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Midi based live looping?

Hi there,

just bought a pad equipped mvave keyboard.

I am used to looping rhythms via guitar "beating" on body and string, so i am used to loopy kind of stuff

I was wondering: is there any of you "looping" via midi? I mean:

Hit record
record loop
Hit again, and it continues to loop until i hit stop (or overdub, and so on)

Doing this i would like to benefit from using proper drum samples, and have the beats being aligned to the "grid", even if i hit "stop recording" some milliseconds later than i should have (auto quantization)?

Using IOS, as everybody here, i guess

Have AUM, Loopy HD, Garageband and Sampletank

Thank you for the answers!

Comments

  • Check out Loopy Pro. Well worth the money, and ultra customisable. Before you know it, you’ve lost hours and hours creating your own unique loop scenarios.

  • Ok but: does this work on Midi Pattern aswell? Or should i work with audio?

    I am not a big loop guy. Just basic drum pattern. And sometime not too precise. I used to own a Sdrum pedal, and would like to have that semplicity back with an app.

  • @steponme said:
    Ok but: does this work on Midi Pattern aswell? Or should i work with audio?

    I am not a big loop guy. Just basic drum pattern. And sometime not too precise. I used to own a Sdrum pedal, and would like to have that semplicity back with an app.

    MIDI-looping in Loopy Pro is perhaps the most wanted feature not yet implemented…

    But, the developer have said it’s coming…

  • edited February 2

    With the addition of some midi AU(s) like Atom 2 (or Helium) or LK by Imaginando you can record and loop midi

    • Drambo also has clip launching /recording

    Atom is what I would recommend - yours and others mileage may vary

  • This will sound like an over complicated solution, but in practice it works very well. In all my experimenting I've found Drambo as the most convenient and fluid midi looper for my needs.

    Drambo has tremendous capabilities, so it's seen as overwhelmingly complicated by many people. However, for simple tasks it's as easy as any other app to use. If all you're doing is midi looping, it's very easy to use and it works beautifully. It has some wonderful features for looping:

    • "Auto grow" for recording, so that you don't have to decide the number of bars in advance.
    • Choice of step sequencer or piano roll style editing
    • Optional quantizing
    • Recording and editing of automation (midi CC's or other)
    • Grid launcher for midi clips
    • Midi import and export
    • Can act as a host for AUv3 plugins to do everything in-app, or work as a plugin in another host.

    Other apps such as LK, Atom 2, and Helium have this as well, but Drambo's workflow just clicks with me. It's actually dead simple to set up for midi looping. There's even a template already made for that.

    One thing that may be a show-stopper for some: time signature support isn't great.

    I use Loopy Pro as the host with Drambo always loaded to handle midi looping duties. Loopy Pro is the ultimate looper IMO. It doesn't have midi looping capability yet. But Drambo more than fills that need for my purposes. The two working together is almost totally fluid for me.

    I'll just mention one other classic bare-bones midi looper: MidiSteps. iPad only unfortunately though.

  • edited February 2

    @wim said:
    This will sound like an over complicated solution, but in practice it works very well. In all my experimenting I've found Drambo as the most convenient and fluid midi looper for my needs.

    Drambo has tremendous capabilities, so it's seen as overwhelmingly complicated by many people. However, for simple tasks it's as easy as any other app to use. If all you're doing is midi looping, it's very easy to use and it works beautifully. It has some wonderful features for looping:

    • "Auto grow" for recording, so that you don't have to decide the number of bars in advance.
    • Choice of step sequencer or piano roll style editing
    • Optional quantizing
    • Recording and editing of automation (midi CC's or other)
    • Grid launcher for midi clips
    • Midi import and export
    • Can act as a host for AUv3 plugins to do everything in-app, or work as a plugin in another host.

    Other apps such as LK, Atom 2, and Helium have this as well, but Drambo's workflow just clicks with me. It's actually dead simple to set up for midi looping. There's even a template already made for that.

    One thing that may be a show-stopper for some: time signature support isn't great.

    I use Loopy Pro as the host with Drambo always loaded to handle midi looping duties. Loopy Pro is the ultimate looper IMO. It doesn't have midi looping capability yet. But Drambo more than fills that need for my purposes. The two working together is almost totally fluid for me.

    I'll just mention one other classic bare-bones midi looper: MidiSteps. iPad only unfortunately though.

    Wim, Is it any good video tutorial that show how to set up the above mentioned workflow for MIDI-looping into Drambo?

    I’m one of them you mention that think Drambo is difficult to learn, although I see a lot of potential in Drambo.

  • @HolyMoses said:
    Wim, Is it any good video tutorial that show how to set up the above mentioned workfolw for MIDI-looping into Drambo?

    Sorry, I almost never watch video tutorials, so I'm not aware of whether there are any or not.

    I've got to run some errands now, but I'll post a few general tips if no one else has responded before then.

  • @HolyMoses - in the meantime, it would be helpful to know whether you would plan to run Drambo Standalone or in a host such as Loopy Pro or AUM. It would also be useful to understand whether you plan to record midi from external hardware, on-screen keyboards, or other apps ... or all three.

    If you don't really know because you're still just looking for available options, that's fine.

  • @wim said:
    @HolyMoses - in the meantime, it would be helpful to know whether you would plan to run Drambo Standalone or in a host such as Loopy Pro or AUM. It would also be useful to understand whether you plan to record midi from external hardware, on-screen keyboards, or other apps ... or all three.

    If you don't really know because you're still just looking for available options, that's fine.

    I have, like a lot of people here, pretty much everything according music making with both Mac and iPad - several MIDI-keyboard (from 25 to 88-key), devices with drumpads etc etc…

    But, as others do, I think I’ve most creative just by using my iPad Pro M1 12.9” and onscreen keyboards/MIDI-apps…

    I also have an Steck Pianola from 1905 (weights 450kg), but it ain’t got MIDI…. 🥲🥲

    Sometime I think we have too much possibilities when we like to play/write music, then add the whole musical armada I have on my Mac…
    But, iPad Pro feels like my primary device although I have an Macbook Pro with external monitor for $5000…

  • In general, getting external hardware MIDI into Drambo Standalone is easy. If you hook up a controller it should be recognized and (I think) will start sending MIDI to the currently selected track in Drambo automatically. If not then tap on the "hamburger" icon, go to settings and look for the controller. If it's not listed, then some more work will be needed to figure out why the controller isn't being recognized by your iOS device.

    The default is for all midi to go to the currently selected track. It can be set up differently, so that tracks receive midi always, and you can filter by midi channel to decide whether to use the midi or not. To get to these settings you tap the track header.

    If you're using Drambo as a plugin in a host, you need to learn how to use the host's routing system to get the midi to Drambo. It's usually not difficult.

    Recording and Looping midi in Drambo is easy. Just hit the record button, then the play button. You'll see the notes start populating in the pattern as you play. By default the pattern will add new measures as needed up to about 8 or 16 measures. When done playing hit the record button again as soon as possible so that the length is automatically trimmed to the nearest measure. If that doesn't work, tap the edit button next to the pattern to set the length, or swipe over the measures you want to keep, swipe up, and select trim.

    The pattern launcher is the area of Drambo where you can mix and match which patterns are playing, and set up scenes. I won't go into that here.

    Midi out from Drambo is easy as well, but there are two ways to do it which may seem confusing. Each track has midi out options in the track header. However I prefer to use a midi out module myself because it's more visible and there is less menu diving to make changes. The midi out module is simple. It has just destination and channel settings.

    That may not be the best description, but I'm trying to keep it brief. I suggest just loading up the "MIDI Sequencer" template. That will create 8 tracks already loaded with MIDI Output modules, each set to a separate midi channel.

  • You could try the free version of Zenbeats to see if midi looping is ok for you

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