LoopA suggestions/improvements/ideas

0fc5608d995b44ff

Billloopav2 thanks for your suggestion, Bill!

I hear you! Unfortunately LoopA (as many other synths/sequencers) has been built for exactly this display type - to my best knowledge, there are no larger displays supporting this screen resolution and access protocol (it’s not as easy to swap the screen as it is on a computer). You might benefit from an external physical loupe (something that you can clamp to your synth stand, like a large soldering magnifying glass) or by using magnification glasses - my suggestion here would be the Carson Pro MagniVisor series - i use them quite often, and they work wonders.

Best regards,
Peter

9801503ca569f94c

thanks, I will give them a look see.

Bill

15a7263e37ce8584

I find myself working in step record mode quite often. It would be great to have some shortcut to change the “advance notes” setting and not have to go to Setup menu and scroll down every time I want to switch from quarter notes to sixteenth etc.

b67583d696757824

koooch When you are in the mute screen while step recording pushing the Select and turn the Data knob changes the advance settings….

15a7263e37ce8584

Keeze Brilliant! Looks like I missed that in the manual, thanks 😄

e048a2dac2971012

I saw we got an update for LoopA. Can I ask if you ever plan on implementing pitch bend messages?

e048a2dac2971012

After going through the video of the new update, I saw that you implemented '‘pattern restart’' in song mode. What is the reasoning that we can’t have that feature when changing clips with the '‘Scene’' knob? I’m sure I’m not the only one that was asking for this fix, and I’m quite stumbled why you said it can’t be done but now the song mode uses it, yet we can’t manually change clips at note 0.

0fc5608d995b44ff

@Gyp080 first of all, have a good new week start!

Yes, support for additional track data types is planned. We’re running really low on available LoopA RAM resources - that’s what the yet empty second slot on the Clip page is for: a selector for the “clip extra data type” - currently, that’s hardwired to be “CC”, but the idea is that in the future you could choose a different data type here instead (like pitch bend data), then you could select on a per-clip basis, which extra data is stored by LoopA. This is targeted for a future LoopA release.

Regarding pattern restart: LoopA’s playback logic was never broken, so it is not a fix 🙂. But this additional feature is now possible in the new Song mode, as that has a separate scheduler logic, which extends LoopAs normal playback engine with additional features. Song mode now offers the “cue scene” feature, which exactly implements the “scene launch” feature (when the sequencer engine is running, with reset of the individual track play pointers to the “zero” position).

In short, if you want to launch scenes with pattern resets, you can now set up all scenes/patterns in advance, that are to be launched this way in song mode (with set reset flag) and cue them. On top, with the “jump” and repeat feature and other automation features, this also gets a lot more powerful, as you can define more “changed” parameters (like a tempo change or a FTS change) for the scene/pattern launch. You can also set-up a pattern/scene playback length for the launched scene in advance, which is also very powerful.

In conclusion, i think this is the best “launch” workflow, as you can actually see what you are launching and you can cue the launch, i.e. the the sequencer will launch the pattern/scene, once the current pattern/scene has finished playing.

Best regards,
Peter

e048a2dac2971012

I’m sorry but I am again dissapointed by the info you give me or have given me. Also sorry if I sound a bit annoyed, but that’s because I am, wondering why some things aren’t being addressed or are being answered somewhat ambiguously. Let’s try to clear up a few things…

Firstly, about pitch bends: We’re talking about full resolution pitch bend (aftertouch, etc.) parameters right? In '‘additional data’‘ you mean more than one CC lanes per clip, additional data instead of CC clips or aditional data with 1 lane of CC? When do you plan on implementing this? In another ’‘yearly update’'?
I am asking because pitch bends are something that (I think) is overlooked by LoopA from the get-go and should be addressed sooner rather than later, since it’s basic functionality (not a feature) in this day of age (and, a serious deal killer for me personally). I am also asking because you’ve said something about having plans on implementing MPE. What does it mean for MPE if the RAM is already capped? Are you planning on making it possible to store actual MPE data or just passing through the messages via the router? There’s a difference and you should be clear about it.

Regarding pattern restart: it’s not that we '‘CAN’‘ use the Song mode for this to kind of work, we ’‘HAVE’' to use the Song mode for this to kind of work. With all of extra button presses and knob turns to make it happen. Big difference. And it still isn’t proper clip launching.

This is far from ideal in a live situation, and basically defeats the usability of recording scenes of different lengths for live, impro or inspo situations. While switching scenes, as it stands, you simply can’t properly replay polymetric loops live, even though in theory the device offers you the option. I don’t know where you are coming from to see the way LoopA behaves right now to call it a feature. The whole point of having clips stored is to be able to launch them, from the start of the clip. What you suggested is absolutely not the '‘best launch workflow’', because it’s the least immediate option possible and forces you to (somehow) predetermine ideas in advance.
Like @safrosch I am also aware there is a use case for current behaviour but you have to understand that that’s a minor stake in the spectrum of other use cases for which the device initially seemed to be catering. I haven’t met a musician yet, that would say, how not being able to launch stored loops from their respective beginnings would be a feature…

Sorry for being snarky, but suggesting more workarounds that just keep you more involved with the device instead of making music isn’t a satisfactory answer at this point. I can only imagine how much work the last update took, and the song mode seems quite well flushed out, but you should really think of how people are creating music nowadays and be upfront about the goals, the timeline and behaviour of the device. We went from '‘a long list of very cool ideas to implement’' at launch to waiting 3 years to finally hear what is in fact possible (or not), whilst finding out that the devices capabilities were almost capped from launch. You’ll have to forgive me for having a somewhat salty aftertaste.

0fc5608d995b44ff

@Gyp080 sorry to read that you’re disappointed in LoopA and its development!

Don’t worry, this sometimes happens, there are differences in viewpoints in life - nothing can be really done about it, be it political discussions, fights about football clubs, different viewpoints about analog or digital synths, nearly every aspect of life is possibly affected. Don’t get me wrong - i believe, it’s good that there are different viewpoints, otherwise life would be quite bland. LoopA’s “what it should do” and “what has been done in the last years” certainly is such a discussion topic, where viewpoints can vary wildly.

As i saw mostly negative comments from you in the past and as i believe we might not “connect” and agree regarding our mutual ideas what LoopA does and how (and how fast) it will be developed, my suggestion would be to sell your LoopA e.g. on Reverb. It’s a sought-after product that can get a good price on the marketplace. My suggestion would be to choose an alternative product that fits your workflow better - i believe there’s a lot of good hardware sequencers on the market to choose from.

Personal words: i’ve followed developments in the music software (and hardware) industry since the mid-nineties. In my opinion it makes most sense if the original developer keeps “their vision” going - giving in to wildly different viewpoints and suggestions diverting too much from the original vision can lead to fatal feature creep, in the end killing the product. We will avoid this for LoopA and only implement what we think makes most sense. Again, if you look at the backlog of LoopA’s development history, we’ve implemented many features for many different users, i think they are not too unhappy with their devices.

Good luck, best regards and have a great evening!
Peter

e048a2dac2971012

Not that I’m disappointed in its entirety but seeing that every time I question its current state and try to exemplify how existing features should be flushed out you just turn deaf, you kind of give me no choice. At least what you could do is answer the straight up questions I’m trying to clear up. This isn’t a difference in a viewpoint 😉

Whilst already owning a number of controllers, I opted into your idea because the formfactor and initial idea seemed lovely and decided to support a small dev. But the moment I try to push to get some definitive answers you tell me to sell my unit….

O k a y 😃

17703227d9536da1

Gyp080
I guess it’s called “LoopA”, not “LaunchA”. Could be a good idea for the future!

In terms of software feature requests, remember that we are doing this in our spare time as a labour of love. We are always excited to hear users’ ideas because they often shed light on something that we overlooked or find interesting ourselves. All requests are read and considered, and you receive a personal answer directly from the developer, which is a real benefit of “indie” companies. All software updates are provided at no additional cost to you, but there is also no obligation to implement your request.

I hope that you can enjoy LoopA for what it is and not hate it (and by extension: our development) for what it isn’t.

Best,
Andy

0fc5608d995b44ff

@Gyp080 the support we give on this forum and the features we implemented in the last years should hopefully speak for themselves. We’ve implemented requested features for many users, including you (see release log).

But, when talking with you, I feel whatever I say or do, it is never good enough. There’s always a “but” and you have obviously a completely different viewpoint regarding the workflow, features and our development cycle. As an example: one of your earlier posts read “the workflow is bad, there’s so much to improve” - my feeling is “en contraire” - the unit is great as it is, exactly as we wanted it to be. You said: we need a track position reset feature outside of song mode, i said, there’s a technical reason it is in song mode and it even has benefits (for some users) in there. The list goes on and on… So yes, i’d see that as a massive difference in viewpoints ;-).

But, as i said, this is also entirely normal, people, viewpoints and priorities are different.
I’ve answered every of your questions up to your last post - in the end, there was always something “wrong”.

So, that’s why i honestly feel: if you’re dissatisfied with LoopA, our code quality and development practices, i think it would be a logical step if you moved on to a product that fits your workflow better? If not, I am entirely happy to answer every honest question. You will likely get back a viewpoint that contradicts yours, but that’s how it is 🙂. In general, i’d like to avoid destructive criticism in this constructive thread.

To answer your yet unanswered question: RAM is limited, yes, the extra layer data type could be configured per clip to be either CC (which is the current default), Pitch Bend, MPE or other data… in a future LoopA software release. Note that you can have multiple tracks that output data in parallel to a single synth (i.e. you can record two tracks of CC automation and one track of note data and pitch bend). I am sure that answer is probably not good enough, but i wanted to provide it anyways.

Best regards and have a good evening,
Peter

d0a57fb903b49f0d

Hello, I just build a LoopA and I am puzzling with how to achieve with it what I want and along the way I gathered a few request/questions. First off my compliments: Already it is an impressive well thought out tool/instrument which offers a lot.

scope:
My plan is to use the LoopA in a live situation with some sessions as empty templates with correct settings that will be filled by live improvisation and some sessions preloaded with material and a mix of those 2. I would like to be able to create a full live set without stopping.

I would like to be able to Mute/Unmute instantaneous, so not waiting on the first beat of the next bar. This is nice for short breaks or emphasizing a transition to the next scene.
I also have an idea how to implement it in the UI: add an option to the prefs to use instantaneous mute mode, this is only used when muted by pressing SHIFT + top row. The muting from the mute page stays the same.
I would like be able to make a duplicate of the current scene in the next scene, so that I can navigate to that without interruption, add things, elaborate on the recorded parts and then suddenly go back to the previous state. Right now this is not really doable when using it live, then I have to copy each track after switching and that is never smooth.
I would like to be able to edit a clip that is not playing (from another scene than the current), to be able to prepare something that is coming, I couldn’t find if that is already possible.
Perhaps an interesting add a note probability mode that uses the velocity of the notes, so 127 is never skipped and 20 very often (perhaps with the option to have a fixed velocity output, but the original velocity if fine as well)
Its nice how when loading a session the sequencer stays in sync. But it is instantaneous, I would like to be able to start the upcoming song at the start of the next bar (just like mutes) or even at the end of the current active phrase.
Global swing and quantization. Changing the swing of all tracks together is a nice thing to do in a performance and global quantization saves a lot of time when starting from a clean slate. It could perhaps be one of the options besides 1/16 and ⅛ etc a GLOBAL variable to indicate that that pattern is using the global value.
The beatloop is nice addition! However, it is hard to time a certain variation properly: when I want to use a certain mode of the beatloop fx as a fill for just the last bar of phrase I would like to be able to select a beatloop mode, have it start at the next bar and also turn it off at the bar after that. This is currently quite a puzzle to do. Perhaps pressing/holding the Live encoder can select a mode, releasing could queue it for the next bar, and holding it again and pressing shift could release it the bar after that (thought Transp / B.Loop toggle should then be triggered on switch up in stead of switch down)
It would be also nice to be able to arm a for the next full lenght of a phrase. This is especially useful when capturing data from another sequencer/midi note generator/computer etc. Otherwise it is hard to time exactly e.g. 4 bars and there is a chance of overlap and double notes. Btw, how are double notes handled? Are they automatically filtered/thinned?
The note selection was counter intuitive for me. I created a sequence (a rhythm) in various takes, but when selecting the notes in Notes mode I found out that the notes where note selected based on increasing position in the sequence, but on when the where added to the sequence. This feels quite odd (though I can also see a benefit for some cases) and can make it quite hard to select the notes you want, especially when you don’t know anymore how the sequence was made.
I would like an option to load a session while ignoring the session tempo so that this transition can be made manually (and that I can use a template more flexible, now during a liveset with changing tempo I would need to create duplicates of empty templates for each tempo if I want to keep the changes gradual). Maybe as a workaround this is already possible when using another midi clock as master.
And lastly a more exotic one: It would be awesome if the recorded CC parameter of each track can have its own destination/midi device (so different than the note output). The reason is that I would like to route all CC data to one single eurorack module which translates them to cv. But I do understand that this is a very specific request.

I hope you don’t mind the long list and sorry if I made mistakes in interpreting the current features of LoopA, perhaps some of my ‘requests’ are already implemented in a way that I have missed.

Best,
Timo

0fc5608d995b44ff

@Timo thanks a lot for your suggestions!

Please note that we’re very reluctant to add new complexity to LoopA - as it should be easy to understand and use by everyone - we’ve already implemented quite a few “tricky” key combinations and features in the last years, that not everyone can utilize because they may be too complicated or may be too specialized to be easily remembered. As another really limiting factor, we’re running low on available RAM, which will make memory-intensive new features very difficult to realize (like point #5, where we’d need to load the new session/song in the background, which would effectively double the RAM requirements, to be able to activate it in sync with a new measure).

In this context, here are points that i think could be realized regarding the limited RAM aspect and that would also fit into the philosophy and would avoid complexity:

1: instant mutes/unmutes would be a really nice new session config parameter, great idea!
2: yes, that’s possible - but not utilizing a real copy buffer, but instant copies of the current scene to the previous or next scene, we’d need to find a good key combination for that
4: also a great idea, ideally also realized as a session parameter
6: very nice, also as a session parameter, affecting all clips?
8: yes, good idea - basically arm for a single clip length during runtime - we’d need to find a good key combination for that and would also need to specify if LoopA should wait for the current clip to “wrap around” before arming for a full clip length, so that the clip is exactly recorded once? I could also utilize that feature to record e.g. a pattern from my TT303 🙂 - i like the idea!

At least half of them should be possible 🙂.
We’re planning a new software release for springtime 2024 (new LoopA releases are happening about yearly). If you had to prioritize any wish on the above list of possible features, which one would rank as number 1? 🙂

Thanks a lot and best regards,
Peter

17703227d9536da1

For instant mutes, would the following workflow help?
Tap a “mute”: mutes/unmutes synced to the next measure
Hold a “mute” (0.5-1s): mutes/unmutes instantly when released

Can’t remember if that conflicts with any other UI 😅 , or maybe you find it counterintuitive!

d0a57fb903b49f0d

Thanks @Hawkeye & @latigid on

here are some comments to the features you picked:

1. Yes that would be great, but ideally then that the shift-mute is instantaneous and the mute page is synced to the bar (so that both are simultaneously possible). And no @latigid on , holding a button to do an instantaneous mute is not really instantaneous, I think it will feel really weird and will be hard to time in practice.
2. I think a simply action in the session menu would work
6. yes a session parameter, but only affecting the clips which have set their quantization and/or swing to SESSION instead of another value
8. This might also be a session parameter, yes I think it should either wrap around until it reaches full length or do the full length the next round from start to finish.

I think number 8 is my favorite if I have to pick one.

and, 10 is possible with external clock, right?

0fc5608d995b44ff

@Timo thanks a lot for your feedback, adding #8 to the dev wishlist for the next release, then - these are all great ideas, thanks again, maybe more can be done than this single point! 🙂

Regarding #10 - it should work in theory, but i’ve got to admit that i never tried loading a session while LoopA is remote clocked. If it does not work, please report back, i can have a look if it is fixable 🙂.

Best regards,
Peter

d0a57fb903b49f0d

Hawkeye good luck with squeezing and puzzling for the new firmware version (I was wondering btw, could it be upgraded with a new STM32 core board with a beefier chip? The problem I see with that now is that all the other boards seem to have a slightly different form factor so it will probably need a custom layout to be a drop in replacement)

regarding #10: I did some tests today:

loading sessions with midi sync on works fine! It stays in sync and there are no perceivable tempo jumps
I also tried syncing by using the gate in set to tap tempo sending gates from my eurorack ( from the changelog “With the new tap-tempo function, LoopA can be tempo-synced to a modular system”), but that is a bit odd:
- every gate input is highlighted as tap tempo input in the UI
- it doesn’t sync, but only adjusts the tempo (so there is an offset between the eurorack system and the loopa)
- loading sessions will mess up the tempo temporarily
  
  So I think the gate in might work well for actually using it a tap tempo, but not as a method to sync to a modular system

9b39a73034505c4c

Hi, I hope you are doing well!

Speaking of CC and Midi messages, I’d like to adress a small need I have too:

MIDI incoming Program Change messages (useful to switch LoopA’s session for example 😄) are per-channel messages by MIDI specifications. LoopA listens to PC messages on every MIDI channel if I’m not wrong .

This is problematic for me because I need to work with a complex chain of devices (Nerdseq -> Digitakt -> LoopA -> Various HW poly synths) and don’t want to affect the LoopA when I’m sequencing pattern changes on the Digitakt with PC from my Nerdseq (before the LoopA). And I would like to be able to sequence session change on the LoopA with PC on a different MIDI channel at the same time.

It would be very helpful to be able to choose the MIDI channel(s) on which the LoopA listens to PC messages!
An alternative that could work too: being able to switch session with CC messages, just like you do for Scene selection or Bank selection.

(I tried a lot of MIDI chains for sequencing my devices, and for way too complex reasons + similar difficulties as the one I’m reporting here but with other manufacturers, this appears to be the only chain that could do the job for me, if you were to add this I’d be very grateful :') )

0fc5608d995b44ff

schematicwizard thanks, all is good over here, hope for you as well. Your request makes a lot of sense, and you’re right, LoopA is currently treating “its” PC messages as omni messages, listening to them on every channel.
Fully agreed, adding a configuration option to allow filtering PC messages for a single channel is an important feature for more complex setups - added it to the wishlist for the next version.

Best regards,
Peter