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.
Best Custom MIDI Control Surface Builder?
Hello,
I am reaching out to see what the consensus is of the best MIDI control surface builder options?
The ones I am aware of are:
- LoopyPro
- TouchOSC
- Surface Builder
- Lemur
Out of these above options, are there any heads-and-shoulders above the others (just control surface wise - not considering LoopyPro's looping capabilities in this case)?
Any standout features of one over the other?
I am looking to build a control surface for Ableton with the end goal being to have a Beardyman style situation of live sampling and mangling my voice, ect.
Comments
It's not my field at all but I think TouchOSC has a lot of active template makers like this FB group
Surface Builder does not have that kind of spread.
I never thought of Loopy that way but of course, the option is there.
TouchOSC is OK for your application since you would be running it in the foreground to control Ableton.
I don't use TouchOSC because it only works when running in the foreground. Also because it only has rotary motion on its knobs. I can't stand that on a control surface.
Surface Builder is nice. It has a lot of different controls available. It doesn't have scripting though. I suspect you may need to use some scripting if you're aspiring to Beardyman levels.
Loopy Pro is hands-down my favorite, but also no built-in scripting.
Lemur is great, but how big is your budget? tbh, I'm not sure they're going to be successful with the pricing model they've adopted. By "successful" I mean generating the kind of income they need to support continued development.
There's Midi Designer Pro, but they went subscription too. If you already owned it before the change, I think they (reluctantly) grandfathered us in. I dunno. I deleted it.
TouchOSC is probably the best fit unless you're up for the higher cost of Lemur.
Really appreciate the input!
So when you TouchOSC needs to run the foreground, is that in reference to it not being AuV3?
And as for the scripting, I was assuming the touch surfaces just connected up via CC channel to send the necessary message. Is the scripting you are referring to in regards to developing the control surface, or in regards to how the messages are sent? Or both?
If LoopyPro is easier to build, maybe that should be my route until I know for a fact if I'll need scripting.
Also just now discovered Knobbler.
A note about MDP’s subscription. In many cases, you only need the subscription during the design phase. A lot of its functionality does not require the subscription.
Sort of. More importantly though, it suspends itself whenever you switch to another app. So, say you have two-way feedback so that your knobs stay in sync with any changes in Live. That feedback will be lost if you switch to any other app and your knobs may become out of sync.
Maybe that's not a problem though if you're just using it as a remote for Ableton Live.
For most tasks, scripting isn't needed. Its only needed if you get into situations where knobs need to interact with each other or do non standard things. I was only putting it out there as a data-point to consider.
Yes.
Mozaic and Streambyter can be used to extend some functionality if it comes to that.
Have you looked at LK? That's a capable control surface for Live. Not as flexible as something like TouchOSC, but might fit depending on your needs.
Ah gotcha, yeah that could be annoying as I may be utilizing some iOS apps in conjunction for FX and MIDI sequencing.
I think LoopyPro may be my route then until I hit a wall. But for now I am far from being Beardyman.
But I'll also be sure to checkout LK first, have not looked into that one yet.
Really appreciate the insights! It has helped.
You can use TouchOSC in split screen if the other apps support it, or pop-over if not. Not ideal, but does work.
FYI - Another tool that's very nice for MIDI control, but which I would not classify as a fully customizable control surface, is MMM and MMMm from GSDSP - it's completely free, and the support for it is excellent, and the dev was really helpful when I had questions.
With this (hopyfully post 2.0 not too far away in future) feature:
https://roadmap.loopypro.com/feature-requests/p/change-label-text-with-actions-special-symbols-for-text-layers-that-are-replaced
Loopy Pro could be the dream controller. Display parameters of AUv3 plugins (and for Loopy Pro later on macOS VST3 plugins too) and Loopy Pro internal parameters. Current chosen value, max value, min value.
TouchOSC is pretty good and possibilities are endless, but it was mentioned, that it has to always stay in the foreground – at least the iOS version. LUA scripting possibilities are great. Without LUA scripting knowledge it's really hard to reach the "special things". Maybe latest ChatGPT versions can compensate a bit. But a year ago the ChatGPT results were often very bad code, that's what a LUA crack of my friend says about all the used code in my project.
Lemur and TouchOSC does have good and great communities. TouchOSC community (no front) is a little bit too elite tbh and I often missed some answers from the crowd. But maybe this was just random unlucky.
Midi Designer Pro – personally I don't like the 80ies antique style of its UI not at all.
Personally my favorite is Loopy Pro. With the one post earlier mentioned feature request one no longer would step in the dark while plugin parameter tweaking: one would see at first sight very precisely, what plugin parameters are currently used.
I’ve never looped a thing in my life but use loopy pro all the time to create midi control surfaces. It’s fantastic. Whipped up a controller for my old Line 6 POD 2.0 the other day. A blast from the past!
Is this a MIDI 2.0 feature thing? Or not related to that? Sound awesome
Lemur is far ahead of all others but it's not as easy to use, you'll need some time to learn.
The good thing is that there's a number of ready-made templates for Ableton Live to start with.
I'd check out the manuals before deciding which one to get.
Hnnnnnggggggg that would be dope. Didn't see before, but I certainly hit that up arrow without reading more (I then did read thru, and didn't regret my instavote)
While I haven't done scription, I went HELLA deep with TouchOSC on my PC when I was streaming splitgate years ago. Two android tablets with TouchOSC and one more with TouchPortal (another past obsession)
I got so addept at (and eventually curbed the rage towards) the horribly janky android building side of things, I was building unused templates just to pass the time
Then discovered loopy and found a great transference of addictions!
However, Bluetooth and WiFi of TouchOSC android -> iOS Loopy is soooo hit and miss with when a trigger is hit... That hope faded quicker than a celebrity marriage, tho the dream is still tucked away (hmm I wonder if hardwiring the two devices would solve that... Or if it's just jank between the two different oses)
I do desire a second iOS device to finally have second screen control (more options, better connectivity... And I would just melt to have Loopy in my pocket), but for now, I search with a hopeful glimmer that someone manages a good android simulacrum
Loopy.
When I used surface builder. I could remove the numbers above the knobs but couldnt remove the numbers below the knobs. This either meant hardly any midi knobs on screen or numbers hidden behind other knobs. Which I think led to crashes. If you cant remove the numbers under knobs. The dev has decided to show what value the knob is at, when you tweak vs more knobs on screen.
No, most plugins (both, AUv3 on iOS and VST3 on desktop) are able to advertise its parameters to a DAW. In some (I would say rare cases) the plugin is not able to do this and I assume if this is the case, it's just a missing addition from the plugin dev. What a DAW does with those parameters is the question. It's possible to display the parameters. Would be perfect for us control freaks.
@PapaBPoppin : can you say what you mean about Loopy being hit or miss when a teigger is hit? If there is an issue, we'd want to address it. We haven't any reports like this. So, I'd like to know more so we can address the problem if there is one.
Ah that's good to know.
While I am a terrible Looper, there is definitely the added benefit with Loopy Pro of having a good Looper to try to get better with as well.
Oh no no. Not a loopy issue in the slightest
TouchOSC Android, when connected wireless as a control surface to loopy, is piss poor with trigger detection
@wim , @ultracello, @spiteface
Slightly different but related topic. I think I'm going to start with LoopyPro whenever 2.0 comes out.
But one question I have for you all since you have experience with touchscreen control surfaces, how do you find they they compare to physical controller like a LaunchControl XL sort of thing? Meaning, how's the accuracy of the knobs feel in comparison in your experience?
Pros / Cons?
My brain tells me that the touchscreen is the way to going moving forward instead of things like a LaunchControl, but unsure.
Wow, I have one of those I still use! Could you share a screen shot of what you came up with? Love to see it...
I used to use my faderfox for Euclidean drums.
I think I prefer loopy as the knobs are fine to use and not limited to 6 knobs per track.
Got it
An extra screen is more versitile than a controller, also.
Just been sequencing using another ipad.
An ipad is probably better than any hardware sequencer because its gonna give good melodies plus be a controller also.
Ah, now this is the type of experience I am looking to learn from, haha!
Yeah my brain first looked at a FaderFox PC12, so exact same thing. As I need at least 6, maybe 8, knobs per track for at least 8 tracks. But that is clearly quite expensive.
So a less expensive option I looked into was combining 2 LaunchControl XL's.
And then I realized that perhaps an iPad, which I already have, could be the base case for this sort of thing.
What size of iPad are you using in those screenshots? And is about 5 rows as much as a screen can handle without being cluttered on whatever size screen your using?
Ipad 9th Gen.
10.5 screen I think.
You can switch between banks of knobs in loopy.
I kind of just keep ( the £600 Faderfox ) as a midi merger.
I keep making a sort of live tweak setup to incorperate the fox, then not bother.
The writing at top of Faderfox were for a bass synth ( Dagger ) always mapped.
Then a couple of Gauss controllers.
Now im hoping an ipad in question can be a Marianna bass, bla bla.
Just setup the sequencer from ipad to ipad.
So good having a sequencer from an ipad and capturing midi in main daw.
A dream ( like a hardware sequencer )
Yeah this is sort of the vision for me.
Have the centerpiece of the studio desk be a Push 3. Flanked by maybe 2 iPads (One just being an old cheap one that only sends MIDI, so doesn't need to be CPU intensive). And then keyboard on tray under desk. And that would be the whole setup.
Still need to determine if I am going to bother with audio stuff as well, as that will require me to either get an iConnectivity Audio4C, or get a second Scarlett18is20 and patch the 2 pairs of ADAT together with my current one. One being plugged into the computer and the other plugged into the iPad.
This would just be if I wanted to maintain multi-track capability while sending audio from the DAW to the iPad and back to the DAW again. That would just be if I wanted to use LoopyPro for looping parts, or use iPad FXs by track sort of stuff. But definitely adds to complexity compared to just sending MIDI to the DAW.
Multipad audio does kind of limit your host.
Drambo being a pattern host is good for multipads
If you need a timeline host.
An ipad sending just midi would be good.
You then need more powerful ipad.
With mine I can just buy modular ipads but would all just end up as M chips at some point.
Which is cool because although 3 ipad 9.
Buffer more than 256 would be lame but then not as many synths.
I guess loopy will be good when it gets midi and is cpu opitmised.
A side ipad for midi ( loopy knobs and sequencers ) to a loopy audio ipad would be good.
3 M chip ipads ( and I dont really make any music lol )
There isnt much point in 3 ipads like mine.
A decent ipad with another midi ipad. Will be good for Drambo, loopy, logic, etc.
Mine is kind of a hinderance just to gain an extra screen but ok in Drambo at the mo.