"looper"

[billkilpatrick]

if you were looking for a "looper" for accompaniment while playing mandolin and you had a choice between a boss, boomerang or jam man from digitech, which brand and model would you choose and why?

please, pull up a chair.

[Carlos Gomes SJK-SP]

Hello Bill,

The absence of guitarist colleagues for accompaniment while you are playing instrumental songs on mandolin may be critical. This situation is very usual and happens with many amateur (non-proffissional) mandolim players so that the use of the playback files and associated audio equipments consist an alternative and practical solution.

For choromusic style, you can find some records "on the shelf". Please see this example of Jacob do Bandolim (Famous Brazilian mandolinsist):

http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?53319-Tocando-com-Jacob-available


http://www.vitale.com.br/sistema/produtos/produto.asp?codigo=35499


Musical Regards

Carlos Gomes SJK-SP

[Charlieshafer]

I'm a Boss guy, but I can't tell you why it's better, as I went on the recommendation of a friend and never tried any of the others. I can say I'm very happy with it, certainly does everything I need it to do very easily. RC30 is what I use, but the higher end models look cooler, which is why I'd also consider them....

[CelticDude]

When I was looking a few months ago, I narrowed it down to the Boss RC-30 and the DigiTech Jamman Stereo. Price and an XLR input swayed my decision to the Jamman. I haven't used it with a mandolin yet, but have practiced electric guitar with it. It's very useful, and would be for mandolin practice as well. I don't know about live performing with it, but the reviews on the Boss talked about a slight but noticable delay when switching between loops.

[Mandobart]

I still don't have a looper. Been looking at them, though. I would use it in live solo environments almost exclusively vs for practice. I want something intuitive, truly easy to use on the fly. Don't really need tons of storage; just be able to lay down a rhythm track with my 'cello or OM in a live situation, then pick up the mandolin or fiddle for lead. I need to be able to switch the loop on and off easily, maybe have the ability to store both the verse and chorus accompaniment and be able to switch between them while playing lead.

[billkilpatrick]

friend on the facebook mandolin page posted this link - i've got some homework!:

http://looperpedalreviews.com/loop-station-boss-rc-300-review/

[Jim Nollman]

I'd recommend taking a look at Guitar Rig by Native Instruments. It's software. Load it onto a ipad or a laptop, connect the laptop to the GR pedal. Connect the pedal to an amp. It sounds complicated, but it isn't. You can literally loop for hours if you like. Or loop multiple times. And even while you are looping, you also have 100 other built-in GR stomp boxes, amp simulators, rack effects, mic simulators, with which to experiment.

I have never liked playing with stomp boxes made for guitar, which means just about all of them. GR lets you create a "rack" that starts with a specific instrument's EQ and sustain envelope, including mandolin; and then build from there. Once you build a sound you like, you create presets that are dialed in by stomping on the pedal's 8 foot switches. I have 8 or 10 presets specifically made for my Godin mandolin. Once you have GR rigged up, you may never buy another stomp box again.

[Charlieshafer]

+1 on Guitar Rig. Many advantages, not the least of which is the lack of need for a million cables and connections and just plain quietness. No hums or clicks.

[mandroid]

IDK about Gear for this.. but
I got the CD by Manuel Galban, and producer-player Ry Cooder,
Mambo Sinuendo.. seems like a soprano 'hole' is left in places,
by the 2 Guitar Players,
a Mandolin can add some voices .. in a music minus one fashion.

I Use the 'repeat 1' function on my CD player.. :whistling:

[Jim Garber]

I have been wanting to see that movie... oops, I misread the thread. :)

[ColdBeerGoCubs]

My favorite looper:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnHaTlI1p7o

[Jim]

Digitech Jamman, I have , and very much like the twin pedal version. Picked it because of the XLR and 1/4 inch input. An unanticipated advantage of this unit is that it has allowed me to use both a mic and a 1/4 in plugin on my elec/acoustic instruments. This allows me to sweeten up the sound by having the mic in the mix, and run effects on the 1/4 in jack ( Wah wah and Harmonist) The harmonist lets me run an octave down to add a bass line if I wish and the wah wah is just fun. I can use mic proximity for some volume control in single note vs chord playing too. I've used it in several solo gigs now and am arranging more songs for it all the time. Good practice tool too. Hardest part of the learning curve is your timing when stepping on the pedal. There's a tap tempo metronome on my jam man as well, good for practice but I don't like the tone of the metronome beat for performance.

[peterfret]

In case you want to just jam with accompaniment pattern you can play with Accompanimania (http://www.e-violins.com/accompanimania/). You can upload your stuff to play with.
It solves the problem of gaps in mp3 file.
96305

[Charlieshafer]

Very interesting idea! Figures it's from an e-violin website; those violins are always ahead of the curve.

[John Flynn]

In case you want to just jam with accompaniment pattern you can play with Accompanimania (http://www.e-violins.com/accompanimania/). You can upload your stuff to play with.
It solves the problem of gaps in mp3 file.
96305
I've tried this with three different browsers and it times out each time. Chrome even has an Accompanimania app and it times out. Waited a couple of hours, tried again, still timed out. Any constructive thoughts?