RobertAndersson Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I've had the chance to try a Ditto X2 Looper, and I must say it's a fun and addictive tool. I understand that quite many artists try to make acts involving looping. What do you guys think about it? //Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I've got the original TC Electronics Ditto looper micro pedal and I love it. I use it mostly for writing or practicing pieces/parts of songs. I never use it live and don't even pack it in my gear when I'm headed to a gig... I think they're great for working out new songs either originals during the writing process or while learning to cover a song without having to record and play-back like we did with a cassette recorder or other such recording devices or even playing back a vinyl record like back int he day... It's lightyears ahead of that... Great tool, but I have no interest in applying it in a live setting. I prefer all of my music to be music I can reproduce in a live setting. If I write a song with rhythm & leads/fills, I make sure my band has 2 guitars at least. I don't ever want to electronically reproduce parts of songs for a live performance for my own convenience, but I will write and work stuff out that way... I want every part live during a live performance by an actual musician/player... But that's just me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tulee12! Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Awesome tools for practice or writing music. Great for those folks who don't have a band to jam with. I have a Pigtronix looper. Great pedal... probably more than I need though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 I've got the original TC Electronics Ditto looper micro pedal and I love it. I use it mostly for writing or practicing pieces/parts of songs. I never use it live and don't even pack it in my gear when I'm headed to a gig... I think they're great for working out new songs either originals during the writing process or while learning to cover a song without having to record and play-back like we did with a cassette recorder or other such recording devices or even playing back a vinyl record like back int he day... It's lightyears ahead of that... Great tool, but I have no interest in applying it in a live setting. I prefer all of my music to be music I can reproduce in a live setting. If I write a song with rhythm & leads/fills, I make sure my band has 2 guitars at least. I don't ever want to electronically reproduce parts of songs for a live performance for my own convenience, but I will write and work stuff out that way... I want every part live during a live performance by an actual musician/player... But that's just me... Jimi, I really like your attitude. There sure is too much autotune and electronica around these days! //Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Yeah I have a Boss RC-3 loop pedal.... As mentioned above, they are lots of fun and useful tools for learning.. and id never want to use something like that on stage but I appreciated the people that do.... Boss have a loop competition every year.. theres some real cool stuff on Youtube. I like this one as its just a guy and his guitar... but theres some where they are playing drums, guitar, bass and keyboards while singing.. mad stuff :) Up until about 1:40 its just a standard tune then he build its up.. this is also pretty cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfpup Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Obviously it's a great practice tool. Also, I've seen quite a few people use it live as a performance tool. They usually start with a rhythm track of course and then layer on top - some have had stuff pre-recorded. In my opinion it's neat but it usually sounds kinda sterile - not like real people interacting with one another. I've thought about trying to integrate the looper some into my own trio but have not yet done so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 KT is awesome ... I had a Jamman Stereo until the dust got so thick you hardly read the panel. Then I traded it in for half what I paid for it. I think they could be neat for acoustic, but for anything else they have to be post amp in the chain. Otherwise every loop will sound like whatever the current setting is. I can see where they would be great practice tools, but it's really easy to record and loop stuff with Reaper. So for me the whole experience was ... meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I use one to practice/jam with once in awhile. Great for practicing improvising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimi Mac Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I've got the original TC Electronics Ditto looper micro pedal and I love it. I use it mostly for writing or practicing pieces/parts of songs. I never use it live and don't even pack it in my gear when I'm headed to a gig... I think they're great for working out new songs either originals during the writing process or while learning to cover a song without having to record and play-back like we did with a cassette recorder or other such recording devices or even playing back a vinyl record like back int he day... It's lightyears ahead of that... Great tool, but I have no interest in applying it in a live setting. I prefer all of my music to be music I can reproduce in a live setting. If I write a song with rhythm & leads/fills, I make sure my band has 2 guitars at least. I don't ever want to electronically reproduce parts of songs for a live performance for my own convenience, but I will write and work stuff out that way... I want every part live during a live performance by an actual musician/player... But that's just me... Jimi, I really like your attitude. There sure is too much autotune and electronica around these days! //Robert Having said that, I think they are probably a great tool for one-man-show gigs! Alot of pubs/bars/clubs are scaling-back their hiring of live bands and the amount they're willing to pay a live band up-front... At least here in the over-crowded New England/Northeast USA... I've also heard that same trend is hitting in The UK too... This trend is making it not worth the time and effort of musicians that rely on live performances to put alot of time or effort into the club-scene here in my parts... I do it for the love of playing and have a full-time job. I can deal with a take home of between $25 - $60 USD and not care that I can't even afford a meal with a gratuity at the establishment I just played at for that pay... It's even worse for us performers that want to be a part of a larger band/project... I can totally see how a guy who can give a good demo vid to an establishment's ownership/management showing he can entertain a crowd of drink-hungry patrons by himself with backing tracks and loopers to land gigs where they get to collect the whole gig pay for themselves... This is actually a preferred kind of arrangement according to the local trends I spoke-of. It's not my thing, but there are several folks out there that like to work solo and I got nuthin' against that... I'm too much of a hack to pull that off, and I need a band around me to sound sentient and good! I think loopers definitely have their niche and uses for all manner of players... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I started out with the first one button version, that just wasn't working for me that single button, way too fiddly for me.. now I use the X2, the two button operation for how I use it, makes a big difference... the one button verison was not usable,, For acoustic performing, it works very nicely. play thru one rythm measure, hit the loop and viola, instant rhythm player OTOH, using it live with my trio,, the experience is not quite as successful. Unless I nail the one beat to start the loop, or it's turned up so the other guys can really lock on to it, after a few measures, it's out of time a bit. and it's not because the drummer doesn't keep good time, he's played to click/sequence tracks for years, he's excellent. I think it's the nature of the analog loop where it's not quantized, it floats just enough to be a PITA when we try it. I can get it right about half the time,, the other half, eeesh.. oh anyone wanna buy my single button ditto??? it's pretty much mint, .. not using it.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertAndersson Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi guys, After some practice, I have created an act based on the looper where I play blues classics. One song here, what do you say about it? http://youtu.be/C3GNumkSnCc //Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitar God Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have a BOSS RC-3 Loop Station Looper pedal and a like mine a lot. Mainly use mine for a practice tool or for writing to try out different stuff. I'd recommend one highly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 I have a Jamman Solo looper. I've used it live and for practice. When I use it live it's to flesh out a one man band work I was doing with a couple of singers. I would record into the looper the entire song usually using acoustic rhythm, bass and sometimes electric rhythm and then add lead live. Live usually worked best when I would play my Michael Kelly Hybrid Special which has stereo output. I would take the acoustic leg of the stereo out and run that to the looper to an acoustic amp, the electric pickup side of the stereo output I would take to an electric guitar amp. So the sound I would get was the looper with rhythm and bass, and acoustic and electric doubled lead. If I didn't want to carry two amps or was playing a mono output guitar, I would run the looper to the PA through a DI box with no guitar input to it. Play the loop and play my guitar along with it (but not through it) through a guitar amp. I mostly play clean so even if I had to go Guitar/cord/looper/cord/amp it worked okay, but the bass and acoustic stuff lost some tone. The looper through the PA worked good and through the Acoustic amp worked good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Ya they are fun! I used mine more when I first got it. I have the original ditto and the next gen came out shortly after I bought mine. I wish I woulda waited but it is what it is. I wouldn't say using them live is cheating. If anything it puts pressure on you to get it right the first time or you get to hear your flub over and over. I haven't played with it for a while but they are fun. It gives whole new meaning to "playing with yourself". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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