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.
What’s your go to “jam” setup for iOS?
So one big positive of hardware is how easy it can be to just zone out and jam for hours. Or tweak patches endlessly on a modular rack. With gear like the Volcas, Bastl, POs all have the same sync standard for easily working together, or cv connections with semi-modular synths, etc, endless groovebox options, it’s so easy to simply just…jam out.
On iOS - and ITB in general - it’s usually more focused on the DAW workflow but with apps like Drambo, BAM, iElectribe, (and AUM of course), it’s still totally possible to jam out but you have to be more intentional about it where as with hardware you just turn it on and get going.
So it got me wondering, for those of you who like to create and play live on iOS, what is your go to workflow and apps for just jamming out? MiRack? Drambo?
Comments
AUM and Koala for me.
AUM is usually for Ambient, Koala for beat-based fodder.
My starting templates in Loopy Pro all have Drambo loaded as an audio input midi and input. KB-1 for keyboard duties (not a huge fan of the way Loopy handles keyboard input). That is everything I need to get going. The rest is just deciding what synths I wanna use. When I get myself to bust out the guitar I have a template that also has my default amp FX chain. Foot switch mappings are all parked and ready to kick in automatically as soon as I connect via bluetooth.
Hasta be Loopy because my poor ol' iPad runs out of gas real fast. I need to be able to commit to audio as I go.
AUM is more immediate for testing things out, developing scripts, etc. though.
I don't tend to make much use of templates but that seems the obvious way to go: set up an AUM session, for example, that has everything you need ready to go. A few instruments, a few fx you particularly like on individual channels / master bus, a keyboard / piano roll / clip launcher etc you like, all pre-routed intelligently so there is minimal friction between opening the session and starting to make music.
The main advantage in hardware in this context seems to be that lots of decisions are made for you, presumably by ppl who have thought pretty deeply about the choices they made when designing the gear, people who have taste, knowledge, good ears etc. With any template in AUM or a similar host it might be hard to have the discipline to stay focused on the music rather than deciding to keep adding or changing things. Modular could have the same problems, but maybe the friction of having to pull out a piece of gear and physically connect it to everything is sometimes too much so ppl decide not to bother. Or not, in which case they can be just as unproductive as the average ipad noodler, myself included, haha.
Groovebox for me. I can just load up any pattern/preset and start randomizing them for ideas. Pick a tempo, pick a key, and within a few seconds you've got SOMETHING happening to start with. Beats that blank page syndrome, and I can just zone out for a long time seeing where chance leads me. Then it's all about fine tuning things and making it sound the way I want.
If I just want to play freely and not worry about tempo, then Ableton Note. Being able to just mess with a sound and jam until you get a good idea, capture what you just played after the fact, great! I love that it encourages you to just play and focus on the hook first, instead of slowly building up a rhythm track just so you have something to keep your timing right.
I see quite a few people here that use the Drambo+LP combo but I’ve never been able to properly get anything going with it. I use both a lot and LOVE both but what’s the advantage of using them together? Are you hosting other AUs inside of Drambo INSIDE of Loopy Pro?
That’s a good point regarding the choices already being made for you. I think a lot of us with tons of apps probably suffer from choice paralysis. I know I do at times. Which is part of why I’d like to have a small hardware setup again for those days I want 0 distractions and to get right into it.
I definitely do need to start using AUM templates more though. Maybe it’s my ND brain but spending a couple hours making various templates sounds kinda fun 😂
Love they feature of Note! Dawnbeat has something similar if you haven’t tried it. It’s a really fun app. The AU hosting can kinda get you out in the weeds again but it can be really fun and immediate as well.
I’m assuming you mean Ampify’s Groovebox? If so then i entirely agree. Launchpad and BW are all very high on fun factor. Load in a few drones and use the Launchpad drum loops and you’re off.
I think that’s one reason why i love grooveboxes in general. HW and iOS. It’s just quick and easy to get going. iElectribe, BAM, GR-16, Hypertron, etc.
I also need to. I'm getting waaaay tired of new apps and that kind of options paralysis, man. At a certain point, too many apps just becomes really really counterproductive, for me anyway. I checked AUBE yesterday. Have something like 250 AUv3 synths now on my device. Admittedly a lot of those are things like those SWAM apps that really could all have been contained inside one single app. Still, how is it possible that someone can learn to use, master, and engage enjoyably with so many different instruments. Pursuing novelty has its joys, don't get me wrong, but it has its drawbacks too. So yes, I feel you, brother!
Koala is the iOS GOAT.
Exactly. I think I’ve got double your numbers 😂 granted that’s from over years and years of buying. But when you’re only using less than 1/10th of them it kinda makes you think.
I do love the experience of buying a new app and messing around with it and figuring out how it works, but you have to wonder at some point if it’s worth sacrificing your inspiration and ability to properly make music lol
Which is why I’m being a lot pickier lately with what I buy. I had a backlog of older AUs i missed that I wanted to buy but i deleted that note from my iPad a few weeks ago and have only bought a couple new releases and a couple Black Friday sales. And going forward I’ll probably only buy apps I genuinely need or feel like i have to have. For example: i LOVE granular synthesis and enjoy Paul’s apps a lot but i may end up passing on it because I simply don’t need it. I probably have over half a dozen granular apps already and that’s not counting effects.
I think templates will help though. And I’ve been setting personal limits as well. Like “only use 3 synths for this track” or “one track with only one synth” etc and that’s been a big help. Same for using apps like Koala, Dawnbeat, and BAM in standalone.
Yes, I agree with everything you said here. You really have more than 500 synth AUv3s (according to AUBE's classification system)? Are you sure 😂? I don't think there can even be that many. The number I gave is only for synths, not the total number of AUv3s, which for me is
800-something. If I remember, the total number of AUv3s in existence is 1000-something. So 800+ is ridiculous already, but yes, some people have even more. To get a grasp of how mad it all is, you only have to think how much space they would all take up if they were hardware, and how crazy/pitifully addicted most sane people would think you must be if they saw your house/studio.
Then again...
...our friend @HotStrange could be a rich producer if he had a hardware setup like that.
Drambo serves two main purposes for me in Loopy Pro. It's primarily there for midi sequencing other AUv3's hosted in Loopy Pro. Midi tracks are very simple - just one midi out module set to the midi channel corresponding to its track number. I label the tracks to remind me what they're doing. Secondarily I use it for a few Drambo native modules that I like. I could also use it as an FX processor, but really don't think of it so much when I have so many AUv3 FX. It can serve as a dandy automation recorder for Loopy as well, but I almost never use it that way.
AUv3 plugins can't be hosted in Drambo if it's hosted in Loopy or any other host. iOS doesn't work for nested hosting in that way.
tbh I'm a bit ambivalent about using Drambo for sequencing in Loopy Pro. The liberation of working straight to audio loops with no temptation to go back and tweak sequences has brought a huge improvement to both my creativity and chops. I still revert to sequencing often, but it doesn't sit quite right with me somehow.
Ah i was thinking in totally lol not sure how many synths i have. Doesn’t AUBE group all generators together? I haven’t dove into enough and mostly have just used it within AUM.
At this point you might as well go for broke and get them all 🤣 i kid, but im probably not too far away form your numbers and considering I don’t review them on YouTube that might be even worse haha
I can’t even imagine the amount of money in that studio. I’d love to spend a day there but the thought of managing all of that gear all the time gives me a headache 😂
Yeah I knew that about iOS but thought maybe you somehow stumbled upon a loophole lol
But that makes sense, using it as a sequencer for other AUv3s. So you’re basically sequencing them directly into donuts in LP to use them as audio tracks? That’s not a bad idea.
I like Drambo a lot as an fx processor but less for compression and EQ and more for its creative effects like the delay rack. That alone stopped me from buying Modley multiple times.
A side note: I agree about the audio vs midi track thing. Having no way to go back and edit your way out of something can be very inspiring. When I’m using Loopy Pro it’s usually for that exact reason.
Ah haha... I can't remember how it works in the auv3, but in the standalone it can definitely show you how many auv3 apps of various types you have, synth, midi, fx etc.
At the moment my jam setup is in loopy pro or in EG nodes if i don’t need to record myexternal hardware (zoia, organelle and monome norns).
@Gavinski i can imagine app-paralasis kicking in with so many things on your tablet. I try to keep the number of all auv3 apps under 75. It is an arbitrary number that keeps me thinking about what i really need and use wich in turn leads to quicker decision making when jamming or composing. i can imagine thogub that your reviewing and content making purposes warrant more then my simple and small songs production pipeline.
A few synths and drum machines in AUM connected to the Roseta Suite and ZOA, with an extra synth connected to the keyboard for the live playing.
BlocsWave. On my phone.
I will jam out individual loops/stems in any number of apps. I may just spend half an hour with a single drum machine app for example.
Or I might jam with a bit of hardware like a Circuit or PO-32.
But BlocsWave is where I like to put it all together. I have it loaded with loads of loops I’ve made over the years and every now and put them together in ways I’d never intended originally.
I often get interesting results when I use loops at wildly different tempos and let BlocsWave transpose it too. Nice and grungy.
Occasionally a new song will get started but it’s fun to just play back stuff I’m working on too. I often export stems of current tracks to BlocsWave when I’m stuck with an arrangement and having a lightweight instant way to play back what I’m working on where I can piece chunks together is fantastic.
I use it exclusively with my own loops.
I mainly jam with hardware synths. Their output if fed into the iPad for effects. Here I use Drambo as MIDI sequencer and host, Bleass plugins for effects (shimmer, delay, chorus), and often Hammerhead for drums. Because I often move around and don’t have the iPad in front of me, clearly visible and simple UIs are essential for me (not just) when jamming.
I have a couple of simple templates in AUM, one for techno, one for electro. They are basically sequenced kick and snare to get me going. With hiphop I build around samples so no template.
I most often start with this:
and add to it.
My setup is Drambo with about 15 synths and drum machines. Throw in a handful effects but that’s about it. I like working with the same sound palette. It also keeps me from being overwhelmed with options.
The thought of keeping it all clean gives me a headache…
All that gear and tiny little monitors, I don’t get it.
Also, you could never be rich in there, all your money would be going towards A/C to keep the room from feeling like a furnace when everything is powered on.
Thank you for making this thread. It’s such a great idea! Once I figure out what I’m doing, I’ll share as well.
But as for now, my go to jam mode is on the couch with my phone and GarageBand iOS. I’ll open it in Logic if it merits my interest.
I have a Logic template with all my instruments set up with FX sends (a couple Pianoteq tracks, a couple SWAM, and then a few synths). I prefer Logic because I use it like Ableton's Session view with Logic's Live Loop mode. I have a bunch of drum loops already in there, so it's a nice blank slate for laying down new ideas and layering then with live looping.
Lol they must be the rears!
I need a drone, a drum machine, and Geoshred. This can amuse me for hours at a time.