Loop editing

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ajun
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:59 am

Loop editing

Post by ajun »

I've skimmed the Feature Request forum and didn't see this mentioned - pretty surprised as I would have assumed this would be a top request: Editing loops. It would be fantastic if there was a way to do some basic edits to the recorded loops.

Trim - Make the loop a shorter length.
You record a 4 measure part, but then decide you only want the first 2 measures. Or you're trying to play a difficult part; instead of canceling every time you flub a note and having to re-arm the recording, you just play the part over and over and when you get it, you trim the multi-take loop down to the right section.

Silence - zero out a section, but keep the loop length the same.
You play a great part, and then hit a wrong note as you're going for the Finish Record button. Or you record a part with 2 sections - you really like the second section, but think you can do the first one better - silence the first part and then create a new loop to get it right. Bonus points: make it non-destructive, a volume automation curve.

Reverse- c'mon, it would be awesome to edit and reverse parts of your loop!
Besides editing a loop, it would be great if you could "flip over the tape" and immediately put all tracks in reverse to record your part (and then flip the tape again to put the other tracks forward, while the last thing gets reversed)

Copy and paste (overwrite) - repeat sections of your loop while maintaing the loop length.

Copy and paste (insert) - repeat sections of your loop increasing the overall length.

Copy and paste (new loop) - take a section (or the whole loop) and copy it into a new loop - coupled with, Trim, Silence and Reverse you can start to make some very interesting things....

Time slide - move the start point of the loop.
For correcting slight timing issues, or for just mucking around. Bonus points: elastic audio / flex-time editing of the audio in the loop.

OK, I could keep going on, but these tools would accomplish a lot and make this great app even more of a monster than it is!


One other thing: Have you checked out the "looping" apps? ProLoop, Loopy 2, Everyday Looper, SooperLooper.... oh wait!
Slightly different category of app, but there are some very cool features and techniques that could be folded into ThumbJam to make it the ultimate performance instrument. For example: overdubbing and ending recording of one loop and immediately going into record on the next loop. Also implementing all the above edits in realtime, while the loops are playing....

Another, other thing: I think it's been discussed, but recording as MIDI would be very cool - it would make quantizing and flex-time easier to implement and allow performances to be exported to play on more powerful synths.

Howard
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 11:21 am

I'm going to respectfully

Post by Howard »

I'm going to respectfully differ.

The design of TJ insists on Playing.

Play it right and move on...

I love the fact that it is designed for you to play what you want, then, over time learn to play it better.

Not edit, delete, after the fact...

My drums don't let me either...

What you're speaking of, is production, engineering, sequencing, programming... And you could do it much more easily do by dumping the tracks to a computer with a big screen.

I don't miss the days of tweaking individual notes with a mouse. For me, making Music is no longer about editing, but about growing the moment.

The fact that we can capture, then layer that spontaneity, is great. Additive, not subtractive composing...

Don't get me wrong, I have feature requests as well. And I agree, it is a new, exciting, and still limited interface, and it is often challenging to get the notes right.

But that is the challenge as well.

As on any instrument.

Wishing you inspiration...
H

ajun
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:59 am

My drums don't let me

Post by ajun »

My drums don't let me either...

Your drums also don't loop what you just played over and over. ThumbJam isn't just an instrument, if that was the case then there would be no looping and MIDI wouldn't be a consideration. ThumbJam is a performance composition tool. The loop recording is just as important as the instrument part.

What you're speaking of, is production, engineering, sequencing, programming...

Not necessarily....

And you could do it much more easily do by dumping the tracks to a computer with a big screen.

If I wanted to work on the "big screen" I would and use my guitar or keyboard controller and get much better sounds.... ThumbJam allows me to create on the go, and if it offered very simple editing tools, it would be a much more powerful and useful. Trim, silence, reverse, overwrite, insert, duplicate and shift would allow one to create full loop compositions.

If the concern is taking away from the live nature of the program, I agree. I stated that I would prefer that such editing (and more) could be accomplished in realtime, while loops were playing.

Have you ever used a performance looper like the Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro? Most I what I'm writing about can be done on the fly with that tool, albeit in somewhat convoluted ways - but that's because the device only has a few buttons. With a full multitouch screen Thumbjam could make edits a lot easier. If you've never used a performance looper then check out the Sooper Looper which is based on the Oberheim.... Oh, and it was written by ThumbJam's Jesse!

Howard
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri May 13, 2011 11:21 am

I hear you, Ajun. I was just

Post by Howard »

I hear you, Ajun.

I was just making the case for keeping TJ as simple and direct as possible through focus on Play instead of Edit.

But everyone has their preferred way of working.

And it's nice to know that SooperLooper was made by Jesse.

peace,
Howard

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