I think that in any of these situations the key is to make the symptom clear, or the goal transparent. If you purchase a hardware looper, even if it doesn’t have a sync input, it will tend to begin the overdub phase right on the first beat; however, the guitarist doesn’t have to try to time the record button. This is working for us because of clock integration, but as one gets further into making music, there are limitations. Typically, with a pedal, you have a few seconds to decide if you want to overdub, where when you hit record, the pedal will then note your intent and automatically start recording when the loop completes the cycle and starts the next phase. Ableton does this. So, although there may be many ways to achieve this, simply keeping the functionality of your design intact, while accommodating an “arm” toggle is the goal. Also, I do like that I can actually overdub and back out anywhere in an established loop, so I think it may be a matter of altering the relationship between the gate input and the REC/DUB signal path.
I think that some of what we are doing here is somewhat simple, but in terms of what is currently available and what will become possible, this is cutting edge — again, even though it isn’t necessarily cutting edge logic or dsp. From my perspective, at this point, it’s all about interfacing, control integration, standardization, and the end user. Audulus was marketed as a diy tool. However, there is so much treasure here that it ought to be known that it is at the leading edge of the music industry. I am sure there are manufacturers that have lurked about here, then taken an idea and put it into production.
So, I think this is the key: The clock is badass. No looping pedal has this advanced clock. So, figuring out the best relationship between the clock and the Simple Looper, so that the guitarist can work fluidly and flexibly is the actual goal or need. The strategy varies. I have several ideas by I don’t want to muddy things up more that I already have.
And, for the record, when I say cutting edge, I am not claiming some of this hasn’t been done, rather, it’s when you start to put it all together that it turns into a powerhouse that is a joy to use.
Right
If I understand you correctly, this is why I have been converting the steady open gate to a 10ms pulse? My sense is that that can become a limiting can of worms, if the approach is to direct wire the clock, because then one might lose the advantage of deciding when to initiate the segment of recording since the master clock begins all segments at the start and closes those gates according to the bar duration. With the counter, I can start a 16 bar loop, 4 bars in. Again, if I am correct, the purpose of the bar toggle gates was to link up to the mixer with mutes.
Funny, there is also some fine tuning to be done there, as I think sometimes a kick drum may not get muted fast enough. Sorry I am not a programmer. But, to me, I am fairly astonished with all the work here. The achievement of Audulus 3 is hard to explain, unless one has integrated it all into a practice of creative ritual. Ideally, someone could do it all. Realistically, it seems like the forum — the unfolding collaboration and assistance is a medicine in its own right, maybe more interesting than the notion of absolute competence.