TF Looper preset Qs – footswitch and loop length

[erikbojerik]

I've never used a looper but now with the 4.01 upgrade I find myself with one.    I'm interested to possibly use this in a live situation.

#1 I'd like to control this via a footswitch, but since both my pedal jacks are taken for expression pedals…..can I assign various functions of this preset (Play, Stop & Record) to specific external controllers and toggle them on/off via midi?  

#2 is it possible to have the loop length synced with the global tempo?  In a live situation I'd like to control the loop length using Record (via footswitch), but have the loop length to be quantized to the nearest bar (or fraction of a bar) according to the global tempo when I stop recording the loop (even if I don't switch it at the exact end of the bar to the nearest nanosecond).  Possible?

[nickrose]

#1 You should be able to ues the normal MIDI functions, but, to be honest, I have not tried it for this application. Study the UM, give it a try, and come back if you have problems.

#2 if Tempo is on, you should be able to set the loop length in beats. But, I don't have an Eclipse in front of me so cannot confirm this.

[erikbojerik]

As expected – this works very well!

For the TF Looper I assigned these parameters to external controllers:

Record = ext#3 (general 1 = midi CC#16 momentary)

Play = ext#4 (general 2 = midi CC#17 momentary)

Stop = ext#5 (general 3 = midi CC#18 momentary)

On my G system floorboard I have three switches dedicated to sending these midi CC#s – so this allows me to Record, Play and Stop with my feet – nice!

Now what I'd love is a programmable small MIDI footswitch to dedicate to this, so I don't have to give up three functions on my G system!  The Behringer FCB will get me there, but it would be nice to have something that is like 3-5 switches instead of an additional full floorboard….

[erikbojerik]

OK – so I finally found the 3-switch MIDI-programmable solution that is perfect for a looper.

The Lodigy UMI3

http://www.logidy.com/?pid=1

It also comes with a software editor for Windows and Mac OS X.

Only catch is that it is USB so if you don't want to run it off a laptop, you'll need a USB-to-MIDI converter.

[ctc]

erikbojerik:

As expected – this works very well!

For the TF Looper I assigned these parameters to external controllers:

Record = ext#3 (general 1 = midi CC#16 momentary)

Play = ext#4 (general 2 = midi CC#17 momentary)

Stop = ext#5 (general 3 = midi CC#18 momentary)

On my G system floorboard I have three switches dedicated to sending these midi CC#s – so this allows me to Record, Play and Stop with my feet – nice!

By "external controllers" do you mean RCV CTL in the TF?
So you assigned buttons on your controller as momentary type switches and these CC's, what value did you give them?

I can't get my TF looper to respond.

[brock]

Quote:

these CC's, what value did you give them?

Your question has been marinating here (and in the Stompboxes forum).  I don't own an Eclipse, but I've been through a lot of MIDI gear.  On occasion, you'll see a strict value of 0 for "off", and a single value of 127 for "on".  Most gear switches to Off with a CC value between 0-63, and On with a CC value between 64-127 (including the 'Factor pedals).

Some rare devices allow you to set an On threshold of any value over an OnSource entry (a programmable value from 0-127).  I suppose that another thing to look for is that your MIDI controller isn't sending two values with a toggling action.  That is, a value of 127 when pressed, and a value of 0 when the switch is released.

[ctc]

It seems that the TF only responds to on messages 64-127: the first time to activate a feature; the second time to deactivate it. None of the looper controls respond to any midi messages!? Has anybody successfully done this?

[erikbojerik]

My original post was specifically for the TF Looper preset within the Eclipse – not the hardware TF.

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