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| DigiTech JamMan Solo |
EVER SINCE PRIMITIVE MAN FIRST
stood at the mouth of an echoing canyon,
sound loops have fascinated and inspired
us to create. Over the eons, looping technology
has become more flexible and portable
(try hauling a canyon to your next
gig!), allowing musicians to create multilayered
soundscapes all by themselves—
live, and in real time. Early looping devices
were tape-based machines like the Echoplex,
whose analog technology and beltdriven
mechanics produced a warm tone.
During the 1980s, digital technology trickled
down to the consumer world, and pedals
like the Electro-Harmonix 16-Second Delay
made live looping a relatively simple task.
Modern looping devices now have studioquality
audio, long loop times, and cool
performance features, and they come in a
variety of price ranges, making it a good
time to get loopy.
Back in the late ’70s, trendsetter Jaco
Pastorius performed a looped solo, “Slang,”
during his live shows, and electric bass players
have since followed his lead in droves.
Bass is an ideal instrument for looping:
You can play percussion, bass lines, chords,
and melodies, all on one axe. A bass with
20 frets and four strings can produce over
a four-octave range—plus harmonics—but
with an extended-range bass, the potential
is staggering.
There are two aspects of looping to consider:
the hardware, and the music. First, let’s
look at some popular devices and their features,
and then we’ll talk about a few simple
musical ideas to get you started.
HARDWARE … HARDWARE …
HARDWARE
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| Line 6 JM4 |
Boss offers several options in the looping
department. The small yet mighty RC-3
is a single-space pedal crammed with an
amazing amount of features. With stereo
in and out, you can connect more than one
instrument or the send signal from a stereo
effects chain. With three hours of recording
time, the RC-3 allows you to store up
to 99 loops for recall on the gig; it also has
preset drum patterns, an AUX input for iPods
or other external devices, and a USB port
to import or export .wav files. The RC-3’s
big brother, the RC-30, adds an XLR input
with phantom power, built-in effects, three
hours of looping time, and two independent
loops. The flagship RC-300 really ups the
ante with three independent stereo loops
(with dedicated transport/control pedals),
a three-channel mixer, built-in expression
pedal, MIDI control, and inputs for more
external controllers.
Several Line 6 floor units have looping
features, but the company now offers a pedal
whose sole function is looping. The JM4 has
several amp models, effects, and jam tracks
that cater more to the guitarist, but there’s
plenty for bass players, too: separate XLR or
q" inputs for an AUX in channel, each with
its own EQ and reverb; a line out for your
amp; stereo line outs for recording or PA
consoles; a dedicated footswitch for halfspeed;
a r" AUX input; and 24 minutes of
total recording time. You can import and
export files on an SDHC card.
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| Echoplex |
If you’re considering a Digi-
Tech JamMan looper, you can
choose between Solo (mono),
Stereo, and Delay models. They
all offer 35 built-in minutes of
recording time, but with an
SDHC card, you can bump
that up to 16 hours. Each model includes a
metronome with multiple sounds and time
signatures, and a USB port that lets you
manage your loops with DigiTech librarian
software. The JamMan Delay has up to 16
seconds of stereo delay, three programmable
presets, reverse playback, and several
control options.
Built in the Lone Star State, the Boomerang
III E-156 Phrase Sampler is a performance-
friendly unit. It offers over 17
minutes of mono recording time, six independent
loops that can be played sequentially
or simultaneously, an octave-down
function for making bass lines out of wimpy
guitar notes, and several features that make
the ’Rang well-suited to working with complex
song forms. The downside is you can’t
store loops or expand the memory capacity,
but it is wedge-shaped for easy floor operation.
(Did I mention it’s built in Texas?)
The big kahuna of loopers is the Looperlative
LP1, a rackmount unit that has all
the firepower you could need. The LP1 offers
eight independent stereo loops that can be
synchronized or asynchronous, it produces
24-bit audio at a 48kHz sample rate, and
it sends the signal to stereo outs, as well as
two different stereo aux outs. To use the LP1
hands-free, you will need to use your own
MIDI controller pedal. For those who find
the LP1 too much to handle, the new mono
LP2 loop pedal is a simpler device that has
some unique features. With 12-bit audio and
48kHz sampling, the sound quality is
fairly high, and it offers MIDI sync, permanent
storage on SDHC cards, and feedback
control via an expression pedal input.
It also has “rhythmic replace” functions that
allow you to create rhythmic loops out of
slices of other sounds, and “Random Retrigger,”
which allows real-time creation of randomized
ostinatos.
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| Boomerang III E-156 Phrase Sampler |
MUSIC …
MUSIC … MUSIC
Once you’ve chosen a looper and figured
out how to operate it, it’s time to make some
music. Start with a short loop—say, two
bars long. Getting the hang of “snipping”
the first loop at the right time takes practice.
While some units include drum patterns,
it’s totally possible to create groovy
drum tracks with your bass. You can get a
kick drum sound by muting your strings
and hitting the lower ones with your palm,
or thumb. Make a “snare” sound by tapping
your hand on the higher strings or by
using a muted pluck. Start with a simple
alternating pattern: kick on beats one and
three, snare on beats two and four. You can
fill it in with eighth- or 16th-notes on the
“hi-hat” by lightly tapping the high strings.
With the drum track in place, play a
simple bass line—one bar of E to a bar of
A will work. Once the bass line is in place,
play some simple two-note chords: playing
G and D at the 12th fret with an E root
makes Em7, and playing G and C# against
an A builds an A7 chord. Keep the rhythm
simple, for now. For some texture, add some
harmonics: Play the harmonics on the D
and G strings at the 5th fret (D and G) for
an Em7 chord, and at the 4th fret (F# and
B) against an A root for a snazzy A6/9. You
can break up the harmonics rhythmically
if you like, and a touch of chorus works
wonders. Now you have a
complete rhythm track to
solo over for days.
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| Looperlative LP2 Mini |
Several bassists have
taken looping to new
heights, and Steve
Lawson (
stevelawson.net) is certainly at the
forefront of the scene.
Steve has toured the world
as a solo bassist for years, and
has released a trove of CDs featuring
his unique blend of musicianship and effect
mastery. Steve says, “Looping has enabled
me to soundtrack the inside of my head
without outside interference. I would not
be playing solo if it weren’t for looping—it’s
as simple as that.”
Michael Manring (manthing.com) is
one of the few players who can hold an
audience spell-bound with nothing but a
4-string bass and his hands, but he’s also
used looping extensively in his solo shows.
Manring got his first JamMan in 1994 and
immediately went for the MIDI sync option,
which allowed him to connect two JamMans
together with a MIDI cable. “The loops sync
to each other in various multiples,” he says.
“I realized I could now play whole tunes,
change sections, bring melodies in and out,
and basically arrange a whole piece of music
rather than being locked into a single idea
for the whole piece.”
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| Boss RC-3 |
Todd Johnson (
toddjohnsonmusic.com)
is a master of chordal bass technique, and
he’s superb at playing walking bass lines and
chords simultaneously. He uses a loop pedal
to create jazz rhythm tracks and then solos
over them. “Looping has been a godsend
to me,” Todd says. “In addition to being a
bassist for hire, I now have a solo career.
I can be proactive and not just sit around
waiting for the phone to ring. Looping and
performing as a solo act have caused me to
start writing my own material. It’s a newfound
freedom—I’m limited only by my own
creativity and imagination.”
For a modest investment, looping can
open up previously unimaginable creative
possibilities. It’s a great way to learn more
about music, and there is even career potential—
imagine yourself playing a solo bass
gig one day. It’s a loopy idea that could
really work.