HOW TO GET

LOOPING & STAY

INSPIRED

Todays great looping artists share practical insights for musicians

who want to develop their performance power

LOOPING LIVE MAGAZINE

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How to Get Looping and Stay Inspired

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Welcome to our first short ebook from Looping Live.com!

Weve been interviewing myriads of looping artists from around the world on our
site and here are some of our favorite quotes and insights.

Some of the content below you will find on the site but most of it you wont:
consider it our gift to you for being a part of our looping community!

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This ebook gives you:

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Top Quotes from Leading Loopers
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3 Things I Learned from Rico Loop

from Just Alliance (John Allen)

5 Steps to Get Looping and Stay Inspired

from product specialist & singer/guitarist Tom Lang

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You will now receive our e-newsletter with great insights from Grammy award
winning artist Kimbra, luminaries like Shlomo, THePETEBOX, Mister Tim and a
host of emerging artists and technologists who are share insights about every
aspect of the Looping life.

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Gregory A. Barker, PhD

Commissioning Editor

Looping Live Magazine

www.loopinglive.com

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Top 7 Quotes For Looping Inspiration

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These favorite quotes from looping artists will feed your passion for this new and
unique art form:

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To me, live looping IS the future of music. The way we

make music will change forever. Live looping is a protoversion of what is to come: live production.

!Beardyman, beatboxer and looper, named King of Sounds and Ruler of Beats by the
BBC

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Imagine the freedom of being able to play open mics, to

open for other artists, to do solo shows without having to
coordinate schedules or having to pay the rest of the band!

!Mister Tim, viral video star, voice artist, composer and sponsored kazoo player

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Great ris dont always start on one.

!Paul Gilbert, Premier guitarist of Mr. Big and Racer X

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My challenge these days is to keep a balance with my

relationship to technology allowing it to illuminate the
music and stretch the soundscape but not take over or
distract from the essence and connection of the song.

!Kimbra, Grammy award winning vocal artist

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If youre looping and make a mistake early on, I think its

vital to stop the song and say something about it. A
whoopsie moment can make people smile, brings people
together and no one is going to walk out.

!Shlomo, internationally acclaimed beatboxer and looping artist

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When you are searching for the familiar, but end up with
something else, embrace that new sound and blaze a new
trail with it.

!Phil Stendek, Las Vegas loop artist & US Loopstation champion

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Loopers have an advantage that many artists dont have:

instant access to what we just played available for instant
review and /or critique.

!Just Alliance (John Allen), Las Vegas-based vocal loop artist, educator and writer

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3 Things I Learned from Rico Loop

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Anyone can take a piece of

Ricos knowledge base and
use it as their own says Just
Alliance (John Allen)

I recently interviewed looping titan

Rico Loop and spent the better part of
an early autumn afternoon talking
about music, what inspires us as
artists, gear and a myriad of other
topics in and out of the music industry.

Rico is an individual that radiates light

and such a nurturing spirit, one cant
help but feel like youre sitting at the
feet of an extraordinary person that is
handing you little pieces of knowledge
that are going to help your life both on
and ostage. So here are 3 of his
statements that I found unforgettable
followed by my thoughts on how they
can apply to all of us:

1. Being flawless onstage isnt artistry

Many people dont realize this, but the Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous
piece of art in the world, is about the size of a movie poster...if you folded it in
half.

Mona Lisa wasnt painted on a flawless piece of canvas either, but a piece of
Poplar wood. So what makes a painting with a blotch mark on the left eye (from
varnish), a hole punched in it (from a 1956 rock throwing incident) compel
tourists worldwide to stand in line for hours on end to take a quick picture in
front or with a (dreaded) selfie stick?

It isnt because the piece of art is flawless. It isnt because there wasnt errors or
blemishes that had to be compensated for. It is because it is celebrated for arts

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sake, not for the sake of perfection. How many flashbulbs have gone o in front
of it changing the pigment of the paint in the past century? Does this make it
any less beautiful?

Music is no dierent than art. Mistakes and errors arent roadblocksbut part of
the geography of the piece. I have forgotten lyrics onstage, loaded wrong
presets on my rig, mislabelled dates on fliers or made a spelling error on my
website. We are human and making mistakes doesnt define us...but how we
deal with them does.

Think about it: if you switch the verses on the next performance of Magaritaville
no big deal. He will start out the song with a tattoo, but he will still drink on the
beachand it will still be a former lovers fault.

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No big deal. Make the adjustments and keep making your art!

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2. The heart always listens

I recently had a musician in the UK email me and ask me to choose a small

number of tracks I thought were the strongest out of a dozen or so. Before I
asked him to send them my way I gave him a piece of advice: I asked him to
choose the tracks he thought were the strongest out of all of them and to make
sure they are tracks he can go and perform tomorrow. He wrote back, All of
them are strong, I remember the place each one was written and remember
who/what inspired them.

Acknowledging this, I let him know I understood and told him he already knew
which ones were the strongest out of the twelve.

Songs are like clothes, you know which ones fit the best and the price tag
doesnt always reflect this. Go out and perform the songs that fit and work up
the songs that still need to be tailored.

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3. The loop machine is a great teacher

I recently watched an interview with a loop artist that articulated something that
weeks later still resonates with me: The loop pedal told me more of what not to
do, than what to do.

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As artists, musicians, loopers, loop artists, or whatever demonym you may

choose, we have an advantage that many artists dont have: instant access to
what we just played available for instant review and /or critique.

Dont forget to listen to yourself! Everyone has seen videos of a person fumbling
through a performance of the national anthem and practically chased out of the
venue due to bad pitch or (as we talked above) messing up the lyrics.
(Magarittaville is ok if you mess up the lyrics.your own national anthem,
probably not)

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Take time to listen to what youre putting through the loop pedal.

How is your pitch? Are getting a clean signal to the end? What can you take out
of the loop and still have the piece stand on its own? The looper will teach you
everything you need to knowgive her a listen!

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John

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Editors note: to read more about Just Alliances reflection on Rico Loop as well as
other blogs, go to www.justalliance.com

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5 Steps to Get Looping & Stay Inspired

by Tom Lang - product manager at TC-Helicon, singer-guitarist

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Just Do It
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In just the last few years looping has moved from a fad on the fringes to a fullblown performance art. Its already changing the way many vocalists approach
their singing and their gigs.

First, though, lets define the terms. A loop

is a short phrase that is recorded and
played back, repeatedly, as long as you
like. You can add more loops on top of
this, creating a rich, multi-layered vocal (or
instrumental) fabric.

The first loop is usually rhythmic: you are

setting down a pattern that will be the
foundation of a multi-storied vocal
building. So, you might make a boomchica-boom-chica boom sound for four
beats. This is your first loop. Your next
loop might be your voice sounding a low
note on beats 2 & 4, simulating a bass
guitar. Then, you sing a captivating solo
over these two loops. Sound cool?

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Its actually more than cool.

Vocalists of all genres are beginning to use looping as a way to compose music,
improve their musicality and create powerful performances without the need for
other instrumentalists or singers. You might have thought looping was a fad
limited to tech-head singers; it is actually becoming a way to save money,
remember musical ideas, and make performances possible when your band has
gotten the flu. Looping is earthy, relevant and practical.

What do you need to loop? Well, you probably already have looping capability
there are popular looping apps for your smartphone. Also, looping is
becoming a standard feature on many vocal eects units, not to mention the

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proliferation of looping-dedicated devices. All you need to do is press the button

and try it out.

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Make a Solid Base Layer

Just as in building a house, a strong foundation is key to a great looping

performance.

Looping can build excitement in any vocal performance, but it is key to get the
first loop the base layer right.

Lets say that your first loop is one bar, four beats long. There will be two button
presses to make your loop. At the beginning of the bar you will have your first
press recording on then at the end of your bar, you will have your second
press recording o. That sounds simple, but the trick to looping is to time
your presses to be right on the rhythmic division of your beats. Expect this to
take some practice. Theres a technique that musicians learn in the studio called
playing to a click basically this is where everyone plays to the steady beat
of a metronome through his or her headphones so that there is no slowing down
or speeding up. For looping its usually helpful to get your foot or finger tapping
on a steady beat before pressing; press record on exactly your first beat, and
stop at exactly the end of your phrase.

Some looping devices/applications are foot activated and some are hand
activated each one of these will need its own practice time. But remember,
even the pros like Reggie Watts, Beardyman and Shlomo dont always get it
right. Even in live performances with thousands of fans, loopers can be o their
tempo when starting or stopping their base layer. When this happens, the looper
has a choice to keep going, adding layers that are built on this slightly o
tempo base layer, or to simply stop and make a new base layer. Professional
loopers tell us that the latter option, though sometimes slightly embarrassing, is
always better!

You also need to make sure that your first loop isnt at full volume if you plan to
add other layers to it. If your input LEDs are going red when you are recording
the loop, youll end up distorting your sound, and further layers may sound like a
big vocal mess. So stay quieter on your first loop. It might help you to imagine
that other loops are like other musicians with whom you need to blend.

We already mentioned that the base layer is usually rhythmic in nature this is
because it acts as a guide for other layers to come. If you begin with something

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rubato, youre not going to easily know when the loop starts and stops.
However, all rules are made to be broken: Imogen Heap does all kinds of vocal
snippets as base loops. However, we suggest you begin experimenting with
your first loop as a solid percussion sound.

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Add More Layers and Take Them Away

Mastering the art of adding and subtracting looped layers will allow you to
control your musics emotion and keep your audience hooked.

The excitement of looping has to do with building musical energy to an apex

though adding more loops AND then stripping these layers away again to
ensure that your music stays dynamic. But remember: your loops usually need
to repeat a few times before you will hear them well enough to be able to add
more layers.

On an advanced piece of looping gear you will find a feature called phrase
looping, which allows you to define a set of layers each with their own
eects and also allows you to stop or start any one of these phrases while
others continue. For example, your first layer might be an eight measure
percussion phrase. This is followed by a base phrase, in turn followed by your
own singing, a guitar anything. In normal looping when you peel the layers
back, you can never return to just your base line (it was your second layer). With
the phrase function you can choose to play any or all of your phrases.

Or, you can use the undo button. Undo removes all the layers that youve
added to your base layer. This isnt as nuanced of an eect as the phrase
function since the undo button always takes you back to your first layer. Undo is
a radical move that is eective when you dont want to be subtle. Remember,
when you build layers and then suddenly slam it back to only that first layer,
this will grab the audiences attention.

Adding layers and taking them away isnt only about drama. When I am doing a
solo acoustic guitar gig and just before I know I am going to solo on my
guitar I record a loop. Then I solo over top of that. It is as if a band has
suddenly appeared to support me! This eect is so subtle and seamless that its
rare for the audience to notice that I have even turned on my looper!

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Put Eects into the Loop

Looping doesnt have to be only about vocal sounds you create with your
mouth, you can add vocal eects from your looper or eects unit. You can, for
example, alter the octave of your voice to become a base, add echoes to the
beat, use reverb on one layer and not on another layer. Playing around with
eects can help you build a three dimensional mix. Some loopers even have the
ability to add a stutter eect (or other quality) to any place within an established
loop. Tom Lang

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Use Looping in Solo and Ensemble Performance

Picture a vocalist alone on stage with just a few pedals on the floor and a mic. It
can be incredibly rewarding: the satisfaction of relying only on yourself to
produce a complex vocal performance with a rich and deep vocal ambiance.
But it can also be fraught with danger! You are, after all, relying to a high degree
on technology to achieve this. However, a growing number of vocalists believe
the challenge is worth it. The obvious examples are people like Dub FX and
Reggie Watts the beatboxers who make incredible noises with their mouths
and layer these into complex structures which dazzle audiences. But the more
melodic singer is using looping technology to craft more melodic presentations
that create climaxes though layering loops. The main idea is that you can use
less people in your band to create more rhythmic or harmonic interest.

Singer-instrumentalists can create a larger sound through looping. One way they
do this is through instrumental loops. If a singer-guitarist wants to play a lead
break with his or her guitar, this has usually meant that he or she has to stop
playing his or her chord progression thus, the lead is played over instrumental
emptiness. Now he or she can make the chord progression happen in a loop
and be free to add his or her single line lead break over top.

If you are the sole singer in a band, a looper allows you to do your own backup
vocals. Usually you would do this in live time with an eects unit on a harmony
setting. However, with looping you can start and stop certain vocal loops and
sing ris over top. You can act, then, as your own backing vocalist section at the
same time you are singing the lead vocals. The critical thing here is to practice
with your band in order to ensure that everyone stays with the rhythm set when
the loop was created. Its a challenge to have your drummer whose job it is to
lead with the beat become a follower. Make sure your drummer can hear the
rhythm of your loop clearly. Or, you can use your looping at the beginning of the
song and kick the loop o when the drummer comes in.

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Improve Your Musicality

Compose music, practice harmonizing and flesh out new ideas all without the
need for a jam session.

Using harmonies on a looping device can really build your harmonic abilities.
Imagine showing up for your band rehearsal or performance hitting those
harmonies perfectly your friends will think youve been taking lessons from a
skilled music teacher, not realizing that you have been taking lessons from
yourself!

In order to accomplish this, you will need a starting pitch reference. Lets say
you have a base layer that is rhythmic then you want to have the next layer
contain a recurring note in order to establish the key. Then you would sing a
melody on another loop. Because the melody is one of your loops, it will repeat
and you can practice singing harmonies to your own vocal lines. You can then
make your harmony into its own loop and add even more harmonies. It will be
critical that your melody line is set at the right place in your range to allow you to
easily harmonize above or below the line. Of course, not all harmonies are
parallel thirds. As you experiment with making harmonies on your looper, you
will also learn how dierently they can intertwine with varying degrees of
eectiveness.

But theres more than harmony training available with loops. Singer-songwriters
will find looping a new inspiration and singers who havent written music may
now find doing so compelling. This is because using a looper can be like
jamming with another musician. You know how a guitarist might be doing a
certain ri, then you might sing a vocal over that ri which turns into a musical
idea that evolves into a song? Well, with a looper you can lay down some
musical ideas and then compose over these. You can capture your inspirations
quickly and easily, dispose of the ones that dont work and keep ring on the
ones that hold promise. Its like having a musician friend come over to your
house every time you want to explore some new musical ideas.

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BIOS

Just Alliance

(born John Allen) is a Las

Vegas-based vocal loop artist that has
performed on the famous Las Vegas Strip and
recently completed a national tour. In addition to
performing, he is an active educator and has
been invited to workshop schools across the
country. Utilizing only his voice, Just Alliance
excites audiences in the performance setting as
much as he does through his in-demand looping
workshop that has been in schools nationwide.
When not onstage or on the road, Just Alliance is
regular contributor to LoopingLive.com in
addition to his own blog at JustAlliance.com.

http://www.justalliance.com/

https://www.facebook.com/justalliancemusic

https://twitter.com/justalliance

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Tom Lang

is a singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist in Victoria, BC. His latest album,

Super Sonic, is available on iTunes and Spotify.
By day hes a product manager at TC-Helicon,
where his singing experience and extensive use
of audio products provides invaluable feedback
on performance in diverse environments. By
night, Tom regularly sings and plays guitar,
keyboards and fiddle in several bands.

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See and hear Tom at www.tomlangmusic.com

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Issue 1, 2015
2015 by Looping Live Magazine
www.loopinglive.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. Permission requests should be
submitted to editor@voicecouncil.com

5 Steps to Get Looping & Stay Inspired reprinted by permission of Tom Lang. Photos used
by permission of Tom Lang http://tomlangmusic.com/

3 Things I learned from Rico Loop reprinted by permission of Just Alliance (John Allen)

Photos used by permission of Just Alliance http://www.justalliance.com/

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LOOPING LIVE MAGAZINE

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