How to combine "pad loop length" with "length quantization" for longer (not shorter) clips

jordanlev

I am trying to set up for live looping (recreating how a hardware looper like Boss RC-500 operates), where the initial loop/clip length determines the quantization interval (without having to provide a tempo or length ahead of time), and then all other loops/clip align to that initial loop/clip.

I have phase lock loops enabled and count-in quantization disabled, and for the alignment settings I have "length quantization" and "pad loop length" enabled.

If the second clip recording is shorter than the initial clip, everything works as I expect -- regardless of where I punch in the 2nd clip initial recording, it gets recorded and aligned to wherever the "play head" is of the first loop, and if the recording ends before first loop finishes 1 cycle then I get the extra padding at the end so that clips 1 and 2 are completely aligned with how I originally recorded them. (Imagine first clip is a chord progression and 2nd clip is just one or two "percussive hits" in the middle of the chord progression I am "punching in", almost like a short overdub except on a different clip).

However, if the second clip is longer than the first clip, the length quantization and loop length padding don't seem to work. What I would expect is that the app would pad the end of my recording to extend it out to the end of the first loop cycle, but instead it doesn't pad the length at all, and furthermore it doesn't seem to honor the "length quantization" (rather it just makes the length however long I was recording 2nd loop for, which is going be misaligned with the first loop).

For example: I record clip 1, and it happens to be 30 seconds long. Then when clip one is 20 seconds into its cycle, I press record on clip 2 and record for 47 seconds. Since I have extended past the initial clip's 30 seconds, I expect the 2nd clip to pad itself out another 13 seconds to become an exact multiple of the first clip (to 60 seconds total). But instead it winds up being 47 seconds and hence becomes out of alignment as they both continue to play and loop at different times.

Is there a combination of settings I can use to achieve what I'm after? I can get close with Count-out quantization, but this has unwanted side-effect of continuing to record until the end of the first loop's cycle (which I don't always want to do as I want to be able to record a 2nd loop that is twice as long as first loop but not being forced to start that recording at the start of the first loop's cycle, since I am usually playing live and can't always keep track of when loop cycle starts vs. just flowing with the beats of the music regardless of whether I'm on measure 8 or 16 or whatever).

Thanks for any help!

espiegel123

@jordanlev : this sounds like a bug. I will bring this to Michael’s behavior. It looks like padding only works with the master cycle length and not multiples.

thirdspace

@jordanlev
Hi there - I read this thread with great interest as it is exactly what I am also trying to set up - in my case to emulate the behaviour of the ElectroHarmonix 2880 4 track looper pedal. Your post points to a potential bug but my question is however more directed at the way you have your project set up. Here is what I have so far:

Clip 1 (master)
Phase Locked
Play Quantisation: None/None
Recording Quantisation: Loop/Loop
Length quantisation: On
Phase preservation: On

Clip 2 (slave)
Phase Locked
Play Quantisation: None/None
Recording Quantisation: None/None
Length quantisation: On
Phase preservation: On
Pad Loop Length: On

I have playback of both loops/clips controlled by a single button with both clips grouped as a Clip Group, and the play button also is set to phase align the clock on Stop and Play, so in theory the clips always play from the ‘start’ when Play is pressed.

This appears to work OK except that on playback the start point of the clips changes every time the clips are stopped and started. They stay in sync with each other, but do not start at the original ‘top’ - I have no idea why this would be so another pair of eyes on my setup would be great! Also as you point out the recording of clip 2 doesn’t work as expected if clip 2 exceeds the length of clip 1 (master) as you point out. I’m guessing the bug has not yet been resolved?
There is of course an issue with the way I have set this up so it would be really useful to learn how you have done things differently to me if you can spare the time.
Many thanks in advance

espiegel123

@thirdspace : turn off phase-lock to have loops start from the beginning.

Phase-align clock will cause any phase-locked loops to offset to align with the reset clock. It is primarily intended for use with free loops.

thirdspace

Thanks @espiegel123 - Presumably that is phase-lock under Playback Settings which should be off for both loops; I see there is also 'Phase preservation' under Recording Settings which should remain on (default) ?
Also - do you happen to know if the bug identified above has been addressed?
Many thanks

espiegel123

@thirdspace said:
Thanks @espiegel123 - Presumably that is phase-lock under Playback Settings which should be off for both loops; I see there is also 'Phase preservation' under Recording Settings which should remain on (default) ?
Also - do you happen to know if the bug identified above has been addressed?
Many thanks

Hopefully the bug will be addressed in the next update.

Please visit the wiki and take a look at the page describing phase-locked and free loops and also the page about phase preservation. They include some helpful videos.

thirdspace

Great thanks - looking forward to that update with impatience - any idea on timeline?
Also thanks for the reminder about the wiki resource - more easily searchable than the manual
https://wiki.loopypro.com/

espiegel123

@thirdspace said:
Great thanks - looking forward to that update with impatience - any idea on timeline?
Also thanks for the reminder about the wiki resource - more easily searchable than the manual
https://wiki.loopypro.com/

The manual is also searchable via your browser’s search page. The manual is a single page.