Get ALL my tips in one convenient place: Check out my In-Complete Book of Electronic Music Ideas, Tips and Tricks: patreon.com/loopop UPDATE: Unfortunately Zen Audio have stopped selling their ALK software. However, please do watch through that part, as I later explain how to get similar results with Ableton Live. Unfortunately Zen Audio have stopped selling their ALK software. However, please do watch through that part, as I later explain how to get similar results with Ableton Live. Also, check out Nabla Looper for Reaper - I've not tried it, but it's worth a shot if you don't own live: th-cam.com/video/LmMO4KhsxLI/w-d-xo.html
Hi there, I have ZenAudio already, but I'm finding a bunch of issues with it, and now there's no support I don't know how to troubleshoot them. Would you recommend just ditching it and going with Ableton?
@@loopop I already have Ableton, I found out about Zenaudio and got excited because it’s a lot simpler and to the point for this. It’s disappointing they’re winding it down, I would like to keep using it but I’m not sure it’s worth the time investment if it’s going to have issues that won’t be fixed or supported.
@@kirstylouise indeed disappointing - there’s a reason I put them first, however, in light of how operating system updates tend to break unsupported software, ALK probably wouldn’t be a good long term bet (just like Ableton Live 8 or 9...)
Thanks for this. My entire Twitch performance has been built using method 3 from this video, and I want to say a huge thank you to @loopop for this brilliant video. It does take time to sequence the looping, but the benefit is a stable looping environment where you can focus on the performance and forget about pedals! I also use a ‘cue track’ where I tell myself what to play next (and remind myself of the lyrics). The possibilities are endless!
I have been wondering about how this works for a long time, and I feel lucky to have found this video. Excellent description of these methods. Thank you!
@RickySweum, well we did cover this in class way back in 2016 ;-) Lesson 5, I believe. Ableton's Looper is certainly the easiest, it works just like a looping guitar pedal, only better (more features). But with the an IAC bus control you can map out a much more complicated live looping performance, including loops of different lengths and changes in your arrangement, such as muting a loop after you've recorded it and then bringing it back in all hands free. The downside is that you need to follow along with your mapped out game plan or you can easily end up lost. It's really the most powerful and flexible technique but it certainly requires a lot more planning and rehearsal, versus just looping away with Looper.
Great video for multiple approaches! I'd like to add that for the IAC approach you can get away with doing it without an external midi controller for mapping. Kind of a hack I used when I was away from a midi controller. 1. Create a midi clip on a new midi track with a single instance of the CC or note you want to use. Set midi output to IAC. 2. Play the clip. 3. Stop the transport (not the clip.) The clip should still have a green play arrow that is paused. 4. Turn on midi map mode and click on the parameter you want to map. 5. Press spacebar to start the transport. The clip starts playing with the midi CC or note. It should map to the selected parameter. 6. Hit spacebar again to stop the transport. 7. Leave midi map mode and delete midi clip (or just change value for next mapping and repeat.) Your parameter should now be mapped to that midi CC or note. As someone who also teaches music technology I really value your videos! Thanks!
Whoa this totally blew my mind. I have been trying to wrap my mind around how she did that for a long time and you solved it in a 15 minute video. Great stuff!
@@jt9800 It's $129 for the package of three devices. Audio or midi alone is $60. tinyurl.com/yatxbm9f If you loop instruments, it's indispensable. If not, maybe not needed.
The technical side os great but more importantly you have told us how to create a very convincing renditio of Feel it Still with just a bass, a drum, and a lead. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I'm getting into live looping after a while of wanting to do so. I already know how to play piano and electric guitar, but I'm still learning about live looping. Thanks again! I'll check out the rest of your videos.
That ALK Zen Audio looper is pretty great. Works as advertised and has been super easy to stay in the box and make music. Finding it hard to record and arrange on the fly, that software makes it seamless.
wait, so you're saying she actually had to time her walk from the drums to the bass to be exactly x bars because the recording start/stop are pre-determined? I thought it would have been some super fancy edge triggered mechanism.
Not only that, but she did it after 3 bars which makes me super uncomfortable because that either means the bass loop point is halfway through the drums or she started the drum beat halfway through the loop! I mean it’s amazing but as a performer it stresses me out!
Hey bro, lil late but I found your video today, and it helped so much, so I made the timestamp for ya :V just put this in your description 👇 Timestamp: 00:00 Intro 00:35 Demo session 01:40 Method #1 (ZenAudio ALK) 03:35 Step-by-step 06:15 Method #2 (Abelton) 08:50 Method #3 (Abelton IAC) 13:45 Demo + Sequence
Hi! Awesome video, I am thinking of going with a Boss RC 202, DAW methods feel a little shaky to me :(. What is the blue box you are using for percussions? I am looking for standalone synth and percussion hardware.
Elin how are you getting on with your Boss? I have the RC505 and feel the same! Especially for performing live, this software feels so foreign to completely change to... tempting to try tho!
Wow. Thank you very much! Too bad I havent found this earlier... gotta think about how much spirit of „traditional looping“ is still in there, but great that these options exist!
Yes, this seems to me to be more like pre-programmed multi-track recording rather that what I think of as 'live looping' but it's amazing what these musicians are doing. And I'm going to have fun giving it a go :-)
Hello, In the second way, 8:13 there is a button for quantization of looper which was set to "global" in your video. Is it not quantizing al all? By the way thanks for your very detailed instructions and your calming voice.
Awesome video! Any chance you have the download and Authorization key for ZenAudio ALK?! I know the company closed a few years back and stopped selling it. I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. Currently using Ableton and Push 2. Would love to try out the ZenAudio. Thanks!
This was great! I'm going to use method #2. I'm currently running my live set in session view, so I've been thinking about using ClyphX to trigger automation for the looper (which it doesn't do, to my knowledge). Maybe I'll have to run my songs through arrangement view. Thanks so much - a whole new world just opened for me!
The biggest drawback to method 2 is that, as far as I've been able to tell, you have to have the audio monitor turned on for Looper to get any input. Which really sucks if you're trying to keep stuff in perfect time (like you'd want with looping). Monitoring is best done through your audio interface for the lowest possible latency.
Thanks a lot for posting this. I'm so over all the commenters basicly calling Elise a liar when she says in her video descriptions that they are done live in one take. Not that she doesn't reherse but she DOES do the finished vid live.
RADThird1 thanks and yeah - if you need proof check out her jimmy kimmel performance - the clapping at the beginning of the first loop constantly bleeds into the first loop and you hear it throughout the song. No one would prerecord that
that's interesting. I guess she would have to press play right on the downbeat of a separate metronome that is programmed to be the same tempo of the session. and give her self some bars before she has to play
Ollie B it’s really super simple - all she has to do is start the sequence just like I do in the clip. The first couple of bars can be a metronome as part of the sequence, and then the looping starts. Once she records the drums, the metronome isn’t even necessary
wow so a bunch of these "live loop performances" are actually so intricately planned out with all the instruments, loop lengths, pre-amps/fx pre set up in the daw! never realized
I always wonder if it's cheating...I like to use it with a drum track and sequenced looping and I feel kind of guilty haha. I don't like backing tracks but I think this is a decent compromise for a solo performer.
Excellent! Just Checked out Zen Audio and they have PC version for windows 8. My question is : is it possible to route (separately if possible ) this tracks intro my DAW for multitrack recording ? As in my case not everything will be about looping, some drum machines and synths going as well Thanks for sharing !
Hi loopop , I figured Id ask you this question since your pretty much the go to guy for hardware and software knowledge or at least from all the vids of yours I've seen. I was wondering if you could tell me which DAWs have a loop recording mode that will live record different length loop tracks and sync them together ? I know Abelton has that option but I'm trying to find cheaper DAWs that can do that . I think maybe Reaper but I'm not sure. My Deluge does that but unfortunately the used one I got off ebay has a bad DC power input so Im returning that one and while I think the Deluge is pretty fun Im now leaning towards DAWs just for the quickness of clicking a mouse and having a better view of whats going on with out having to memorize button push and knob twist menu combos . I also have a hard to finding samples on the Deluge , which looks pretty straightforward to do on DAWs . I did see a looper software called LiveLoop Lite , that looks like it can do that type of loop recording but I cant verify for sure it actually does. Thanks
i like the nethod 2 but it has some limitation, since you are using the play button and not the recording button, everything is gone once you hit the stop button, also as mentioned above , when you are working with multiple armed tracks at once you cant turn off the monitoring otherwise the looper won't record anything
Thanks for the video. Pretty clear and well delivered. Btw, anybody knows if the ZenAudio ALK is back available? Any new versions or did they just simply disappear from earth?
First off thanks for this wonderful content! For live looping you prefer this over the looper pedal? Also please, which midi controller/virtual keyboard is this? Looks amazing, I mean the screen one. Thanks Loopop!
Thanks for the kind words! I prefer a pedal to this for "regular" live looping, but for arranged live looping, nothing beats Ableton Live and the technique I show here. The little synth is an organelle.
I bought Zenaud.io based on this video, and it was great. The only real drawback was that you needed to already be versed in VST and Audio Units, as well as bring your own, to really use it. Sadly they have since gone out of business.
HI, can you suggest other products that (like the Organelle) can sample using a Mic input? perhaps the MC-707? what else is there ? Thanks, love the channel.
I use option 3 not for live looping but in order to arm/disarm tracks at various points in a live show so that I can control multiple synths in ableton from just one control keyboard. Kinda fiddly to set up, but it works.
I'm new to midi instruments but WTF kind of keyboard controller is that? You can slide notes like a guitar? I must have this! Also working on drums now. Picked a an Akai LPD8 but havent found a drum vst that works with it natively yet. What are you using there for programming drums? Guitar Rig is awesome, that I am farmiliar with. Up to now I have only recorded guitar and bass, using "Drumkit From Hell" pre programmed loops. Really struggling with drums.
Third method seems best, to be honest - it's more intuitive for anyone who has used (or seen) an APC/Launchpad/Push controller. It's like sequencing the button presses so you don't have to have hands on it! Also, I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine you could use a hardware sequencer to control Ableton Live and treat it like a loop-pedal (instead of a DAW). I am going to test this with my Digitakt today!
Jamie you know, I understand where you’re coming from, liking method 3 if you’re used to session view but live looping this way is really more like sequencing/arrangement than the improvisational grid based sessions imho, but if it works for you, great! And yeah hardware should work too!
Programming Ableton to control itself could be tough for some people to wrap their head around, sure. But using an external sequencer (another DAW or hardware, mpc, etc) and that thing controls synths, and Ableton is just another "midi module" in the rack. At least that's how I looked at it when I tested :) Yes, it does work very well. Problem with Digitakt is that the note comes back around and hit's "play" again, even if you stop that clip. The sequencer is too short (no song mode...)
Yes, USB or MIDI both work. What I meant is you can't have it record a loop, play for 8 bars, stop, and record a new loop, etc. Oh, maybe with pattern chaining? That's gonna be a little nuts. And MPC would be much easier to turn Ableton into something like the first method. I bet it would work with a hardware looper pedal too (RC-505?)
why do you leave both audio tracks armed from the beginning instead of automating that as well? would you recommend automating the arming the tracks as well? especially if you are making a more complicated arrangement?
Hey Ziv, thanks for the good work! So I can't do method 1 since using Ableton (Mac), can't do method 2 since I'm using Ableton Live 9 and that automation button is not where yours is and I can follow method 3 and all the steps you demonstrate, but by no means I understand how you would go from there to walk around from instrument to instrument and having it all looped and played back in a seamless way. Would love the help. Thanks again!
Thanks for the kind words - I'm not familiar with Live 9 but I'm sure you can do automation on it - keep looking! Sorry more than that is beyond the scope of the comment section and I don't offer 1x1 lessons/support
Would you be willing to share any tips on possible undo/redo midi mapping ideas for guitar audio looping in Ableton live? It's the only function iv not worked out yet! Iv got enough midi device options to use as triggers, just not sure of a command I can assign that will undo/redo as a hardware loop station would do. Thank you in advance.
my big question about all this though is LATENCY. I get about 8 - 10ms of latency, which means when i record though audio (like how she does with drums or bass or guitar or vocals) i get a delay when looping so each time i lay down a loop it gets more and more out of time
ZenAudio looks so simple and interesting to use compared to the other methods. It's available for PC too. I'm going to play with the demo version over the weekend.
@jekennedy108 Good to know, thank you. The demo worked out well for me for home use but if I was to use it live I'd be far more concerned with the bugs. I decided not to use it anyway as I'm currently leaning towards live hardware looping.
Hey I got the released to the public version for ALK2, but I can for the life of me figure out how to get the metronome just in the headphones. By chance do you know how to do it? I am on windows 10 using a Motu M4.
At 11:02 you switched to Arrangement View then double clicked on measure 1 then a Place for you to put midi notes just appeared on the bottom portion of the screen how did you do that mine does not do that.
I've been trying to use ALK for about a month now and find it almost unusable because it crashes when you pull in more than three VSTs. Do you have any advice for routing that might help?
Very useful video! I only have a question for Ableton automation method: How do you switch between projects without closing the current one? I mean, in a live show, what you want to do is to play multiple songs and for example, looping automation is set for one song specifically. How can we switch between songs in a fast way?
I don’t think there’s a way to switch a project without closing the current one, but you might try putting different songs in different places on the arrangement timeline and use markers to job between them. Not perfect, but works
I get how the midi output is sent to the IAC, but is the midi then automatically routed to the record tracks? Or are they just set to all midi in? Can the IAC in be chosen over other channels or vice versa?
Thanks so much for this vid. I've been thinking of a similar concept for years - a way to grab loops at the beginning of a performance and distribute them through a song - but never knew that I already had the software to accomplish this (Ableton Live) all along. This nails it. This is a highly disciplined approach to looping, diametrically opposed to the traditional freeform improvisational approach. That's not a pejorative comment, it just a new and different thing. It needs a new term. Is "hands-free looping" the new term of art?
Great method! Thanks for the tutorial! Maybe i'm doing a silly question (i'm newbie with Ableton 9 live) but... at 6:58 you snap the point of automation to the grid. How you do it? :) Thanks so much!
Well, actually, for the moment it ONLY works with windows, which is quite ironic... I'll have to go for 2nd method, I guess, unless there exist a substitute for ALK which is still maintained.
Well, dont have a mac, dont have the looper effect cuz I have ableton lite, so gonna try the 3rd option as a last resort :( Any alternates to zenaudio in PC that can let me use a guitar rig it or other????????? Also, how do you use IAC thing loopback in windows can you please provide a link
Awesome video! Just have one issue with Ableton I can't fix, I don't want to hear myself while recording the loop, only after I've recorded it and I can't find an answer for this anywhere at the moment, pls help.
My God I’ve been dreaming of this for so long and saw a complex method years ago but never expected it to be made so easy! Thanks for this awesome video. The other part I dreamed of ten years ago was to apply groove quantisation to parts and even tweak the quantisation in real time using a knob controller. Can this be done now or just the straight quantisation you mentioned? To record a percussion part and then quantise it into a John Bonham groove in front of an audience would be unreal.
Thanks ;) It depends if you’re taking about zen audio or live. For zen audio, no, but email then, who knows... for live, it’s just like anything else - if you can to it in live, you can include it here. I’m sure there’s a groove/swing plugin somewhere (which would also then most likely work on zen audio tracks)
Thought we'd chime in -- so currently you can't quantize to a groove in ALK; only to your standard 1/4, 1/8, .., 1/6 (triplets), etc. The usual. However, one thing we do differently is that you CAN assign a knob to it and alter it in realtime. The reason is that in ALK, quantization is not a function -- you don't quantize the notes once to the grid and then they're moved. Instead, the original position of the notes is stored, and we shift the notes in an online fashion according to the current value of quantization amount, which of course can be automated. This allows you to start a song with a fairly loose groove, and then tighten everything as more elements are introduced. Please note that this also currently only works for MIDI, unfortunately, though we certainly plan to have extend our audio warping code to handle that. Hope this helps :)
It's definitely planned, but it's not going happen right away, I'm afraid. We want to spend some more time on Mac honing the product and really nailing the feature set before moving to other platforms.
Get ALL my tips in one convenient place: Check out my In-Complete Book of Electronic Music Ideas, Tips and Tricks: patreon.com/loopop
UPDATE: Unfortunately Zen Audio have stopped selling their ALK software. However, please do watch through that part, as I later explain how to get similar results with Ableton Live. Unfortunately Zen Audio have stopped selling their ALK software. However, please do watch through that part, as I later explain how to get similar results with Ableton Live. Also, check out Nabla Looper for Reaper - I've not tried it, but it's worth a shot if you don't own live: th-cam.com/video/LmMO4KhsxLI/w-d-xo.html
Hi there, I have ZenAudio already, but I'm finding a bunch of issues with it, and now there's no support I don't know how to troubleshoot them. Would you recommend just ditching it and going with Ableton?
@@kirstylouise why not try? Ableton has a 90 day trial going on now
@@loopop I already have Ableton, I found out about Zenaudio and got excited because it’s a lot simpler and to the point for this. It’s disappointing they’re winding it down, I would like to keep using it but I’m not sure it’s worth the time investment if it’s going to have issues that won’t be fixed or supported.
@@kirstylouise indeed disappointing - there’s a reason I put them first, however, in light of how operating system updates tend to break unsupported software, ALK probably wouldn’t be a good long term bet (just like Ableton Live 8 or 9...)
@@loopop oh... I have Ableton 9... it’s not supported in Catalina? I’m about to upgrade my computer
Thanks for this. My entire Twitch performance has been built using method 3 from this video, and I want to say a huge thank you to @loopop for this brilliant video. It does take time to sequence the looping, but the benefit is a stable looping environment where you can focus on the performance and forget about pedals! I also use a ‘cue track’ where I tell myself what to play next (and remind myself of the lyrics). The possibilities are endless!
I have been wondering about how this works for a long time, and I feel lucky to have found this video. Excellent description of these methods. Thank you!
Best video on looping ever!!
@RickySweum, well we did cover this in class way back in 2016 ;-) Lesson 5, I believe. Ableton's Looper is certainly the easiest, it works just like a looping guitar pedal, only better (more features). But with the an IAC bus control you can map out a much more complicated live looping performance, including loops of different lengths and changes in your arrangement, such as muting a loop after you've recorded it and then bringing it back in all hands free. The downside is that you need to follow along with your mapped out game plan or you can easily end up lost. It's really the most powerful and flexible technique but it certainly requires a lot more planning and rehearsal, versus just looping away with Looper.
Auto punch out for Ableton: m.th-cam.com/video/XJCLVWmfOd0/w-d-xo.html
Great video for multiple approaches!
I'd like to add that for the IAC approach you can get away with doing it without an external midi controller for mapping. Kind of a hack I used when I was away from a midi controller.
1. Create a midi clip on a new midi track with a single instance of the CC or note you want to use. Set midi output to IAC.
2. Play the clip.
3. Stop the transport (not the clip.) The clip should still have a green play arrow that is paused.
4. Turn on midi map mode and click on the parameter you want to map.
5. Press spacebar to start the transport. The clip starts playing with the midi CC or note. It should map to the selected parameter.
6. Hit spacebar again to stop the transport.
7. Leave midi map mode and delete midi clip (or just change value for next mapping and repeat.) Your parameter should now be mapped to that midi CC or note.
As someone who also teaches music technology I really value your videos! Thanks!
Thanks for your comment!
Whoa this totally blew my mind. I have been trying to wrap my mind around how she did that for a long time and you solved it in a 15 minute video. Great stuff!
dude you have helped me a ton. Not just this video, your videos are just incredibly helpful. Thank you.
ZenAud.io - Now available for Windows PC!! Thank you for this simple explanation.
Well it is available for Windows, but it doesn't work on my Win10 64 Pro because the ASIO4ALL drivers crash my BEHRINGER drivers. I need a Mac.
Auto punch out for Ableton: m.th-cam.com/video/XJCLVWmfOd0/w-d-xo.html
@@JDNicoll $150 for just that?
@@jt9800 It's $129 for the package of three devices. Audio or midi alone is $60. tinyurl.com/yatxbm9f
If you loop instruments, it's indispensable. If not, maybe not needed.
Zenaudio is now officially dead. Just 5 months later. :(
Singlehandedly the most useful looping video I have seen to date! Thanks!
Auto punch out for Ableton: m.th-cam.com/video/XJCLVWmfOd0/w-d-xo.html
This is literally EXACTLY what I was searching for. Thank you for this awesome and very helpful video!
Auto punch out for Ableton: m.th-cam.com/video/XJCLVWmfOd0/w-d-xo.html
I just saw Elise Trouw for the first time minutes ago and had to do some research which is how I got here! Thanks!!
I’ve spent the whole day trying to figure this out via experimenting and watching videos. This video was definitely the most clear! Thank you
Auto punch out for Ableton: m.th-cam.com/video/XJCLVWmfOd0/w-d-xo.html
The technical side os great but more importantly you have told us how to create a very convincing renditio of Feel it Still with just a bass, a drum, and a lead. Thank you!
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I'm getting into live looping after a while of wanting to do so. I already know how to play piano and electric guitar, but I'm still learning about live looping. Thanks again! I'll check out the rest of your videos.
That ALK Zen Audio looper is pretty great. Works as advertised and has been super easy to stay in the box and make music. Finding it hard to record and arrange on the fly, that software makes it seamless.
wait, so you're saying she actually had to time her walk from the drums to the bass to be exactly x bars because the recording start/stop are pre-determined? I thought it would have been some super fancy edge triggered mechanism.
She shuffled ;)
Not only that, but she did it after 3 bars which makes me super uncomfortable because that either means the bass loop point is halfway through the drums or she started the drum beat halfway through the loop! I mean it’s amazing but as a performer it stresses me out!
LOVE IT! thank you for explaining so quickly, clearly, and simply :)
Hey bro, lil late but I found your video today, and it helped so much, so I made the timestamp for ya :V just put this in your description 👇
Timestamp:
00:00 Intro
00:35 Demo session
01:40 Method #1 (ZenAudio ALK)
03:35 Step-by-step
06:15 Method #2 (Abelton)
08:50 Method #3 (Abelton IAC)
13:45 Demo + Sequence
i dont have that automation option and i also dont have that looper ableton plugin
It doesn’t exist in all version of Live. Check out the Melda looper as an alternative
What a feat of technical wizardry to achieve a smooth flow in a process like this with pre determined record, play, loop and stop processes.
Some of the most useful minutes I ever spent on youtube, thanks a lot for this!
Thank you soooo much! This is what I’ve been looking for for a longtime. Really helpful!!
OMG im so thankful i ran into this video!
Hi! Awesome video, I am thinking of going with a Boss RC 202, DAW methods feel a little shaky to me :(.
What is the blue box you are using for percussions? I am looking for standalone synth and percussion hardware.
It’s called Organelle
Elin how are you getting on with your Boss? I have the RC505 and feel the same! Especially for performing live, this software feels so foreign to completely change to... tempting to try tho!
@@danielawilliams7911 I do not still have it in my hands. I am getting an RC30 btw.
Just saying ... thank you so much for this video... I've been struggling for quite a long time...your a lifesaver ..
You’re welcome my pleasure ;)
dude that thing in the beginning is beautiful
Do you know if is possible to program live loop on Logic Pro X like you show?
Unreal man, thank you so much! So hard to find a succinct tutorial for these techniques.
Wow. Thank you very much! Too bad I havent found this earlier... gotta think about how much spirit of „traditional looping“ is still in there, but great that these options exist!
Yes, this seems to me to be more like pre-programmed multi-track recording rather that what I think of as 'live looping' but it's amazing what these musicians are doing. And I'm going to have fun giving it a go :-)
Hello, In the second way, 8:13 there is a button for quantization of looper which was set to "global" in your video. Is it not quantizing al all? By the way thanks for your very detailed instructions and your calming voice.
Method 2!!! So stupid simple.. How I didn't thought about it? Awesome video 👍 👏👏 thanks!
Awesome video! Any chance you have the download and Authorization key for ZenAudio ALK?! I know the company closed a few years back and stopped selling it. I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. Currently using Ableton and Push 2. Would love to try out the ZenAudio. Thanks!
Thanks! No I don't but you should be able to get to very similar results with Live using "method 2" in the video
@@loopop Yeah Ableton and Push 2 are awesome. Thanks for the reply! Best wishes!
Yeaaaaaaaahhhh method 2 is what I was looking for for ages 🙏🏻😍 thank you so much
This was great! I'm going to use method #2. I'm currently running my live set in session view, so I've been thinking about using ClyphX to trigger automation for the looper (which it doesn't do, to my knowledge). Maybe I'll have to run my songs through arrangement view. Thanks so much - a whole new world just opened for me!
The biggest drawback to method 2 is that, as far as I've been able to tell, you have to have the audio monitor turned on for Looper to get any input. Which really sucks if you're trying to keep stuff in perfect time (like you'd want with looping). Monitoring is best done through your audio interface for the lowest possible latency.
This was helpful. Thanks. You may want to note that Ableton Looper does not actually loop MIDI, but the audio output of a MIDI instrument.
been looking for a simple looping video for ableton this works great thanks.
this is an eye opener ...thank you so much.
Thanks a lot for posting this. I'm so over all the commenters basicly calling Elise a liar when she says in her video descriptions that they are done live in one take. Not that she doesn't reherse but she DOES do the finished vid live.
RADThird1 thanks and yeah - if you need proof check out her jimmy kimmel performance - the clapping at the beginning of the first loop constantly bleeds into the first loop and you hear it throughout the song. No one would prerecord that
how come you never hear a metronome in her videos or live performances?
Ollie B I don’t know this first hand but there’s a little earpiece in her ear so my guess is it’s there.
that's interesting. I guess she would have to press play right on the downbeat of a separate metronome that is programmed to be the same tempo of the session. and give her self some bars before she has to play
Ollie B it’s really super simple - all she has to do is start the sequence just like I do in the clip. The first couple of bars can be a metronome as part of the sequence, and then the looping starts. Once she records the drums, the metronome isn’t even necessary
wow so a bunch of these "live loop performances" are actually so intricately planned out with all the instruments, loop lengths, pre-amps/fx pre set up in the daw! never realized
I always wonder if it's cheating...I like to use it with a drum track and sequenced looping and I feel kind of guilty haha. I don't like backing tracks but I think this is a decent compromise for a solo performer.
I love you bro. Awesome and simple explanation!
much apreciated man, thanks
Excellent! Just Checked out Zen Audio and they have PC version for windows 8.
My question is : is it possible to route (separately if possible ) this tracks intro my DAW for multitrack recording ?
As in my case not everything will be about looping, some drum machines and synths going as well
Thanks for sharing !
I don’t know. Please ask them and if you remember leave a comment here ;)
Excellent video. Thanks for taking the time to explain it
Hi loopop , I figured Id ask you this question since your pretty much the go to guy for hardware and software knowledge or at least from all the vids of yours I've seen. I was wondering if you could tell me which DAWs have a loop recording mode that will live record different length loop tracks and sync them together ? I know Abelton has that option but I'm trying to find cheaper DAWs that can do that . I think maybe Reaper but I'm not sure. My Deluge does that but unfortunately the used one I got off ebay has a bad DC power input so Im returning that one and while I think the Deluge is pretty fun Im now leaning towards DAWs just for the quickness of clicking a mouse and having a better view of whats going on with out having to memorize button push and knob twist menu combos . I also have a hard to finding samples on the Deluge , which looks pretty straightforward to do on DAWs . I did see a looper software called LiveLoop Lite , that looks like it can do that type of loop recording but I cant verify for sure it actually does. Thanks
Thanks! Check out Bitwig and Logic if you have a Mac
Thank your for tips! Can you type the name of trainer that you recommend for Ableton?
Mind blown! Thanks loopop! Gonna use this asap
there seems to be an ALK2 for windows from Zen Audio. nice video easy to understand.
Great vid, learned new techniques. What are the instruments, controllers you're using?
Thanks so much! Not sure why anyone wouldn't just use method 2!
Method one is more tailored, but compared to 3 for sure
i like the nethod 2 but it has some limitation, since you are using the play button and not the recording button, everything is gone once you hit the stop button, also as mentioned above , when you are working with multiple armed tracks at once you cant turn off the monitoring otherwise the looper won't record anything
Thanks for the video. Pretty clear and well delivered. Btw, anybody knows if the ZenAudio ALK is back available? Any new versions or did they just simply disappear from earth?
Great tutorial. It's a shame that ALK2 is no longer being developed. Is there a way to do this with Logic Pro?
Thanks! Probably, but I haven't tried
Whats the name of your keyboard and drum synth?? Theyre so cool
Organelle and Continuum
First off thanks for this wonderful content! For live looping you prefer this over the looper pedal? Also please, which midi controller/virtual keyboard is this? Looks amazing, I mean the screen one. Thanks Loopop!
Thanks for the kind words! I prefer a pedal to this for "regular" live looping, but for arranged live looping, nothing beats Ableton Live and the technique I show here. The little synth is an organelle.
I bought Zenaud.io based on this video, and it was great. The only real drawback was that you needed to already be versed in VST and Audio Units, as well as bring your own, to really use it.
Sadly they have since gone out of business.
HI, can you suggest other products that (like the Organelle) can sample using a Mic input? perhaps the MC-707? what else is there
?
Thanks, love the channel.
Thnx for the great video buddy, but can i ask you what's the name of the blue instrument?
I've been looking for it for days
Thanks! It’s called an organelle
I use option 3 not for live looping but in order to arm/disarm tracks at various points in a live show so that I can control multiple synths in ableton from just one control keyboard. Kinda fiddly to set up, but it works.
Shame ALK2 from Zen Audio is no longer available as it looked great here.
I'm new to midi instruments but WTF kind of keyboard controller is that? You can slide notes like a guitar? I must have this! Also working on drums now. Picked a an Akai LPD8 but havent found a drum vst that works with it natively yet. What are you using there for programming drums? Guitar Rig is awesome, that I am farmiliar with. Up to now I have only recorded guitar and bass, using "Drumkit From Hell" pre programmed loops. Really struggling with drums.
Shaun Blackman the drums are Spark from Arturia. The red and black instrument is the Haken Continuum - and amazing synth and controller
loopop what's the blue thing with the wood buttons?
An Organelle - there’s a review of it on my channel
Heyho thanks for the nice tutorial !! I am wondering if anyone knows what this keyboard like Instrument is called ??
ZOMG! You are our new best friend!
Live Loopers where have you been all my life!
Was just about to ask the same thing. Just added your channel to our featured channels.
zenaudio's site is down. Any way to get the installer?
Third method seems best, to be honest - it's more intuitive for anyone who has used (or seen) an APC/Launchpad/Push controller. It's like sequencing the button presses so you don't have to have hands on it!
Also, I haven't tried it yet, but I imagine you could use a hardware sequencer to control Ableton Live and treat it like a loop-pedal (instead of a DAW). I am going to test this with my Digitakt today!
Jamie you know, I understand where you’re coming from, liking method 3 if you’re used to session view but live looping this way is really more like sequencing/arrangement than the improvisational grid based sessions imho, but if it works for you, great! And yeah hardware should work too!
Programming Ableton to control itself could be tough for some people to wrap their head around, sure. But using an external sequencer (another DAW or hardware, mpc, etc) and that thing controls synths, and Ableton is just another "midi module" in the rack. At least that's how I looked at it when I tested :)
Yes, it does work very well. Problem with Digitakt is that the note comes back around and hit's "play" again, even if you stop that clip. The sequencer is too short (no song mode...)
Yes, USB or MIDI both work.
What I meant is you can't have it record a loop, play for 8 bars, stop, and record a new loop, etc.
Oh, maybe with pattern chaining? That's gonna be a little nuts. And MPC would be much easier to turn Ableton into something like the first method. I bet it would work with a hardware looper pedal too (RC-505?)
Awesome, thanks a lot!
why do you leave both audio tracks armed from the beginning instead of automating that as well? would you recommend automating the arming the tracks as well? especially if you are making a more complicated arrangement?
at 6:57 ..when I want to place the in and outs, it's not snapping exactly on the bar as in your case. Are you pressing an additional button?
Hey Ziv, thanks for the good work! So I can't do method 1 since using Ableton (Mac), can't do method 2 since I'm using Ableton Live 9 and that automation button is not where yours is and I can follow method 3 and all the steps you demonstrate, but by no means I understand how you would go from there to walk around from instrument to instrument and having it all looped and played back in a seamless way. Would love the help. Thanks again!
Thanks for the kind words - I'm not familiar with Live 9 but I'm sure you can do automation on it - keep looking! Sorry more than that is beyond the scope of the comment section and I don't offer 1x1 lessons/support
@@loopop Thank you for answering!
great video. fun lil jam at the front too :-)
Would you be willing to share any tips on possible undo/redo midi mapping ideas for guitar audio looping in Ableton live? It's the only function iv not worked out yet!
Iv got enough midi device options to use as triggers, just not sure of a command I can assign that will undo/redo as a hardware loop station would do. Thank you in advance.
Your best bet would be the use Ableton’s audio looper device or a third party one like the one Melda make
You should make a new video of this topic with the new pre arranger max for live plugin. seems so smooth
my big question about all this though is LATENCY. I get about 8 - 10ms of latency, which means when i record though audio (like how she does with drums or bass or guitar or vocals) i get a delay when looping so each time i lay down a loop it gets more and more out of time
legend. thanks
how do you even begin to do something like this like what is everything you need
ZenAudio looks so simple and interesting to use compared to the other methods. It's available for PC too. I'm going to play with the demo version over the weekend.
@jekennedy108 Good to know, thank you. The demo worked out well for me for home use but if I was to use it live I'd be far more concerned with the bugs. I decided not to use it anyway as I'm currently leaning towards live hardware looping.
Hey I got the released to the public version for ALK2, but I can for the life of me figure out how to get the metronome just in the headphones. By chance do you know how to do it? I am on windows 10 using a Motu M4.
Awesome! 🤘
At 11:02 you switched to Arrangement View then double clicked on measure 1 then a Place for you to put midi notes just appeared on the bottom portion of the screen how did you do that mine does not do that.
Super well explained...thank you
Thank you!!! Great video!
Awesome video! Thank you!
Súper cool and useful
I've been trying to use ALK for about a month now and find it almost unusable because it crashes when you pull in more than three VSTs. Do you have any advice for routing that might help?
Great video man! I just not tried the first option. I agree with you, the last one is the best one.
I have a pedal board for my guitar and It wont pick it up in sound all it says is Asio4all?I clicked all of them no sound comes from any of them...
Very useful video! I only have a question for Ableton automation method: How do you switch between projects without closing the current one? I mean, in a live show, what you want to do is to play multiple songs and for example, looping automation is set for one song specifically. How can we switch between songs in a fast way?
I don’t think there’s a way to switch a project without closing the current one, but you might try putting different songs in different places on the arrangement timeline and use markers to job between them. Not perfect, but works
@@loopop Thank you!
I get how the midi output is sent to the IAC, but is the midi then automatically routed to the record tracks? Or are they just set to all midi in? Can the IAC in be chosen over other channels or vice versa?
Thanks so much for this vid. I've been thinking of a similar concept for years - a way to grab loops at the beginning of a performance and distribute them through a song - but never knew that I already had the software to accomplish this (Ableton Live) all along. This nails it.
This is a highly disciplined approach to looping, diametrically opposed to the traditional freeform improvisational approach. That's not a pejorative comment, it just a new and different thing. It needs a new term. Is "hands-free looping" the new term of art?
Or should it be "foot-free looping" :)
this is so nice in method 2 how do you record the live looping. if you push the record button then hit play will try to loop again
What is the gear you are using?! The slide finger one ... the drum machine ...
Haken Continuum and Organelle
Thanks Loopop.
Thanks Bruu
Great method! Thanks for the tutorial! Maybe i'm doing a silly question (i'm newbie with Ableton 9 live) but... at 6:58 you snap the point of automation to the grid. How you do it? :) Thanks so much!
Thanks! Because there are so few looping states it just jumps like on a grid automatically
the owner of Zen Audio released his program for free use just last week, and it's available for windows now too, so thats pretty cool news..
Well, actually, for the moment it ONLY works with windows, which is quite ironic... I'll have to go for 2nd method, I guess, unless there exist a substitute for ALK which is still maintained.
Is it possible to use the 3rd technique with IAC in Logic?
You are a life saver!
My pleasure ;)
Well, dont have a mac, dont have the looper effect cuz I have ableton lite, so gonna try the 3rd option as a last resort :(
Any alternates to zenaudio in PC that can let me use a guitar rig it or other?????????
Also, how do you use IAC thing loopback in windows can you please provide a link
Awesome video! Just have one issue with Ableton I can't fix, I don't want to hear myself while recording the loop, only after I've recorded it and I can't find an answer for this anywhere at the moment, pls help.
Thanks! Automate levels
This was very helpful. Thanks!
My God I’ve been dreaming of this for so long and saw a complex method years ago but never expected it to be made so easy! Thanks for this awesome video. The other part I dreamed of ten years ago was to apply groove quantisation to parts and even tweak the quantisation in real time using a knob controller. Can this be done now or just the straight quantisation you mentioned? To record a percussion part and then quantise it into a John Bonham groove in front of an audience would be unreal.
Thanks ;) It depends if you’re taking about zen audio or live. For zen audio, no, but email then, who knows... for live, it’s just like anything else - if you can to it in live, you can include it here. I’m sure there’s a groove/swing plugin somewhere (which would also then most likely work on zen audio tracks)
Thought we'd chime in -- so currently you can't quantize to a groove in ALK; only to your standard 1/4, 1/8, .., 1/6 (triplets), etc. The usual. However, one thing we do differently is that you CAN assign a knob to it and alter it in realtime. The reason is that in ALK, quantization is not a function -- you don't quantize the notes once to the grid and then they're moved. Instead, the original position of the notes is stored, and we shift the notes in an online fashion according to the current value of quantization amount, which of course can be automated. This allows you to start a song with a fairly loose groove, and then tighten everything as more elements are introduced. Please note that this also currently only works for MIDI, unfortunately, though we certainly plan to have extend our audio warping code to handle that. Hope this helps :)
+ZenAud.io , What about a windows version of ALK. Plleeeaaassseeee.
It's definitely planned, but it's not going happen right away, I'm afraid. We want to spend some more time on Mac honing the product and really nailing the feature set before moving to other platforms.
you saved my life!!!!!!