Hey Guys,
Got myself a Microkorg this christmas, have been playing guitar for a number of years but completely new to synthesis and piano! Been reading up alot on it all, seems like there is alot to learn but im getting there. My question is if anyone knows the most affordable way, be it hardware or software based, to record/loop riffs which i create on my korg, so i can then keep them going and play over the top of them to layer up some nice tunes! If possible suggestions which are quick to do so i could use them when playing live to layer up tunes! Sorry know its a big ask but been doing loads of digging around the internets and the sheer amount of possible solutions to this is completely baffling to a electro-gear newcomer!
Affordable Looping/Recording on Microkorg
Moderators: Sharp, X-Trade, Pepperpotty, karmathanever
Hi,
If I get you well, you wanna record a loop (sound, not midi) to play guitar or anything else over it?
Well, personnaly, I record my base line on a multitrack mixer and search for melody over it.
The soft I use is named ARDOUR, it's free but runs under linux, maybe also for windows or Mac, didn't check that point.
You can choose the loop section so it's convinient.
The soft allows you to mix accuratly your tracks.
I compose with that, and only own a MKXL.
I hope that helps.
Ask any details if you need.
If I get you well, you wanna record a loop (sound, not midi) to play guitar or anything else over it?
Well, personnaly, I record my base line on a multitrack mixer and search for melody over it.
The soft I use is named ARDOUR, it's free but runs under linux, maybe also for windows or Mac, didn't check that point.
You can choose the loop section so it's convinient.
The soft allows you to mix accuratly your tracks.
I compose with that, and only own a MKXL.
I hope that helps.
Ask any details if you need.
-
darthballs
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:33 pm
Looping equipment
mrmooks-
I've been looking for a good setup pretty similar to what you're trying to do. I just bought (yesterday) the Korg KP3, after a fair amount of research reading and watching videos of demos and performances. It's not exactly a loop station, but it's meant as a sampler. You feed in a sound, it records it as a sample in one of 4 banks, and then you can replay the samples either as loops or as oneshots.
HOWEVER, not long after messing with it, there were some straightforward things I was trying to do that I couldn't figure out. After a couple hours on this board, it looks like these were shortfalls in the unit itself, not just me unable to figure it out. I'm not gonna go too deep into the problems, but the biggest ones were:
- You can't pass any sound through the unit without adding an effect-- as in you can't just hear what you input as is. There's not even a workaround to this, like if I could mute an effect to 0% or close enough to get only the original sound through. This was my biggest kicker (wtf, Korg??). The closest you'll get is to run the sound through as a sample, but then you're stuck with a loop, etc, etc. Otherwise, you'll have to buy more gear and figure out all the proper wiring to bypass the KP3 effects at will. Ouch.
- You can't edit the effects parameters. Really.
- The samples can be 16 beats max. This is made clear, however, and I knew that long before buying the unit (just something you need to know in case you are considering this thing).
The KP3 is a really neat unit, I will say, and for some people it will be exactly what they need (look up Beardyman videos on youtube, this unit is perfect for him)
After I return or sell my KP3, I'm gonna look into a Boss loopstation. Look up the RC20 and RC50 (1 loop track vs 3 loop tracks, $250 vs $500). This is a PEDAL loopstation, and it's pretty much only used for looping (ie: no effects processing like the KP3).
A loop pedal will work well also for your guitar playing-- look up loop pedal videos on youtube, you can do some cool s**t). The good thing about these loop pedals is that there's a max recording time for loops, not a 16 beat limit, so you could use all the memory on one gigantic loop if you want.
I don't have one of these yet so sorry I can't tell you much more. It sounds like you're looking for a similar use like I am, so I just thought I'd share. I currently just have an Akai XR20 drum machine, which I really really like but it just doesn't have enough tracks so I bought the KP3 to add more layers to my sound. I'm also gonna pick up a MicroKorg after I find a suitable loop/sample unit.
Let me know how things work out for you!
I've been looking for a good setup pretty similar to what you're trying to do. I just bought (yesterday) the Korg KP3, after a fair amount of research reading and watching videos of demos and performances. It's not exactly a loop station, but it's meant as a sampler. You feed in a sound, it records it as a sample in one of 4 banks, and then you can replay the samples either as loops or as oneshots.
HOWEVER, not long after messing with it, there were some straightforward things I was trying to do that I couldn't figure out. After a couple hours on this board, it looks like these were shortfalls in the unit itself, not just me unable to figure it out. I'm not gonna go too deep into the problems, but the biggest ones were:
- You can't pass any sound through the unit without adding an effect-- as in you can't just hear what you input as is. There's not even a workaround to this, like if I could mute an effect to 0% or close enough to get only the original sound through. This was my biggest kicker (wtf, Korg??). The closest you'll get is to run the sound through as a sample, but then you're stuck with a loop, etc, etc. Otherwise, you'll have to buy more gear and figure out all the proper wiring to bypass the KP3 effects at will. Ouch.
- You can't edit the effects parameters. Really.
- The samples can be 16 beats max. This is made clear, however, and I knew that long before buying the unit (just something you need to know in case you are considering this thing).
The KP3 is a really neat unit, I will say, and for some people it will be exactly what they need (look up Beardyman videos on youtube, this unit is perfect for him)
After I return or sell my KP3, I'm gonna look into a Boss loopstation. Look up the RC20 and RC50 (1 loop track vs 3 loop tracks, $250 vs $500). This is a PEDAL loopstation, and it's pretty much only used for looping (ie: no effects processing like the KP3).
A loop pedal will work well also for your guitar playing-- look up loop pedal videos on youtube, you can do some cool s**t). The good thing about these loop pedals is that there's a max recording time for loops, not a 16 beat limit, so you could use all the memory on one gigantic loop if you want.
I don't have one of these yet so sorry I can't tell you much more. It sounds like you're looking for a similar use like I am, so I just thought I'd share. I currently just have an Akai XR20 drum machine, which I really really like but it just doesn't have enough tracks so I bought the KP3 to add more layers to my sound. I'm also gonna pick up a MicroKorg after I find a suitable loop/sample unit.
Let me know how things work out for you!
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darthballs
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Fri Jan 08, 2010 7:33 pm
oops
hah yea i am an idiot and you can pass the dry signal just fine...
looks like my biggest issue with the KP3 is gone.. gonna keep this thing for a while and see what kind of stuff it can do.
a microKorg hooked up to this thing will be really fun too, look into it!
here is some guy playing stuff on a setup with microKorg, KP3, and a drum machine (akai xr20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOuPFe_DHjA
you can do some crazy things, but you'd have to get a mixer with that whole setup or more
looks like my biggest issue with the KP3 is gone.. gonna keep this thing for a while and see what kind of stuff it can do.
a microKorg hooked up to this thing will be really fun too, look into it!
here is some guy playing stuff on a setup with microKorg, KP3, and a drum machine (akai xr20)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOuPFe_DHjA
you can do some crazy things, but you'd have to get a mixer with that whole setup or more
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digitalartifacts
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:39 pm
i had the same problem, after looking at all the types of looping pedals around im glad i got the stereo memory man. its the only pedal i could find that was relatively cheap($180 on ebay) and had stereo inpput and output. i did have to buy a mixer to use it though, but its still worth it , u can also use the delay/reverb effects and speed up/slow down the loops u make. i recommend it if u havent bought one already.