Loop Pedal and multiple sounds with audio interface

I

Iceheart

New member
Hello,

I use the audio interface Line 6 UX2 with Podfarm 2.5 as software to play/record my guitar. So this is how I usually connect:



Guitar -> UX2 -> Computer (Podfarm)
.............|
............Headphones





Now I bought a Loop pedal Boss-RC30 and I do this:



Guitar -> Loop Pedal -> UX2 -> Computer (Podfarm)
.................................|
............................Headphones





And it works perfectly fine! No delay or whatsoever.



My question is whenever I play something, let's say the chords Am C D F as a loop with CLEAN sound and then on my Layer 2 want to play solo over this with distortion (or another sound from Podfarm), and click "Pedal ON" on my Podfarm the Layer 1 also changes. So how do I solve this problem?

I want to be able to:



Layer 1. Clean acoustic sound, looping!

Layer 2. Distortion Solo.

Layer 3. Another sound etc.


So basically what I am asking for, how do I play with multiple sounds on my loop pedal with the Line 6 UX2 without all my layers have to have the same sound?



So how do I do this with the UX2? Please help.
 
Are you not running a DAW? Just doing this with PodFarm standalone?

Anyway, the loop pedal can only record what it hears at the input. PodFarm currently comes after that point. You can put it before, but then how are you going to hear what's coming out of the looper?

If you were recording to a DAW, it would be possible to route input 1 through PodFarm, out Output 1 through the looper and then back into input 2 on another track. That would work, but with that interface the monitoring - what you hear in your headphones while recording - would be pretty wonky. You'd have the guitar itself all the way left and then whatever the looper was doing all the way right AND if you hear the live guitar through the looper it'll be just delayed enough to feel weird. You could split Line out 2 to the stereo input of a headphone amp or something to then monitor only what's coming from the looper, but it would still be twice as much latency as otherwise.

Course, if you're using a decent DAW, you can set it up to replace the looper altogether and it would be much easier and better. Might have to find a cheap MIDI pedal somewhere...
 
I use Cubase. And what I am thinking as a solution, but that I do not know how to do is:

If Cubase is able to record Layer 1 and loop it for me. So for instance: It records EXACTLY the loop once and then replay it over and over again until I stop it.

Then Track 2. records Layer 2. etc. In that way I can change sound?


Also I do not want to spend millions for produtcs. I have all the sounds I need in Podfarm, all I need is to be able to use them for different layers without them all being "same sound".


If I play a loop that is this long:

1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4

Then hit Record on beat 1 in cubase. and Stop when the loop is done. The duplicate the recording so it loops? How do I do this so it is "synced"?
So in other words; I loop same shit twice, once with the loop pedal, once with the recording.

Also thinking; This should not be necessary if I bought a loop pedal for 200+ dollars... Why is it such a struggle 2018? There should be a easy solution to this...
Someone said I should buy a distortion pedal so:

Guitar -> Distortion pedal -> Loop pedal -> UX2.

but then all the other effects? Reverb etc from the UX2? Disappears? I never tried a distortion pedal before... Not sure how it works? Does it just "ADD the distortion to my Podfarm selections of sounds" or does it "replace all sound and just put the sound from the distortion pedal"?
 
If you're using Cubase...why not just record the first track (or "layer" as you call it)...of your chords.
Then, record the second track while listening to the first, of your solo/lead...etc...etc.

You're going to want these tracks (layers) to be sererate anyway, so you can edit/process them later, and mix them.
If you record them all from the looper...they are going to be already mixed as one.

Why are you bothering with a looper...?...when Cubase can do that for you?
The loopers are good for live use.
 
Miroslav, if it was that easy I'd do it. If I record Layer 1 the backing chords I have to play it 1000 times. I tried to play it once then copy the first and drag it out make it to severals but it never stays in beat.

And the loopers are good for more stuff than live, it makes it easier to jam with yourself and it is easier to practice soloing etc etc.

Anyways, if you know how to do as you mentioned in Cubase I'd gladly listen to learn.
it i
But in the same time I also want to solve my problem about not having to have the same sound for each layer.
 
Iceheart said:
Miroslav, if it was that easy I'd do it. If I record Layer 1 the backing chords I have to play it 1000 times.
Click to expand...

So...it's too hard for you to play through an entire 3-5 minute song from start to finish...?
If you plan on recording...that's what you need to practice doing, and not trying to create songs from a few measures, and then copying them over and over.

AFA playing just a few measures and then creating a looped track...it takes a little practices to do that, just like it takes some practice to hit it on the beat with the looper pedal. (PS...they are not layers, they are tracks when you record them. The term "layers" is used more with synth patches and stuff like that.)

I jam and practice all the time with my DAW and full tracks that I recorded in it.
I tried that with a looper...and found it extremely boring, listing to exactly the same repetitious loops, made from 4-8 measures.
I mean, it was fun for about 15 minutes...and then I wanted something more "real".

Cubase can do much more for you than any looper pedal...you just have to learn how to work with it. There's nothing much to explain other than to say...practice. :)
You already know how to record in Cubase...so just start thinking beyond 4-measure loops.

Just out of curiosity...what type of music are you doing?
 
miroslav said:
So...it's too hard for you to play through an entire 3-5 minute song from start to finish...?
If you plan on recording...that's what you need to practice doing, and not trying to create songs from a few measures, and then copying them over and over.

AFA playing just a few measures and then creating a looped track...it takes a little practices to do that, just like it takes some practice to hit it on the beat with the looper pedal. (PS...they are not layers, they are tracks when you record them. The term "layers" is used more with synth patches and stuff like that.)

I jam and practice all the time with my DAW and full tracks that I recorded in it.
I tried that with a looper...and found it extremely boring, listing to exactly the same repetitious loops, made from 4-8 measures.
I mean, it was fun for about 15 minutes...and then I wanted something more "real".

Cubase can do much more for you than any looper pedal...you just have to learn how to work with it. There's nothing much to explain other than to say...practice. :)
You already know how to record in Cubase...so just start thinking beyond 4-measure loops.

Just out of curiosity...what type of music are you doing?
Click to expand...



Well if I wanted to play an entire song I'd not buy a loop pedal? Sometimes a man just wants a simple loop if the chords are the same shit over and over again. I can handle the loop, and I can play an entire song, that's not whats important here. The important here is how I use my loop pedal with different sound and with my audio interferce.

I think the loop is very good for creativity, if u play some shitty chords and get tired of the loops it's because you play something that is not good. Seven nation army for instance, same riff over and over and over and over again, still sounds good even if u listen to it 1000 times. :)

I do all kind of music, mostly grunge-bluesy likely. Deep emotional ballads, rocky version. I do vocals on guitar also, covering songs in this way with solo style as the lyrics adding notes etc.
 
Iceheart said:
if u play some shitty chords and get tired of the loops it's because you play something that is not good.
Click to expand...

No...I got bored of loops because it was the same few measures, of the same thing, going over and over and over...

The point here is that you want loop while using FX/sounds from Cubase (Podfarm)...which was already made clear to you...it's not possible...

....so the better option is to skip the looper and just use Cubase for that, but then, yeah, you're either going to have to learn how to edit your 4 measures to make loops that are in time/in sync, or play just those chords 1000 times...either of which is not all that hard to do. :)
 
Gtoboy said:
2 Loopers.
Click to expand...

:laughings: That's going to complicate things.

Might as well toss in the idea of using a small mixer to mix/feed signals to the looper... :p

...or how about a simple A+B pedal for the guitar and output from Cubase...

...or just an amp simulator box, and lose Cubase and Podfarm altogether.

I'm sure we can make this real complicated if we work at it. ;)
 
That's ok I think its a bit off of the home recording topics any way and well... slightly silly. Sorry, no offense meant:rolleyes:
 
Gtoboy said:
That's ok I think its a bit off of the home recording topics any way and well... slightly silly. Sorry, no offense meant:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I didn't take it offensively...and I wasn't making fun of your suggestion.
I was just laughing at how whole thread is getting kinda kooky funny...you know, how to screw up a sunny day... :D

Two loopers is certainly an option...but I think he is set on wanting to make it work with his setup and Podfarm...that's why I laughed and said it would complicate things. ;)
 
I know a number of people who do some really cool things with loopers. Most of them have either an array of pedals or a multiFX processor of some sort before the looper, but there's no good reason you can't use PodFarm in place of all that. It would be easier with an interface with more than a single stereo output, but you can make it work, especially if you add a headphone amp and maybe a y-cable. I thought I explained pretty clearly what it would take. Which part don't you understand?
 
ashcat_lt said:
Which part don't you understand?
Click to expand...

I don't think he followed you about the input to the looper...and the Y-cable.
That's what I was also getting at with an A+B box...so that both his guitar and the output from Cubase could feed the looper.

I just find that using the Cubase/Podfarm thing WITH looper...too messy...and would rather do it with sims/processing BEFORE the looper, and not from Cubas/Podfarm...and if he frees himself of the computer, his looper rig becomes mobile, and easily used also for live playing/looping.
When he's tied to Cubase/Podfarm...it makes that cumbersome...but certainly not impossible.
 
Guys when you think you're making yourself Clearly and obviously I do not understand it's not so clearly? :) I am not a pro on this stuff so most of the terms you guys talk about I have never heard about it.

Boss RC-30 have 2 channels, It's like 2 loops in 1. But I am still only able to use 1 sound for all recordings in the loop. No matter channel.

So is my solution here to buy a distortion pedal to put before the loop to be able to get what I want?


And don't get stuck on cubase, I only use it when I record. But when I play/practice with myself on the loop I still want to be able to change the sounds.

I can do everything I want right now but not just change the sounds, for instance I play some simple chords, solo over it with distortion on part 2 of the loop.

I've seen people use Exact the same looper, but they use an amp instead and record the amp with a mic. So how do they manage to get distortion on secound layer/track or whatever u want to call it? Is it a distortion pedal?



IF it is a distortion pedal, how does it work? If I use:

Guitar -> Distortion Pedal ON -> Loop pedal -> UX2 -> Podfarm(software).

and in my podfarm I have choosen some amps, pedals etc, like delay etc (I have the sound I want let's say). And when the Distortion Pedals gets on does it just ADD distortion, or does it replace all sounds from Podfarm with its build distortion in the pedal? Hope you understand my question, just to make it clear:


Same distortion, on Amp 1, does it sound exactly the same with amp 2 which is having another sound or is it different?
 
Yes...get all your sounds BEFORE the looper, like adding a OD/Distortion pedal that you can easily turn on/off....rather than using Cubase/Podfarm.

You can still do it with Cubase/Podfarm, but it might get messy, as it is not possible with what you currently have.
To do it...you need 2 inputs to the Looper, which you can do with a Y-cable or an A+B box...so one is for your guitar and one for the output coming from Cubase/Podfarm.
Of course, your computer interface also plays into that, and how capable it is to do all that, and whatever latency is introduced, etc...that's why the simpler way is stick a sim box or OD/distortion pedal in front of the looper...and then just use Cubase to record everything into it.
Save the Podfarm for applying to clean recorded tracks that you mess with later on in the computer....not for looping live.
 
All those effects you're applying in PodFarm - the ones you think you might want to change for different loop layers - most people have pedals for all of those before the looper. Anybody I've ever seen do this kind of thing well have seriously huge pedal boards and are tap dancing on the switches the whole time.

But you want to use PodFarm in place of that pedal board. So do it.

Guitar>UX2 input 1>PodFarm plugin in Cubase>UX2 Output 1>looper>UX2 input 2>Cubase>UX2 Output 2>Y cable>headphone amp>headphones.

The tricky part is the routing in Cubase. You'll need two tracks. The first takes input from UX2 input 1 (the dry guitar) and has PodFarm on it and is panned hard left. The other gets input from UX2 input 2 (looper output) and is panned hard right and records the actual full performance. This way changing sounds in PodFarm only changes what's going to the looper, and will leave any previous looper layers sounding exactly the way they did when you recorded them.
 
ashcat_lt I see.
I use Podfarm 2.5, the program. Not Cubase plugin, does it matter?

So to be in more detail:

https://www.long-mcquade.com/files/4157/lg_PODSTUDIOUX2.jpg

https://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/line-6-pod-studio-ux2-761701.jpg

http://vad.up.n.seesaa.net/vad/image/ux2_01.jpg?d=a0

Guitar -> ux2 guitar input 1 (Where it says "Norm") -> UX2 (the back) Analog output (the middle one) -> Looper -> UX2 input 2 (Where it says "Pad")

Is this correct?




Miroslav, how does the distortion pedal work with the sounds? Does it add distortion or replace all sounds with distortion that is within the pedal?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top