeping what one actually needs is a real reliever, keep what still 'clicks' with you and remove the rest.
As for getting new apps, see which app it can eventually replace and if it really does bring something new to the table.
Once I learned a few apps inside-out I started to wonder why I bought the others...
...the harsh reality is that you can never substitute experience and knowledge with a new app but it may help you improve your skills and learn how things work.
A good starting point is to launch an app, mess around with it for a while and then ask the question do I really need this?
If the answer is Yes, then ask yourself Why?
But yeah, It's a learning process...
Forcing Function
In other words, force yourself to make songs. I use the workflow above. You can tinker with the arp timing of both the bass and lead parts to your liking. Add effects to lead synth to add flavor. You will find yourself using your synths and DAWS more, creating your own workflows because you will run into a flow that feels natural to you.
I also got suckered into sales, for many years...and never used any of it. Now I find myself jobless, I have the time to use all that backlog. But I'm still tempted by sales for apps
So I've set myself a limit of 10 Euros a month. it's really helped me gain perspective on all the apps I already have, and helps treat potential future buys with more discernment. And those little impulses/cravings to spend, eventually dissipate.
Whether it'd help you to be more productive, who knows? It's entirely possible that the inability to finish projects has nothing to with buying new stuff (Lack of focus is 'de rigueur'), and that the purchasing is just plain old shopping-therapy.
Do you find yourself lacking focus for other things?
Ultimately, if you can afford the outlay, and the apps bring you joy, maybe that's enough.
@mangecoeur @Samu : pace @Samu, I take precisely the opposite view: to stimulate your creativity and stretch yourself, buy any app you like, as often as you like…BUT… with one caveat: you must immediately make an audio or video track using it, and don’t buy another until you have. Make it, post it, move on…
✊🏼 Right on
This!
Turn off all notifications and delete more email without reading it. You’ll never know about another sale.
Not checking the Audiobus Forum every 2 minutes. Especially the Off-topic forum.
I did the same thing for a while. Desktop too.
Desktop, I sold most of my plugins, and one of my DAWs (leaving me just the one I like best).
iPad, of course, I can’t even do that. So, more than one reason to just. Stop. Buying. And yeah, I did - took me a little time to fully put the brakes on, but it’s done.
As for advice, just try to focus on making music. I know, it’s the most obvious answer of all, and what almost everyone will say. It’s true though. Figure out, whether for the first time, or again, why you even have a single music-creation app in the first place. What they’re for.
Commit to creation, to completing each track, and if relevant at all, to getting your music out there, be it for feedback, money, fame, or just for the hell of it.
Or, maybe just relax and realise that you don't have to create tracks at all cost. Yes, you do get that nagging feeling that you should - but perhaps that's not what you most enjoy about playing around with music apps. And that's mighty fine, too. You don't necessarily have to get results in your free-time activities. 👍
@ervin : Ah, that’s what the modular is for!
One thing I do is make a set of parameters for a track I want do. So for example: only use these 2 apps for the whole track, or make a track using only a sampler, make a track under 2 minutes, use only FM synths, etc. Doing things like that, setting limitations, always keeps me on my toes and feeling inspired. And keeps me from fiddling with 2 dozen apps at once.
I never delete apps unless they’re broken or I absolutely just don’t want it, so that’s the strategy that works best for me.
😘
Where do I sign up?
My strategy is to identify my own "best in class" apps, and organize them together, leaving other apps available for creative exploration.
Especially useful strategy for iPhone with limited storage. How many reverbs do you need?
Of course, this is most challenging in the synth category, where I try to reduce it by types of synthesis, e.g. "FM", physical modeling, etc.
Wonderfully said.
I would even go further:
You don't necessarily have to get results in your life.
I minimize the number of apps I have installed at any one point in time.
My phone has Koala and Beatly Pro for making and chiptunes. Every now and then, Pure Acid will make its way on here.
My iPad has Cubasis, AudioShare, AUM, a handful of synths I actively use, EG Pulse for drums, and a folder of effects that I’m comfortable using.
When a new app comes out that I find interesting, I’ll buy it and test it out on my phone. If I think I can use it soon, I’ll throw it on my iPad and delete from my phone. Otherwise, I just delete and it’ll sit there until I decide to try it again.
My relationship with music is not what it was, more of a hobby now. And it turns out that buying and trying out really cool apps is a great hobby too, one that I practice more than actually finishing songs. Also this bloody forum… 😂 The great thing about iOS is that you get these really smart and fun apps for the price of a beer. Even if you use them just for fiddling around for a couple of hours it’s worth it. If your economic situation allows for that, obviously.
I haven’t found the “perfect” music setup on iOS. There’s always something missing. I’d say on fx I’m 300% covered but DAW and stuff, not quite there. Loopy was a great leap, though.
I doubt that having too many apps is a problem or excuse for not making music. When I want to make a song I do, doesn’t happen too often lately. When you want to make music and not fool around, you just do. If you open up Drambo and start doing lfos on wavetable phases…. That’s that, it’s great, but don’t expect to get a song done!. This is like practicing for the Olympics, try out stuff, read manuals, read this forum (a lot) and when the time comes, you do a song in 10 minutes, which is like 0,8% of the total time spent. Yesterday I sampled my banjo and was playing it shifted down with a Drambo Euclidean and random note generator… 0,01% of it ever becoming a song, who cares?
Theory.
I'll check the other replies in a bit, so if I repeat any advice above, my bad, lol.
This was my problem for months and the exact reason I considered getting an OP-1 Field due to its minimalistic design and many limitations.
But that GAS is cured as I'd rather buy a new iPad Pro 12.9" instead.
STRATEGIES
First of all, think about what you want to achieve, whether you want to work within a certain genre, or do your own experimentation with sound. Think about which apps you want to use to achieve this. If you don't know which apps you wish to use to achieve this, start a new thread here with the question in the title.
I recently asked what apps are best to make Drone Ambient music, and I got a list of amazing apps to research. Then again, I know what workflow I'm looking for and may not buy all the recommended apps.
Another thing mate, work in a limited capacity. You can practice this by using Gadget or FLSM, both of which are "walled garden" type apps (although I think FLSM has IAA capabilities, but just ignore that feature). Or you can use a notebook and pen or the Notes app and write/type which apps you really want to use, and then stick to just using those apps.
THE WAY MY CRAZY MIND WORKS
So yeah, I lusted after the OP-1 Field. But then I realised "Wait, what do I actually want to achieve in sound? I want to sample, I want to live jam, I want to create Ambient, and I want to do so in a very limited capacity. Which app(s) do I already own that can achieve something like this?" After sifting through what I got, I was still stumped. Went to Youtube, and I saw that I could create Ambient in Koala, and I came up with this
I live jammed this, exported to Audioshare, ran the exported audio through Alteza and Reelbus in AUM, normalised that audio in Twistedwave to -3dB, and popped it onto Soundcloud.
For tomorrow's Drone Day piece, I started tinkering with the PaulXStretch iOS beta. This morning, I recorded myself smashing some eggshells from the hard boiled eggs I made and took that 8-second recording and used PXS to stretch it to 44 minutes. Then I took a recording I made of me playing "We Don't Talk About Bruno" on the piano, took a small riff from that, stretched it out to 11 minutes. I'm searching for one more sonic element on freesound.org as I type this to give the drone some high end.
The original plan was to jam this live in AUM, but I think instead I'm going to lay it all out in CB3, use effects AUv3s in a minimal way on each of the three tracks, and run all of it through VelvetMachine, a reverb that isn't Alteza for once (as I wanna switch up the flavour), and Reelbus. Then normalise that in Twistedwave to -3dB and post that to Soundcloud. And I marked all of this down in Notes so I don't deviate too far from what I want to achieve.
God, this turned into a long-winded TedTalk all of a sudden, lol. I'm hoping that any of this helps in some sort of way.
Quick question - which genre(s) are you trying to produce?
It comes down to self awareness as an artist. Do you know your goals? Do you know the specific characteristics you prefer in your tools? If you can't yet answer these things, be prepared to wander around the toy store for a while, and enjoy the process of discovery.
Activities centered around a consumer marketplace all suffer from the same problem. Boardgaming, bicycles, cameras, you name it.
I've been a Eurorack user for about 15 years and though the cost profile is radically different there, the phenomenon is the same. At the outset a new modular user is going to acquire all sorts of things - flavor of the month modules, modules that pop up used at good prices, modules they see someone they admire talking about, etc. Gradually you learn what works for you and what doesn't.
A few pointers:
-Recognize that the flavor of the month is just that and don't jump at everything that the community is excited about at the moment. Some of those tools really are that good, but some will fade. "Buy it all" is the default answer of every last consumer community I've seen, and that is almost always the wrong answer.
-If you already have a tool that does what the new shiny app does, you probably don't need it unless you have a very specific need that it fulfills. On the other hand, if you see an app that fills that need, grab it.
-Establish a budget and don't beat yourself up for enjoying the consumer side of IOS music. Incredibly powerful tools are available for almost nothing on this platform and it would be absurd to close yourself off like a monk just because you feel bad about having "too much."
-Periodically take unused apps off your iPad so you're not wading through long lists in your host.
-Exploring is fun. Experimentation is great. But if your goal is to produce finished tracks you'll need most of your effort to focus on mastering a few specific tools (especially your host).
Sign up for https://weeklybeats.com/ and you won't have time to be distracted.
It's very effective at helping develop the habit of making songs vs just mucking about.
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
-Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
This is always a major problem with all computer based music production. Especially on iOS where apps are ridiculously cheap. The only real solution is self discipline.
Finishing things, if that's something that is important to you, isn't difficult as long as you set yourself achievable goals and make the process a part of your life. For example I set myself the goal of writing at least one song a month at the start of 2015, and now 89 months later I've written over 100 songs and am preparing to release my fifth album. It's been one of the most worthwhile things I've ever done, and I've really enjoyed this whole process.
I've written a book that explains how to make creating art a part of your life, even if you have a job and young kids etc... It's totally possible. You can check out the reviews on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NXRCZX6
@mangecoeur What style of music do you do?. That’s key, isn’t it?.
If you’re doing pop,rock, indie… anything with definite song parts where melody and chord changes is key it’s a totally different scenario to dance music, electronic, ambient…
If you’re doing ambient, droning stuff, etc it’s mostly about sound and texture. So in that case messing around with apps, routing stuff, using generative sequencers, it’s all core and essential to the music making process. So spending 2 hours layering lfos on Drambo on whatever would not be loosing focus. Trying out 28 different synths or effects either.
If you’re doing more “melodic” stuff that’s when having some trusted and curated selection makes sense to focus on the music making.
i make completed songs, usually hip hop or just kinda my own thing,, never been a huge fan of ambient and dont see the point really in making that kind of music. so i need the melodies, chords, progressions, drum tracks, etc.
i used to exclusively use BM3, then i wanted a smoother workflow that helped my creative flow state with not as much menu clicking and looking for a certain function. granted, i got pretty decent with bm3, but i tried NS2, gadget, AUM (i neeeeed a sequencer + piano roll pattern editor) so i tried AUM with xenquence2, its great, except for when its time to export xequence2 doesnt use audio tracks, and i dont want to have to use 4pockets multitrack mixer AND xenquence to export my track...
i have messed around with Drambo, and just started loving it, until trying to set up drums with Koala multiout.. its not as easy as AUM.. i could not for the life of me figure out how to route koala properly to give each pad a different effect track...
then i tried zenbeats, which i have been wanting to try since version 1, but it was so buggy. couple months ago i heard it got better and it did, i started to really like it. the workflow is easier to me and they have different workflow options, clip launcher, or timeline (you can also record your clip launching to the timeline)...
then they released v3. its an amazing update but all the kinks need to be worked out. long load times, high cpu, wont load different AUs including koala..
i wanted to get into loopy pro but without midi i cant im not used to purely using a looper style workflow..
so i think ill be using zenbeats + drambo for FXs and synths + koala for samples.
but ill be going back and forth from BM3 until zenbeats 3 has worked out all its kinks.
i really want to try using xequence2 with bm3 idk why i havent yet... i couldnt get xequence to work with zenbeats.
WHY CANT THERE BE A PERFECT IOS DAW THAT HAS EVERYTHING ALL THESE SEPERATE APPS DO BUT DO IT TOGETHER IN ONE APP!? where is reason 11 for ios (my desktop daw, who MAJORLY dropped the ball with compact) or ableton live, or even full FL Studio (and not the IAA only mobile version....)?
bm3 and zenbeats are the closest I have seen yet, but still not all there yet,.,.
i use cubasis to record vocals, and do some mastering... but yeah. need to learn more about drambo and how to use it for side chaining in other DAWs and stuff...