Thoughts from my first live looper gig
I just performed my first gig using SooperLooper with my Zynthian setup. Overall it went great. Kudos to whomever helped to integrate this amazingly powerful yet simple tool into the Zynthian interface. It has changed the game for what I am able to accomplish as a solo musician.
I have a few observations on what went well and what I’m looking to hopefully change in the near future.
My Setup
My gear consists of the following:
- Zynthian v5.1: The Zynthian box with Raspberry Pi 5 processor, running Vangelis build.
- Yamaha P-115: My 88-key keyboard, used for my main piano and electric piano sounds. This is setup on MIDI channel 1.
- Arturia Keylab Essential 49: My ancillary 49-key keyboard, used for SetBFree Hammond Organ sounds as well as bass and other keyboard effects. This is setup on MIDI channel 2.
- Behringer FCB1010 MIDI Foot Controller: The MIDI controller for sending CC messages to SooperLooper.
- Korg nanoKONTROL2: Auxilliary controller for selecting tracks, setting volumes, etc.
I currently have the following controls mapped in the Behringer:
- 1 (CC 20): Record
- 2 (CC 21): Next loop
- 3 (CC 22): Mute
- Expression Pedal 1 (CC 1): Vibrato (SetBFree)
- Expression Pedal 2 (CC 7): Volume (SetBFree)
Important: Record, Next Loop, and Mute are all set as “Latch” rather than the default “Momentary”.
General Approach
- I have SooperLooper configured on the Main Mixbus. This gives me the flexibility to record any track at any time, essential for live performance. It does mean that whenever I select the SL UI, it selects the Main chain which unselects the SetBFree chain (more on that below).
- Most songs, I just start a groove for the first loop. An essential trick I’ve found is to play through the loop once unrecorded, then hit Record on the downbeat of the repeat of that loop, then hit Record again on the downbeat of the next loop, and actually play that downbeat note. Much higher success rate of getting the track to start right on the beat record and finish right on the downbeat of the next repeat.
- I have SooperLooper configured to sync to Loop 1. This enables me to more easily layer new channels with synchronized layers of loops. I hit Next Loop to cycle through the loops until I get to the one I want (usually it’s just hitting it once).
- Whenever I need to mute a track, I just hit Mute with that track selected in SooperLooper. I also have mute quantized so that I can have the track mute at the end of the loop even if I press Mute early, then bring the track back in right on the beat by hitting Mute again.
- On some songs, I will start with a groove, then layer a “clap” track on the 2 and 4 beats. This allows me to mute the first track when I need to play something that doesn’t match the main groove. The “clap” track lets me know exactly when the unmuted main loop will come back in.
- For example, on “Cissy Strut” I’ll play the main groove on loop 1, layer a “clap” track on top of that, then mute the main track whenever I need to play the B-section.
- Finishing a song is one of the most challenging aspects with playing loops. Generally I’ve found its most effective to just mute everything (all tracks finish to the end) then be prepared to play the main groove again live. I’ve also found it’s effective to remove selective tracks one-by-one to go back to the original groove.
- An unexpected joy: Trading solos between the keyboards! I will play 4 bars of a solo on the electric piano (Yamaha), then immediately trade that solo with the Hammond B3 Organ (Arturia). It sounds like it’s two musicians who are really in tune with each other.
- An important tip: I recommend refreshing your zs3 at the beginning of every song. This clears the SooperLooper so you don’t have bits from the last song inadvertently coming up in the middle of your performance!
- Question: What exactly gets saved to the zs3 for SooperLooper configuration? I’m unclear exactly what does get saved, which would be helpful to know. It seems like for example the cc mappings and the number of tracks appear to be saved, but I cannot seem save which track is selected.
- One thing that just occurred to me: I’ve been starting all songs with 4 empty loops, but it would make a lot more sense to start with just one loop and then add new ones with Next Loop. That way, every song starts with Loop 1 selected by default. I’m surprised this only now occurred to me…
Current Challenges
This gig helped highlight for me a number of challenges with live performance using this looper setup:
- Inability to quickly see the SooperLooper UI. While in theory I can control everything with the Behringer, including selecting Next Loop, I’ve found it’s dangerous to rely on foot presses alone to confirm what track I’ve selected. I therefore want a visual on SL, but I also need to go to the Mixer UI in order to confirm other instruments. If there were some easy way to immediately go to the SL UI, without changing the selected track, that would be a huge help.
- Even better would be an ability to have SL shown constantly and not have to lose focus to go back to the Mixer UI. Is there any way to connect a second external monitor that would be always showing either the Mixer UI or the SL UI?
- Is there a way to map one of the function keys (e.g., F1) to show the SooperLooper UI? That may be sufficient.
- Expression Pedals only active when the chain is selected. The key to effectively playing the Hammond B3 organ is having constant access to the expression and volume pedals. However, these pedals only work when the SetBFree chain is selected. Whenever I need to see the SooperLooper UI, I need to select the Main chain and that deselects the SetBFree chain. Perhaps this is a configuration option to have expression pedals constantly on across all channels? Of course, that brings complications as well, as the expression is also tied to the electric piano sounds.
- Even better would be a way to permanently tie the expression pedals to the SetBFree chain, regardless of whether or not it is the selected chain in the Mixer. Can this be done?
- Cannot map Undo/Redo: In the SooperLooper documentation, it mentions that Undo/Redo are a good way to facilitate switching between verse and chorus tracks. This would be amazing. However, I cannot find a way to map a CC message to the Undo or the Redo action. Has anyone configured this with a MIDI controller that sends CC messages?
- Trigger is unreliable: I started experimenting with using Trigger as this will start the loop right from the beginning. This would be a great way to come back to the main groove, rather than Mute it and having to have a “clap” track in the background to let you know exactly when it comes back after you Unmute. However, in my practice I found that Trigger sometimes will play the loop twice on top of itself with a microsecond delay, which would be disasterous in a live performance. If this is a bug that can be fixed, then Trigger could be a good solution. For now, I’m sticking with Mute.
- 40 second limit to loops: This limits the number of jazz standards that can be played directly into the looper. I understand you can change this default limit, but I’m thinking the limit is there for a good reason (longer loop = more memory = performance impacts), plus it can be difficult to consistently pull off a strong 40-second take. I keep hearing that the way to handle verse/chorus is to use Undo/Redo, which I haven’t figured out to how to map yet (see above).
- Korg nanoKONTROL2 back lights are too dim outdoors: The nanoKONTROL2 is great for seeing which chain is selected and which ones are muted/unmuted, but the red backlight is way too dim to see if you are outdoors. The only way I was able to visually confirm the track I had selected was through the Zynthian screen.
Eventually as I get more adventurous, I want to play with using the Zynthian clock to orchestrate the loops rather than my own (somewhat questionable) sense of rhythm. I don’t see how this would be done without hearing an audible click track while layering the first groove, which to me is not acceptable for a live performance. I’m too scared at the moment to use any “round” feature; swing feel is way too nuanced and sensitive.
Final Thoughts
I’m very happy with using the SooperLooper. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. There is a learning curve, and I can’t promise you will get a full 8-hours of sleep when you start exploring its features (I have SooperLooper to thank for many a bleary-eyed Monday morning). I think the main things that would make it more “bulletproof” for performance would be the ability to see the SooperLooper UI anytime I need to, and an ability to see this UI independently of selecting the SetBFree chain so that the expression pedals are active.
I would love to hear your thoughts on what you find works best using this in your performances. Also, I’d greatly appreciate if anyone knows of any resources on how to use SooperLooper in performance.
-- TK
the digital equivalent of analogue guys with their oscilloscopes all over the place… : )
