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.
Drum machine for low-tempo/ambient in Loopy pro?
I've spent the last week researching and watching videos nonstop to find a new drum app AUV3 to add to Loopy Pro for my projects.
The idea is to use it for low-tempo/ambient/pop music with electronic kits and some organic acoustic sounds, perhaps like toms or bass drums (I'll play guitars and synths over them live).
I'd like to create the patterns live after rehearsing its.
For that, it would also be great if the app offered a good range of drum kits, and it would be ideal if it had pre-made patterns for inspiration since I'm not a percussionist. (I thought maybe I could load MIDI patterns into Loopy Pro and play them with one of those drum machines, but if the pattern doesn't come from that machine, it plays it very inconsistently)
I'd like it to be intuitive and not take long time to learn.
As I said, my idea is to play or reporduce slow, atmospheric, and organic drum sounds.
After a lot of research, these are my initial choices and i have to choose one:
Patterning 3 (very interesting for what I'm looking for, but it doesn't come with any pre-made patterns, as far as I can see)
Battalion (a great sound lab with lots of patterns and kits, but perhaps too complex for creating simple ambient drums)
Hammerhead Rhythming (interesting, but perhaps very limited in terms of sounds and patterns)
Groove Rider 2 by Jim Audio (I like that it's focused on live performance, but the sounds are perhaps too simple and it's not as intuitive as Patterning 3).
Digistix 2 (I've already bought it, but I'm not sure if I find it intuitive, to be honest)
What do you think?
Comments
I don't have a definitive answer. I'd say Digistix 2 is probably the closest, but you're correct, it doesn't exactly fit.
There isn't a simple answer to what you want. You mentioned that you have a ton of drum midi files and that easily auditioning them would be nice. The problem with that, as you've already found, is the midi note mapping doesn't work consistently across drum apps. This is an understandable but difficult to solve problem. Purchased midi drum files almost always use the "General MIDI drum map". Many drum apps don't use the GM map, and those that do have fewer number of pads than the full range of notes in the GM map. So, for instance, out of the several possible "Tom" notes in the GM map, only one will be the correct note for most apps.
There are at least three challenges here:
For #1, one idea would be to leverage Loopy Pro's drag and drop ability to quickly audition clips. I think Loopy Pro is the host you're using, right? You can put the files app in split screen or slide-over mode and can drag files onto loops in Loopy Pro. If you have a whole page of empty loops, you can select a whole bunch of files and drag them in. Loopy will automatically import as many files as you have empty loops on the page. I have set up projects with at least 24 empty loops, and can drag as many into a project with one (careful) drag and drop. The loops are already set to go to a drum app, so the whole operation is seamless. Would I do that live? No way. Drag and drop is to fiddly. But you could easily have pages and pages of loops already imported, then just play the ones you want as you go.
Number 2 is harder to answer. It doesn't sound like you need a full bells and whistles drum kit app. Sure, it would be ideal if there was something that handled #1, #2, and #3 easily. I don't think you're going to find that. OneShot is the easiest I can think of for handling #3. It has the best note-to-sound mapping per-kit system that I've seen. The downside is it's pretty CPU heavy and is probably more app than you need. If you do try it, disabling it's internal FX can drastically reduce the CPU load. DigiStix 2 is pretty good for remapping too, (I think?).
Number 3 is the most challenging. There is no easy way around that issue, and it is the most disruptive. You can make a bunch of kits that will serve your needs in several apps. Getting them to play back consistently with a load of midi files is disruptive. OneShot can help some with that. Another approach is to use a "middle-man" app to do remapping for you. mfxConvert is an inexpensive mapping utility that you can set up with as many presets as you need. You send the midi output to mfxConvert, then mfxConvert's output to the drum app. Not ideal, but kind of generic, so not all bad.
Sorry, that's a huge wall of text that basically says ... sorry, there's no easy answer.
Check out Playbeat 4. Free to try. It has some ambient type kits. Lots of presets with patterns in different styles, or you can randomize patterns (and lock certain hits from randomize too).
The free version is quite capable - use it as auv3 - you can’t save kits/patterns unless you purchase- but if using in loopy just record the audio once you find a pattern you like. If you purchase the full app you can also import midi files I believe.
Also have a look at Hip Hop drummer from Lumbeat!
Uau thats amazing P4 is what i was looking for to compose down tempo/ambient pop that i want to do!! Thank you very much to put it in my radar!! I have to check if P4 have pads for live midi control and acoustic drum sounds! If not i will have to have two apps
!is very different to Patterning 3 and after i see many videos of P4 probably i buy it for live creation for Playbeat 4 is Perfect.
I’ve been using BeatHawk the past few days and really enjoying it. Lots of great kits and I think a sale is still going on.
I think DM10 is worth a look.
Has a ton of kits and is dead simple to use. And it’s a lot of fun to just mess about with in standalone mode. And it’s not expensive.
From your list I’d say Battalion has the highest ceiling — it’s a powerhouse and has a very good sound engine for making your own sounds.
But it’s nowhere near as easy to use as DM10 — it’s limitations make it friction free to come up with ideas.
Plus I tend to use multiple drums. I don’t like using multi-out, I prefer separate instances.
Having BD, snares, hats etc in different tracks suits my way of working. I don’t like having everything in one pattern it makes arranging far less efficient.
Obviously ymmv.
But I’d get DM10 in addition to any of the above.
I’d second this I think. I love DM10 and it’s one of my favorite apps but it doesn’t jump out as a drum machine - almost more of a mini groovebox. But it is simple, sounds good, fun to use, has great pads, and good AUv3 implementation.
Haha you lost me. It jumps out to me exactly as a drum machine. I’ve not even tried the groove boxy things they added on. I bought the original DM-1 about 103 years ago when it was very much just a drum machine.
It’s still 100% a drum machine in my book :-)
I think it’s more how I use it - I’ll write the bass/leads first a lot and with the drums after. I think it’s just not what would come to mind first when drum machine is mentioned because it does then so well. I end up actually making beats with it instead of tweaking sounds because of how straightforward it is. The song arrangement is really solid.
It’s so good as a drum machine I forget it’s a drum machine lol.
Newbie here....
I plan to use my Alesis SR16 recorded live, as a sequence and stored in one of Loopy Pro's memory slots.
Well, at least when the new soldered in coin battery arrives from Digitech, sometime today.
OCTACHRON w/ Fractal bits, oh yeah- play beats 3 or 4 or just slap Gemeni or a quality plate verb on any drum stuff you have.
I wish OCTACHRON had live record ability rather than just sequencing. If it did, it'd be my main drum sequencer.
Same @wim
It would be cool if there was a quick way to alter drum midi to match the mapping of whatever output you choose.
Im a massive fan of Octachron as a drum sequencer, but it would be a nice addition if you could record midi in if you wanted.
Welcome @Ghazz
Not sure, but I'd imagine Koala Sampler used as a drum machine in Loopy Pro would work a treat. I use it as my drum module in Cubasis 3.
Appreciated !!
there's no sound output.
Well the new Battery was installed, and Still
can't fuss with it any longer.
Hence today's other post. ( re: low learning curve acoustic set)
I'm not clear what you mean. How is the output from the SR 16 being directed to the iPad/iPhone?
Maybe another thread can get to the bottom of that issue, unless it's really that the SR 16 is defective.