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.
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You could load the multi-out AUv3 in AUM and load AUM as IAA in Loopy Pro and receive up to 8 separate outputs from AUM.
We are working on multi-out support but don’t have an ETA.
Thanks @espiegel123, I'll give that a whirl. If in this setup I can have both Loopy Pro and Drum Computers start and stop from external MIDI clock like Loopy does now, that should get me by.
I have a dawless setup as my primary, where tempo is driven by a Social Entropy Engine. I have a Babyface Pro FS extended by adat with a MOTU Ultralite AVB for a total of 12 input ls, which allows me to separate all my external hardware for recording, primarily drums and bass into Kicks, Bass, Snares, and hats, with other things recorded one at a time.
I want to be able to use and record multi-out drum apps inside Loopy Pro the same way, with Kicks, Snares, Hats, and other Percussion being recorded at the same time to those dedicated channels I have in Loopy Pro, which have the specific FX processors for respective drum types already setup and working for individual hardware inputs when recording.
As I can't do that at present in Loopy with AUv3 multi-out like I can with hardware inputs, what I really want is just somewhat to both keep my Loopy Pro template that had my vocal chain and other plugins, while simultaneously finding a way to record individual outputs from something like Drum Computer without having to do them one at a time or load 8 separate instances with the same preset and one channel soloed just for that sound.
However I can accomplish this, I also need Loopy Pro, Drum Computer, and anything else to start and stop from the external MIDI clock of the Engine.
However I can do this, I also then need everything in the iPad to start and stop at the same type from the Engine.
It looks like DrumComputer as an AU can follow the host clock or its internal clock but not MIDI clock sent to it. AUM does not slave to MIDI Clock. So, you would probably need to have Loopy Pro synched to the Social Entropy Engine and have Ableton link on in Loopy Pro and AUM -- as AUM will sync to Ableton link.
That's actually the only way I was able to accomplish it with Drum Computer directly inside of Loopy as well - no matter what I did, even with Drum Computer set to follow host, it would not respond at all until Ableton Link was enabled in Loopy Pro, even with Loopy responding perfectly to external MIDI clock.
I'm hoping to get a chance to try these things out tonight. If both AUM and Drambo as a host for Drum Computer are valid candidates, I may prefer Drambo, as I would like to be able to use Koala and it's Multi-Out capability while also being able to control it with a MIDI controller.
Unlike AUM, Drambo standalone can't send its output to Loopy Pro.
It can if Loopy Pro is running as a plugin or multi-input plugin.
Yes, but in this case I would also like to preserve the Loopy Pro template with existing vocal chain and recording plugins ... though, I need to play with a couple of these ideas and figure out which options are functional and the which will fit my workflow best.
I am talking about the fact that loopy standalone can receive audio from AUM (since it is IAA). So that you can use all of Loopy Pro’s capabilities but that you can’t with Drambo.
That sounds like something was not set up right. DrumComputer definitely follows the host clock without needing Ableton Link to be on in Loopy Pro (or other hosts). I just double-checked.
I also tested that if drum computer is following host sync and Loopy Pro is synced to external clock that Drum Computer follows the host.
I have no idea what was going on.
I was trying this again with a new project and getting nowhere, so rebooted the iPad.
Now in a brand new project, no Ableton Link enabled, I drop Drum Computer in, skip adding a MIDI source, double-check sync is set to host, press the pattern play button, and now when pressing play on the Engine, both Loopy Pro and Drum Computer start.
So, I reloaded the project that I was working on, verified Ableton Link was still disabled, and pressed play from the Engine ... and it works.
It is now a serious mind trip to think what on earth happened that both prevented Drum Computer from starting with host when configured the exact same way, yet worked when Ableton Link was enabled.
As I have only gotten about 8 hours of sleep over the last 4 days and we've been out all day, I'm going to sleep now and will try the approaches with AUM and Drambo to see if I can get the Multi-Out solution I was hoping for while retaining everything else I put in place.
Thank you incredibly much for your help @espiegel123 - I didn't expect this type of glitch when everything else appeared to be working exactly as intended
@espiegel123 @wim Some of this is probably not new for people that have been using IAA and AUM for a while, it's certainly been an interesting process.
Yes, ultimately I've been able to get this working using IAA and Ableton Link. Doing so means using a feature in AUM where after the initial Multi-Out instrument instance is created, you add additional audio tracks, and each time change the source to the existing Multi-Out instance - it seems to automatically assume that each new audio track instance is the next output from that instrument, so I didn't need to set that explicitly.
So then the AUM audio channel with the original instance needs to have it's output changed to one of the available Loopy Pro IAA audio inputs, of which there are 8 available, and then the same for the remaining Multi-Out audio channel instances in AUM.
So, it's a little wonky (moreso because it seems the adapter I'm using to connect the Babyface is intermittently failing, causing extra issues overnight), but surprisingly syncs well. I had to figure out where to enable Ableton Link in AUM ... it's not on settings with everything else, so for a while I was trying to use the MIDI routing and even the Link to MIDI app before I figured it out.
The only weird thing I don't have an answer for yet is that for some reason, while AUM now starts at exactly the same time as Loopy when I press play from the external Engine, Drum Computer inside AUM doesn't start for one measure. In Loopy it starts immediately, so it seems to be something with AUM. If Drum Computer is added as a MIDI FX insert instead, it starts immediately as expected, but of course then doesn't work as a Multi-Out instrument. I haven't had a chance to see what happens when there are chained patterns in Drum Computer and where playback starts with the AUM delay. Drum Computer audio is synced with everything else, just ... late every time.
If anyone has seen that before, like some sort of count-in setting in AUM (I don't know why that would apply in this case for playback, just the only thing that comes to mind for delayed start), would be great to know, but it's not a blocker right now. With your help it looks like there is a working solution here, and thank you!
Any day now…
I know there was a message around this indicating implementation was turning out to be more complicated than expected, and both as a developer and understanding the layout around this a little better, I can appreciate why that might be the case.
It's one thing when you have hardware or external inputs, because you don't have to care about any relationship that exists outside the box ... it's just an input like anything, it really doesn't matter where it comes from.
With a Multi-Out plugin though, you do. If you're trying to add references for a single instance inside the current boxes, what does mapping each discovered output to one of the destinations look like while maintaining the familiar layout for single output plugins?
Perhaps the Color/Output window could be turned into pages with arrows back and forth and one page for each Multi-Out output, which seems like maybe the simplest solution without disrupting the current layout or having to create multiple instance references (like AUM currently does) while adding functionality, but are all outputs stereo? I don't know or if it has to be considered, and then what that would look like or how it would work.
Even then, it's a change to a fundamental element of Loopy that needs to be well-defined and validated while ensuring all existing functionality continues to work with existing projects. That isn't at all trivial.
For the moment, I feel lucky to have found a solution that works, even if I am seriously debating the value specifically for a plugin like Drum Computer, where there is no consistent drum type per channel ... that really kicks (pardon the pun) the reason I want this in the teeth, as then blending it's outputs with external drum machines into common bus types for EQ and other effects before recording becomes a project-by-project config at the least, if not everytime I settle on an existing preset or custom kit while exploring, greatly impacting the point of staying focused during creation.
But, all territory that needs to be whittled into the right shape, and I'll have a lot of appreciation for the Multi-Out functionality when it comes, especially if it is possible similar to that paging idea, where multiple existing instance references aren't required.
On the Roadmap, this feature is listed as ‘Planned’ rather than ‘In progress’ so I guess that means it’s not coming any time soon unfortunately.
@EnergyCrush I’m not sure I follow on the implementation points. Are you saying the challenge would come from the programming side or the user experience side? I don’t want to trivialize multi-out implementation from the programming side since I’m not an expert by any means (my experience would be upper intermediate Python scripting and dabbling in Swift) it is implemented in other hosts so technically speaking it’s possible. I just wouldn’t think the coding part would be “three years in the making” levels of difficulty. Nailing the proper workflow implementation is probably as big of a challenge, but I’m not familiar enough with the loopy workflow to really see what the logistic issues would be there.
I want to dive into Loopy and while I wouldn’t say lack of multi-out is a complete show stopper for me I don’t have any desire to dive into Loopy without it. It’s more or less made Loopy a multi in/out looper in other hosts but then it feels fairly clunky and not being used to the full potential.
@Robin2 : the status of roadmap items is often not correct — it has grown larger than we can actively manage — we haven’t had the time to update status. It is something we are working on. But I don’t have an ETA. There are things that are in-progress and even done that aren’t marked as such.
Ah, fair enough. I had no way of knowing that, sorry for the false info everyone.
Not being a developer for Loopy myself, I don't know any specifics of course.
What I do know as a developer is that as programs become larger, it becomes more andore challenging to add new components and modify existing ones without breaking functionality users depend on.
I've been part of companies where the code base has grown so large that new teams and projects end up duplicating the code base to add features not intended in the original product rather than try to make those new features work in the existing system. It would certainly seem in this case that Multi-Out functionality may not have been part of the initial intent or design, and the product has certainly advanced significantly - it likely has a lot more to consider and validate.
I too am greatly looking forward to having this functionality, as after not being able to write music for two years and finally finding the ability to do so again, having a seemless environment to create without distractions is deeply important to me, but I feel infinitely better with the open communication and responses knowing it is at least in the works rather than the blatant silence experiences with so many developers - and I don't have fear of vaporware in this case.