Loop Artist Reacts: Elise Trouw Live Loop - 'Burn'

[@kevinbreckenridge6729]

Saw her randomly on You Tube, have since watched every one of her videos. Listen to Girl From Ipanema to hear her sing

[@davidshanhun]

She's awesome eh! Thanks for letting me know about Girl From Ipanema I'll check it out 👌

[@beansdork]

my first video i saw of her was the foo fighters /bobby caldwell Do for Love. her voice really struck me on that video, although i was watching it for the videography that a friend of mine recommended it to me for. i still like the sound on that, with less reverb than on some of the other things i have seen her in. BTW this is my first view of this channel so hi David if you see this, new subscriber here and i think i like what you are doing

[@brucebliss165]

As if her singing and playing aren't enough, she also wrote this song! Mind blown.

[@davidshanhun]

epic eh!

[@antivanti]

She did a live studio session with audience in the studio at Little Big Beat and I have only one word to describe the record and that is 'delicious' (some of it is on youtube)

[@davidshanhun]

ooh nice I will take a look 👌

[@McFearsome2]

The backing vocal line at 8:12 - 8:14 was indeed recorded earlier in the song... "Come on in and listen close.." is the very first line of the song.

[@davidshanhun]

Wasn't talking about the 'come on in and listen close' but the other vocal lines at this point. Although if that particular line was used from the initial recording earlier in the song they've programmed quite a few changes to how she initially sung it, which would be some pretty advanced stuff. Not impossible, but another very unlikely choice to make for a live take.

[@Insolation1]

She's was like 19 in this clip, 19 and can play hell knows how many instruments. Not only that but also knows about all the electronic gadgetry that melds it all together.

[@davidshanhun]

yep pretty cool 👌

[@KorbinX]

She is so amazing talented. Such a beautiful soul.

[@davidshanhun]

yep!

[@nathanr5825]

Her production value is through the roof

[@davidshanhun]

yep!

[@nurvus4078]

Hey, loved the video and just want to point out that the vocals that come out when she moves away from the mic are exactly what she sings between 8:03 and 8:05 (give or take). Her loops are not just loops - the tracks are preprogrammed to loop at specific points during the music, rather than simply muting them until needed. So it seems to have looped a very specific part from what she sang - almost like an echo. Nonetheless, she needs to play/sing like a metronome, otherwise things can go horribly wrong.

[@davidshanhun]

hey Nurvus! Thanks for the comment. I disagree about the vocals from 8:03-8:05 being what is repeated later (doesn't mean I'm right), but here's why. The notes are different - ok, that's possible to program. The timing of the notes change - really tricky to program in advance but possible. There's a vocal inflection at the start of the later one - sadly not possible to program in advance. It's possible a lot of it is live, with some additional vocals and overdubs not shown - and she's still a killer vocalist and performer. Perhaps it's a vocal line she sang before the recording and set up to 'trigger' at the right moment - lots of loop artist do things like that which is a sneaky idea and could be how it was done. Appreciate there's lots of cool tricks inside of ableton and different ways we all do our live shows. Cheers again for the comment 😊

[@RedSinter]

Her Bobby Caldwell / Foo Fighters mashup of What I'd do for Love is pretty sweet~ and a fellow Tuber who has seen her live...says she is insane and does it exactly like you hear in these recordings... All alone...on stage...

[@starsandguitars2050]

Great idea David. Super analysis. She's a knockout!

[@davidshanhun]

Thanks Joe! She's epic eh!

[@jeffmilkey]

Beyond Looping......thats what is so cool about it.

[@davidshanhun]

👌

[@jellevandekerk1873]

Came here for the reaction, stayed for the analysis... Loved the focus on details. Another sick loop song for your list should be Bear Claws from The Academic. They're using the delay of going live on facebook for the loop. I wonder what you'll think about that

[@kiwiradioNZ]

Hey david cool idea for video, glad to see you doing the music and youtube thang, watching for tips for my own channel! you the man!

[@davidshanhun]

Cheers Ralphe! yeah I'm enjoying learning from watching a bunch of these videos. Hope you're well mate!

[@princejoseph8280]

I don’t think it is live (atleast some postproduction was done on it ?), the vocals seems too smooth and consistent But I also don’t know anything about recording music live, so I might be completely wrong.

[@ThatCrazyFamily]

David, your videos have helped me out HUGE!!! Thanks so much. I'm just learning to loop and have started a Twitch Live stream. Are you on Twitch? You might consider it. SUPER fun to engage with your community real time. Lemme know. Thanks!

[@davidshanhun]

Thanks so much! I'm not on Twitch at the moment, but after this comment might have to take a better look! 😊

[@ThatCrazyFamily]

@@davidshanhun Awesome! I'm actually working on integrating Twitch to auto-create content for my KZbin channel. Pretty NEAT! If you want to see the fruits of your training labor, please come check out my stream on Twitch. It's called The_BigChiliChill www.twitch.tv/the_bigchilichill

[@mocky1220]

Saw her playing a version of Enter Sandman. Became a fan after that.

[@davidshanhun]

ooh I'm going to have to look that up!

[@nickevans3613]

Hey David. I’ve used the Reaper DAW a while back for one live show doing, I think, a similar thing to Elize with ableton. I think the buzz term is Assisted Live Looping. You basically start with a click track and then use timeline automation (MIDI) to turn individual loopers (in the DAW) on and off, record and play. It’s a bit nerve racking as you do only get one chance to record the perfect loop as the automation is relentless. (There are some ways around this that I’m experimenting with). You also have to keep your wits about you if you’ve setup to record sequential loops on different instruments without pause. The BIG advantage though is that you can get really complex arrangements setup really quickly and reuse not only whole loops but parts of loops in really creative ways. The DAW can also control all your effects settings for guitar, voice etc. When I did the show I did pre-record just the drum loops in advance so I cheated a bit but you can get a result that sounds very produced. However, you might get the experience I had which is that people didn’t realise I was looping at all and was just playing to a pre-recorded backing track! My show was only for 5 songs and took about 1 month to prepare. I’m not sure I would want to use the method for a full set.

[@davidshanhun]

Nick - thanks so much for this comment man! Yeah I love how much you can create with it (provided you spend the hours beforehand programming everything), and then like you said - imagine being off on a specific part that you'd be stuck with for the whole rest of the song! I can so relate to people thinking you're using backing - friends and I that do live pedal looping have at various times been asked after a show 'where do you get your backing tracks from they were great' 😂🤦‍♂️

[@ryanjohnson4566]

So funny, I think same thing happened for ed sheeran.all that work!! To think as far as the audience was concerned that you could have just use backing tracks and saved yourself all that work. It's good to know that it takes so much work I think I will stick to my pedal. Maybe one day TC helicon will include a software update that allows pre-programmed looping on my voice live 3

[@davidshanhun]

@@ryanjohnson4566 haha yep I guess those who know appreciate it, and those who don't just don't really care! That would be super interesting to see from TC Helicon eh - programmable loop automation. They have the brains for it with the automation in the VL3x, so don't see why it couldn't be applied further to the looping side of things!

[@ryanjohnson4566]

@@davidshanhun yes that's one way to look at it. But I think most audience members like to know how talented their entertainer is :) Imagine if we only just worked out now that Britney Spears did all her own producing and instruments and used a looper. HAHA . Yes let's suggest to TC Helicon. They already can automate effects changes.

[@davidshanhun]

@@ryanjohnson4566 haha for sure 😊At the end of the day I like to keep working on and improving my act, but also realise that some people will be super engaged in what I'm doing, and some people will purely just either like the song or not with no concept if it's tricky or skilled etc. it's just a personal reminder that Im on my own journey I guess, rather than trying to convince anyone that isn't really that interested in the technicals.

[@johntdoherty7469]

I use Ableton live for live looping and have been experimenting with the many ways to do it within Ableton - ie looper device / iac device trigger and blink. It’s awesome man and I strongly advise you to give it a go.

[@davidshanhun]

Thanks John! I'm definitely going to check it out - there's some things I really like about what it opens up, and then some i'm not so sure about also haha. Pretty cool though!

[@lannyfuller8367]

Please keep this up. It's great hearing someone else breaking these loop videos down the way I've trying to do on my own. As for Elise Trouw, it was this video of her's (kzbin.info/www/bejne/fZ2ceKeFlNuErtk) that made me realize looping could be more than just a gimmick and started my addiction. If you haven't seen that one, you should check it out as it's a bit more raw. Her voice is ethereal in it. I've since gone from pedals to Ableton running the Mobius plugin like a "super-pedal", as inspired by Ed Sheeran's live setup. I trigger it with and iRig Blueboard, which has 4 stomp buttons and an expression pedal to change the volume of a track. You can have up to 8 parallel tracks with Mobius, and I currently use 4. (Vocal, Guitar, Keys, and a mixture of all of them.) I'm experimenting with giving percussion its own track as it is currently under Keys, but I'm trying to keep it "simple" so the tech doesn't take over the music. But I don't have a problem. I can quit any time I want. ;) And thanks for all the great looping content.

[@davidshanhun]

Hey Lanny! Yeah that's a great track too. haha I love the 'I don't have a problem. I can quit anytime I want' comment hahaha! Music is kind of an obsession though isn't it? 😍

[@lannyfuller8367]

@@davidshanhun, indeed it is. But I think I've been waiting for live looping to go from passion to obsession. Something about starting with a blank slate and building it live just really appeals to me. I'm a computer geek who learned MIDI in the 80s (I'm 51) but didn't like how you had to change the music to suit the technology. It hasn't been until recent years that digital technology now is malleable enough that it can change to suit a given style of music.

[@dovane9932]

The woman, her voice and the production are beautiful!But to me this song is a (very good) digital work except for the drum part which is look real . I hope that you will integrate some «more humble budget» loop pieces into this serie too?

[@davidshanhun]

Hey Dovane - the next one on the list will be something you'll really enjoy I think, using an RC300 and all done with guitar and vocals into the loop pedal. I agree with you - the more I watch... there's no room noise at all in the track, vocals remain 100% consistent like you would get from a studio recording, rather than being in different parts of the room and shifting between which mic is being recorded etc. I'd be delighted to be told it really was all live, but like you I think there's a lot more production here!

[@kamilchosta5526]

Is a live gig situation how is she able to use condenser microphone and record clean vocals while the audience hears the music? Or am I stupid?

[@davidshanhun]

Not quite sure what your question is here... It seems that the audio in this video was actually recorded prior to the video you are watching (very common practise) rather than her being 'live'. If you watch her actual live videos, she's not using a condensor microphone because yes it would pick up audience noise etc. Let me know if I actually answered your question though! 🤷‍♂️

[@ryno9732]

I think she did the looping and recording everything and then came back to "act" the video out. Do not think she actually did everything while filming this.

[@davidshanhun]

yep I think that's the general consensus!

[@wallacenock7423]

Have tried push 2 with Ableton and as a guitarist you have to have a midi controller of sort that you can use with the feet. Also to carry all this gear to every gig. It didn’t work for me personally.🤣

[@davidshanhun]

Hey Wallace - yeah looked at a few of her live sessions and it's a LOT of gear to take!

[@wallacenock7423]

David Shanhun it’s good if you in a permanent gig somewhere and you can leave the gear set up. But I know in London to carry all that gear would be a nightmare. I think if Ableton bought out a unit that is all in one I.e a pc plus controller including interface, software and then just a foot controller. Then it would be killer. Just saying maybe we should design it for them 🤣🤣🤣

[@Murphmusic318]

Hey David, great idea for your videos! I’m guessing that all of the vocals you hear at the end are bits and pieces of her performance overlapped and effected. I’m holding onto the possibility that she does this all live!

[@davidshanhun]

Hey Murph! It's possible that she can do most of this live - just not quite as polished as you see and hear in this clip. She's an awesome musician and cool to see how well ableton can work mapping things out, but there's definitely overdubbing of some sort going on here. How much so is hard to tell. If you can tell me where the vocal at 8:12 comes from I'll rethink it though! Here's her performing the song live - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGfTZZprmcimbJY. She's still epic though!

[@PiersCawley]

I’m pretty sure it’s a couple of half phrases from earlier vocals put through some heavy effects. It fools you because it wasn’t recorded as a complete phrase. The effects are possibly as a safety net in case her timing was slightly off (or maybe that moment where she’s triggering something is setting the exact point to grab the recording from)

[@PiersCawley]

Got it! It’s just the tail of the mmhuhumm loop she just laid down.

[@MarkAndrewHansenMusic]

3 possible ways to live midi loop like Elise: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2fOmYuFgq-Dn7s

[@davidshanhun]

yeah this is a good video eh!

[@AdrianClement]

Looks and sounds awesome! My first hint that this video was shot post production is the shakers in the beginning. She walks away and the shaker pans, but where are the mics for it? And the way the shaker has a sound variation. Granted mics could be above her and out of view. Which in my mind leave room for her to be only lipsyncing to her prerecorded production. Not that it's wrong or phony. She sings better than me, but does she sing this well while juggling all the aspects? Possibly. Is it wrong to post production a looping session? No. Just an observation. But the sound of setting down the drumsticks at the end was likley live. Maybe not. Still talented and way better than me everyday by far. The whole point is the mystery of it makes it more interesting.

[@davidshanhun]

There are two mics that the shakers could be assigned to and mixed in post. One on her right then one on her left.. ableton can map the panning before you start. But i agree about the vocals, watched a couple of live shows and she’s pretty good, but this has none of the usual little off moments. 🤔🤔

[@AdrianClement]

@@davidshanhun awh! I didn't see the mic placement. Good lookin out. Either way it's creative and we'll done regardless of her secrets.

[@davidshanhun]

totally - it's epic production all around, a pretty cool original track, and she's epic jumping on everything in the room 👌

[@MattBrodeurMusic]

Between 3:51 and 3:52 the shaker sound is different. It sounds like jangling keys or something for a second. And you can hear it come around in the loop. The stereo effect is cool and I can see it being done with the 2 visible mics. But I was looking to see if she brushed another instrument with her other hand or something and I'm not seeing it. And talking about the sound when she puts the drums sticks down, on the first watch through I was thinking, "Wow, she must have been really careful putting those drumsticks down without making any noise. But then was deliberately kinda noisy at the end. And after she picks up the guitar, when you're talking about the lighting, there's some sort of delayed reverb-y background sound around 5:21. Maybe it's unintentional noise from the guitar, but if not that's another sound that wasn't recorded live prior to that point.

[@MattBrodeurMusic]

Listening to that part again when she picks up the guitar I think it may be unintentional noise. The guitar delays have a cool stereo ping pong going on and that sound is kinda the same.

[@TheChristafershawn]

Hmmm.....I'm not to sure this is an actual "live loop". Seems like some pre-production is applied here. Seems like it at least.

[@davidshanhun]

Im torn on it the more i watch it 😝. What is it for you that says it’s not actually live?

[@TheChristafershawn]

@@davidshanhun It just seems too seamless and almost like she is merely re-portraying the loop process that made up the song. Seems very much "music video" and not a live loop video. It stood out most when loops were stopped and there just wasn't any of that 'concentration "element that you mentioned. In short it just doesn't seem organic or "live".