Loopy Pro Rig Rundown - Mike Criscione

A rundown of my Loopy Pro rig along with demonstrations of three types of looping (Free Looping, Metronome-Based Looping, and Sequence-Based Looping) and some additional information about protecting a Loopy Pro setup from full sun and rain in outdoor performances.

[@stateoftate]

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to make this. It's great! I'm active on the Loopy Pro Discord, but unlike you I have zero experience with looping. So, I really appreciated the crawl, walk, run format for talking about how you use Loopy Pro.

[@mcriscione]

Thanks so saying so, glad it was useful.

[@DaveZnoise]

Wow, what a killer rundown! Thanks!

[@jcsmith9518]

What a great demo and instructional guide on using Loop Pro for live performances. Sounds great and thank you.

[@musicboy2003]

Hey, thanks for taking the time and effort to make this helpful, friendly video! Helped a lot!

[@jackshit7311]

Thanks for this. Great info. Really appreciate it.

[@Jayke-Box]

Thank you for the video. Very instructive for a newer loopy user like me !

[@ScottPerratti]

Brilliant video!! Thanks so much. Those last few tips ,heat and weather are so important,most would not think of until it’s too late!! Thanks for this!! Ps your playing is awesome!!!

[@mcriscione]

Thanks Scott…glad it was helpful to you.

[@daningram3143]

Fantastic information. It seems like a lot to learn! It’s somewhat user friendly hopefully.

[@ScottPerratti]

Also a big C Trapper fan. , he’s such a great writer and player. And. Good friend!!

[@djba]

Thanks very much for creating this helpful video. I am exploring the best way to make backing tracks and Loopy Pro deserves so additional research.

[@mcriscione]

Glad to help. With a multiple out I/O box, loopy allows you to send backing tracks broken down into stems which a house engineer could mix downstream to fit the room. Far better than sending a simply L&R

[@LiveLoopers]

Awesome tour. Very thorough. Hoping to see it in person tomorrow if possible.

[@mcriscione]

Looking forward to it!

[@orvkat]

Great info Mike....thank you! I'm an old Boss RC 300 user and I really like the sequencing option so, off to Loopy pro for me. ;-)

[@uhoh007]

Respect. You have to wonder how a young Dylan would have dealt with all the tech today LOL. He plugged in....but that was pretty simple. Left alot of time for practice. But your chops are impressive. I nearly bought a RC-505, but went for Loopy and a new ipad...anyway, thank you!

[@warrennolan6914]

I like to ponder such questions also, I suspect a young Dylan would largely ignore most of it outside the studio and still use his acoustic guitar and a pen and paper 📃 😅 lots of similar young souls around today. The problem poetic souls and social commentators run into today are labels and modern pop producers. See Dermot Kennedys' early stuff, through the doves and ravens ep and a few singles after that before he signed to Universal and started working with producers in L.A. His music went from deep, meaningful, beautiful songs, i.e., an evening I not forget, or, for islands fire and family and many more that are impossible to get bored of to generic formulaic almost cheese like, kiss me and something to someone, commercially more successful than the later but the artistry is gone. But hey! I'm a 40-odd year old man. The youngsters all scream the loudest to the songs I don't like, but fortunately, we all still sing the deep stuff together. Ffs 😆 long but... ❤

[@UkuleleBobbyKemp]

That's Great! Thanks so much Mike... 🙏 I'm just currently switching from the old Loopy to 'Loopy Pro' and this is the first time I've seen Sequencer Mode... I guess, (with careful planning), this will be the best mode for me to play 'Full Songs' (ie. with multiple Verse/Chorus/Bridge etc. sections), and do the whole thing as an On-The-Fly performance. Would you agree?... Many thanks again, Bobby (UK.) 🐭

[@toddmoore9138]

This is really cool. Years ago I had a PC program that worked just like Loopy Pro, but it got discontinued while it still had too many shortcomings to use live (ZenAudio ALK). I searched for a long time to find something to replace it, and ended up with a super complicated Ableton setup. It does everything I need it to do, including running my light show, serving lyrics to my tablet, running VST's for keys and guitar amp simulators, but at the expense of a lot of overhead. I was never sure what to call what I do, but sequenced looping sounds like a good way to refer to it. I'm going to investigate this app. It looks really fun and easy to use. Thank you!

[@mcriscione]

I use Ableton in the studio as well and did make some attempts to setup a live version for it. It’s more complex for sure although there are some real upsides to it in terms of having access to plugs ins that exist outside of the iOS world and the ability to loop MIDI as well as audio. These are two feature sets that are reportedly coming to Loopy Pro (a Mac based version of it and MIDI loop capabilities) but are not quite there yet. To me, Lupe is simply faster, even though it contains a limited feature set. And I love Ableton, but I’m not quite ready to set up my studio rig in a bar with kind of space and time constraints I’d be pushing against. Thanks for the reply!

[@toddmoore9138]

@@mcriscione I spent the last few years making my Ableton setup as condensed and easy as possible to gig with. I built a single rack space I7 PC with 32gb of RAM, and have that in a 5 space rack along with power, wifi, M32C and an SD8 stage box. I paired a really nice (and small) 10" monitor with it and it's basically 90% connected and ready to go when I open the rack. I've never used Ableton as a DAW, but I found it the only suitable solution for what I wanted to do live at the time. I've purchased a loopy pro license now, so I'll see how much of what I do now I can get it to do. ;)

[@mcriscione]

@@toddmoore9138 Getting it all setup in a rack would be the step I’d have to take to go the Ableton route. So jumping over to the Loopy ship is a big move for you, best wishes for it!

[@PapaBPoppin]

Thanks so much for the tour! Seeing others' setups and workflows is not only educational, it's inspiring! Already got new ideas :D Ok, for that Akai lpd8 Wireless... I /wish/ that were $30! The wired version is a standard $60, the Bluetooth version you have is closer to $90 Had the wired on watchlist for a while and TRYING to find a Bluetooth one! That little thing is a beast!

[@leonmusical977]

Thank you sir! Subscribed

[@AndrewKucks]

Thanks Mike. I’ve been struggling with reliable interfaces.. I own a xr18 so, re-evaluate and just do it I guess.. this is first time I’ve seen it used with LP. Awesome.

[@mcriscione]

The XR has been very consistent for me. It’s very flexible in terms of how you set it up and with 16 XLR Ins and 8 XLR Outs you can get a whole band involved in Looping . I set mine up so the first 6 inputs are routed directly TO loopy via USB send (I use the XRs internal processing to pre-condition them with EQ and Compression before being sent) and the remaining inputs function as USB returns that come FROM loopy. On a gig this allows my to easily adjust the mix Loopy’s outs directly on the XR. Hope this helps, good luck!

[@Cholla51]

Thank you, tutorials are getting better! So, I have a 2018 iPad 17.1.2, Loopy Pro HD installed, AmpliTube, a wireless iRig BlueBoard pedal board. Considering the iRig HD X interface and keep the FocusRiter 4i4 4th Gen. interface at home. I would like to power everything with a Mission Engineering 529i (Awesome!) battery using the 5V port to power through the USB Hub you recommended, to power other components. This battery has been powering my stomp pedal board with no problems. My goal is to be free from the wall outlet and busk wherever I want, up to 4-6+ hours straight running time playing music if I choose. Understand, I am not a techno geek and wish there were better tutorials that go step by step. Yours has made a good impact! Having watched hundreds tutorials, either they go too fast, can't see the cursor, their fingers or the screen is too small. How to get a direct response from you or anyone that might have a more complete tutorial from computer, cable to my Roland Street Cube EX amp etc. Thanks...

[@mcriscione]

I believe the mission engineering power supply that your running is the one with the internal battery. That’s not the one that I use in my other video. I use their high current box (529x) because lot of the things I was trying to power required higher current draw than the 529i could deliver. For what you wanna do it sounds like you have to really look step-by-step at what you’re trying to power and what kind of voltage and current draw each of those devices is going to expect. For the amount of time you want to busk without connected to power I would advise a set up that allows you to use interchangeable USB power bricks much like I have in my other video. I’ll throw another tip your way: if you have a device with really specific power needs, there’s a company I found in Europe called “songbirdfx” that will build custom power cable that will allow a USB power brick to be converted to a large variety of output. I use one of their cables to power a Digitech Whammy Pedal on my other board because it’s such a huge power hog. Hope this helps. Step by step, you’ll figure it out

[@Cholla51]

Wow! Thank you for responding! Might have to check out the 529x to keep all the systems charged. So, my new system has done a 180. Now using a "new" iPad Mini with Loopy Pro DAW and FX with Groove Rider 16, interface with iRig HDX, into a Roland Street Cube EX. Have not yet fired up the guitar into a Cry Baby, into the pedal board with: RC-1 w/FS-7, chromatic tuner and the 529i battery. Stand alone without the iPad works great. New ideas always welcome. Thank you! @@mcriscione

[@lanedj801]

Very simple setup for the amount of stuff you can do. The less headaches, the more you can focus on playing.

[@jedjones1947]

Great Video. I pretty much have the same set-up. Sequence looping, dummy clips to patch change the guitar, even to Bleass voices. I also have an XR18! I tried a few guitar apps, bias included but did not really get on with them, so I bought a Valeton CP200 and route one channel back into loopy. I just need to get out and gig. Thanks.

[@mcriscione]

Cool, it’s a rabbit hole of a process for sure! Glad the XR is working out for you as well

[@carpediem4413]

Thanks - great overview and inspiration for us trying to figure out our rigs! 😊 would you ever use a laptop vs iPad? Also, what about looper pedals like Boss RC600 vs Loopy Pro?

[@mcriscione]

I have used a boss RC-30 for quick looping gigs and also used my MacBook with Ableton. While Ableton is very powerful and can use all of the software synths you might have in your studio collection, it’s cumbersome and and not as live friendly as loopy. Hardware floor based bloopers are great but not as customizable as Loopy. Honestly, I think it’s all about how deep into the complexities looping you want to get.

[@irishbanjolessons]

Great video! Thanks for making it and sharing. Solid playing and looping, made it look easy! Im off to the shop to buy some big plastic bags, simple by very useful tip, Im not a fan of playing outside either (especially in Ireland!).

[@mcriscione]

😂 I would guess you’ll really need them there!

[@irishbanjolessons]

@@mcriscione just out of interest and not to put any software down as both are amazing, do you use clyphx pro anymore for live performance? Iv been using clyphx for quite a while now but can see myself permanently switching over to loopy pro.

[@utropiks4617]

Thanks so much for the video man! I have being struggling to make the communication between the Loopy Pro/Ipad with the FCB1010 midi foot controller :0 how can I make it happen, how to programme it to make it happen? Im stuck on it and cant really go foward with the Loopy as this will be essencial for my live perfomance as I play guitar and singing while triggger/play/stop/record/overdub loopings and so on. Could you please give me some light on it? Almost losing my mind with it and consider gave up and get another midi foot but can't really afford it now...:(

[@mcriscione]

I would download the factory manual for the FCB 1010 and follow step by step to program your buttons. It’s tedious but you’ll only need to do it once and then you can do all of your MIDI bindings creation inside of loopy. There are other tutorials out there for how to create MIDI bindings within loopy so I won’t get into that here. I have one other tip though: download the iPad app MIDI Wrench. That’s been a very helpful tool for me in making sure that midi was being transmitted between my foot controller and my iPad. It also helps you identify exactly what controller messages are being sent so you can more easily create your bindings inside Loopy. Good luck, with a little time you can do it.

[@AwayWithWordsMusic]

Very informative video. Thanks! One question. With pre-recorded parts in Loopy, how long does it take to load in another song with pre-recorded parts?

[@mcriscione]

Seconds. On iPad Air v5 it’s very fast.

[@JayPloss]

Very nice setup! Question: Do you think your powered USB hub work with a lightning-port iPad instead using a usb-c-to-lightning adapter? I've found detection of my midi devices and usb interfaces very inconsistent with small unpowered lightning hub.

[@mcriscione]

Adaptors for data connections scare me. There’s an awful lot of discussion on the Loopy Pro forum regarding hubs so I think with a little searching there you’ll be able to find something that works for your lightning connection iPad. I ran an old iPad Air v2 with a lightning connection for about 18 months prior to this video with a four usb powered hub. I’m doubtful I can find/remember which one but I bought it after consulting the forum. Good luck!

[@mcriscione]

Actually, thinking back…I used to run an Apple Camera connection kit to convert the lightning to USB and then connect that to the USB. The camera connection kit adaptor runs about $30 or so. Don’t buy a knockoff, buy the real thing. Any off brand I tried did not work well. Good luck (2x)

[@JayPloss]

@@mcriscione Thanks! That's what I've got but it still feels a lot like black magic trying to get set up.

[@JayPloss]

@@mcriscione thanks for the lead. I had searched a few places but didn't find those threads l.

[@scottwilliams3608]

Hi - thanks for the tips! Do you do any covers that are more than one song part (verse + chorus= bridge,etc.) in loopy? Is there a good way to do that in 'metronome based' approach? (I like to control the song sections in case I want to extend/repeat section on the fly (as opposed to having basically a backing track of the song) - Thanks!

[@africanrhythm]

Yes my concern as well after using a Boss RC300? Considering RC600 but big price difference.

[@JayPloss]

I'm pretty sure it's possible to use the sequencer mode in such a way that you could have sections that hold indefinitely until you're ready to move on, or skip/shorten others. Simplest version is to just deactivate the sequencer mid-song, throwing you into metronome mode indefinitely.

[@tahiche.]

Great rundown, Loopy is just great. I’d love to learn about how you’ve mapped the foot controller to Loopy. My biggest issue is selecting loops, haven’t found a good way to navigate loops with a controller if not having pre-defined it before. Thanks!

[@mcriscione]

Mapping is actually pretty simply. It all can be done under the control setting tab. There’s definitely some KZbins out there showing this step by step once you getting loopy talking with your controller of choice. In my set up my behringer foot pedal in a Akia controller are both connected to the same USB hub that feeds the iPad. Loopy sees them as options and then I just setup custom control profiles as appropriate for each session

[@LanceMcKnightMusic]

What is the best way to store and access your samples, one hits etc. on the iPad and external storage SSD?

[@mcriscione]

@@LanceMcKnightMusic everything that I’m gonna use for Loopy Pro gets downloaded to the iPad

[@user-be7in1dl4g]

Thanks Mike. Great Video. How is latency? You run electric guitar thru Bias, then thru Loopy. Latency must get a big hit.

[@mcriscione]

That’s going to depend greatly on the iPad you’re using and the number and type of plugins you run simultaneously. Using an iPad Air V5 I can get to very low latency performance (to the point where it doesn’t hinder playing fast passages on guitar) using all the apps mentioned in video.

[@vojtaviolinist1852]

Hey Mike, I just started to use Loopy with behringer xair18 and actualy dont know how to set it propperly to my setup. We are 3 members of the band and I am the only one who is looping. I need like 7 channels for looping and rest is for another instruments of the band members. The thing is that when I connect behringer mixer with my iPhone (will get iPad soon hopefuly) and create input from behringer and looped it it didnt come out from PA, so I found out its in routing. So I changed out LR to USB 1-2 instead of main LR wchich was set before and it played from PA, but than I lost control of my inputs inside the behringer mixer. I cant do EQ, volume slider, etc... only gain. Dont know how to route it coretly because I need to also send signal of individual instruments to monitors of the band members and also. I know I can send the signal from the actual loop to the monitor but than there is no volume correction... So I could have all instruments in loopy as inputs but I need a control of volume... I have seen on your video that you had the faders up so I that you can control the behringer mixer... Do you have any advice?

[@mcriscione]

Here’s what my band does: We run our analog inputs into the first 8 channels of the XR. If an input is not going to be routed into Loopy, it gets sent to LR and any monitor mix needed which are run off Aux 1-6 outs. If an input is going to run through Loopy, we turn OFF the LR routing for that channel and simply use the input channel to condition the signal (Preamp, EQ, Compression) prior to it being sent to Loopy via an internal XR18 USB send. Once Loopy gets the USB signal it is processed (with AUV3s) and then looped as needed. We output that processed live USB signal and any loops made from it to a USB return channel on the XR18 (individual channels on the XR18 can be set to front panel input or USB return). All individual USB return channels (or stereo pair) are set up this way for every input running through Loopy. The return channels are set to be sent to LR and any monitor mix needed on Aux 1-6. They are also sometimes processed with additional (post Loopy) EQ and Compression from the XR return’s channel depending on what is needed for the live mix. Another note, we route Loopy’s click through a USB return as well with the LR shut off. This allows us to send click to any monitor mix on Aux 1 - 6. One last thing, as AUV3s have improved we’ve taken to using some of the XR’s effect returns channels as additional USB returns for Loopy based AUV3s so we could squeeze more returns out of the mixer. Hope this helps explain!

[@meouicmoi]

Nice Thanks for the video! what type of USB C hub do you use? I heard that it should it be plug to 110/220 volts

[@mcriscione]

I show a picture of the hub in the video (during the last 10 minutes or so). Since the hub is pass through powered by a USB C cable, you could plug the other side of that cable into whatever voltage adapter works for your situation. Hope this helps!

[@Nobox-eg7qu]

@@mcriscionedo you use a special cable to connect the hub to the iPad? Where is the hub physically in your set up? Great info thanks!! I think I’m gonna try this with the ui24r mixer… thanks!!

[@mcriscione]

@@Nobox-eg7qu The hub has USB 2.0 female ports, a USB C pass through power female input, and a USB C male output. I plug the USB C male output into a USB C extension cable (female to male) and plug that cable directly into my iPad Air v5 (which accepts USB C). If you have to an older iPad with a lightning connection you will need to use an Apple Camera Connector Kit to convert USB to Lightning (a standard power cable will not work for this function). Hope this helps

[@Nobox-eg7qu]

@@mcriscione thank you ! Should I use an extension cable too or can I plug the hub directly into the iPad… I have a new iPad with usb c … I’m guessing you use the extension cable so you can keep the hub nearer to the mixer?

[@mcriscione]

@@Nobox-eg7qu Seems like you’ll need to since the male USB C cables coming off most hubs are awfully short. Be careful selecting a USB C extension cable as the are length limits for such. I would do some research on that, keep within those limits, and buy as short and high quality an extension as you can afford and your setup will allow.

[@EarleMonroe]

I saw that you have an older video using Ableton and ClyphX Pro. That’s what I have used for looping, mostly in a “sequence looping” setup. Do you still use that combo, or is it exclusively in Loopy Pro now?

[@mcriscione]

Yes, for live looping I pretty much use Loopy Pro right now. I still use Ableton a ton in the studio for generating ideas and recording. Ableton Pros: it integrates with all the studio software synths I have and legitimately has automation built into it. Cons: I find using Clyphx powerful but slow. I think setting up a sequenced loop performance on Ableton is slow and less intuitive than Loopy Pro. As far as Loopy Pro goes, I think it’s pros are: it’ll run on an iPad (which I’d much rather bring to a bar gig than a laptop), it’s faster and more intuitive to set up for: “on the fly,” “metronome based,” and “sequenced based” live looping. Cons- no MIDI looping, automation of a sequence is something you have to “trick” it into doing by “follow actions,” and it can’t run software synths like Kontact and other libraries popular in studio settings. Great question! Hope this helps explain my POV on this. Thanks for watching!

[@EarleMonroe]

@@mcriscione Thanks for the detailed reply. I know I’ll buy LP, if only to be able to bring looping to live shows (nothing wrong with one-guy-with-a-guitar, but looping is something nice and different.) I agree about CXP being slow. I had no looping experience when I started with CXP, and it was painstaking to work through. The Note Trigger Handler device is the closest thing to a visual layout like LP’s sequencer view, but a far cry from how cool LP looks. I got a little spoiled with ClyphX Pro in its ability to let me do complex things that no hardware looper can. For example, I play some loops but later in my song I want them to start on the ‘and of 1,’ or on the 2. Or I would record a 2-bar loop of drums or percussion, and use ClyphX’s chop feature to have it play just the 1st bar, then use 1/4 of a measure of fills to loop later, etc. It helps to keep variety in my song. In LP you can just move the clips on the grid, and adjust their start and stop handles, to do all of that. Once midi is implemented I should be able to implement one other trick, which is to change the instrument being triggered by the midi I played, so that the early percussion pattern becomes a drum and cymbal fill. These were fun to implement in ClyphX Pro, and I liked the compositional creativity they gave me. Well, long reply, but thanks for your video and response!

[@mcriscione]

@@EarleMonroe Very interesting to hear those particular uses for CFX…sounds like you took the deep dive into it! I think the lines between these two platforms will continue to blur for sure. Good to connect with someone making uses of these deep feature sets.

[@MODENESS]

what ear monitor you use? Thank you

[@mcriscione]

Audio-Technica M2L

[@deekod1967]

Wow wish I hadn’t bought so much hardware now

[@georgefenning4844]

Very good video. As a newcomer, what is the minimum set up I need to start using loopy pro. I can’t see an easy way to get around no headphone socket. Which my old iPad had. I have 10 gen new iPad.

[@mcriscione]

Minimum is relative, but to have have a dedicated headphone out and stereo loopying you’d need an interface with at least three outputs. If you didn’t care about stereo looping a two out interface would be minimum. Here’s an example of a cheap 4 output interface. If you go this route you will also need a small mixer separate from the interface to blend and adjust levels. (the XR18 in this video functions as both interface and mixer) www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UMC404HD--behringer-u-phoria-umc404hd-usb-audio-interface

[@mandolin-george-uk]

@@mcriscione Thank you very much. Very helpful. There is one problem that no one can answer (yet) - If I record a guitar loop via a mic. Then I try to create a vocal second loop - how do i prevent the bleed from the guitar (which i need to hear on playback )- bleeding in to the vocal loop. Does thi s mean the looping live with mics is virtually impossible. (beyone one loop) or am I missing something simple? I tried with ipad in built mic and suddenly realised this is a big issue - rendering loop pro to function as a controller rather than complex multi layered looper? For keyboards etc - thats fine - but for acoustic voice and instruments - I am not able to see a way forward . I am new to this so may be missing the obvious. Can you help?

[@mcriscione]

@@mandolin-george-uk If you’re looping with microphones, you need to use headphones to monitor your previously recorded loops. You cannot use a speaker (facing towards the mic) or bleed will always be an issue. In a live performance situation speakers should be far from stage mics and headphones and/or in ear monitors should be used to allow you to hear yourself.

[@mandolin-george-uk]

@@mcriscione that i svery helpful - I suddenly realised that live loping might not be feasible - building tracks up as you go - via a mic. You ar e the only person who answered my query and for that I am very grateful . I simply overlooked ear monitors

[@georgefenning4844]

@@mcriscione thank you very much - I am struggling but you are helping a lot

[@petermatos4613]

Very nice explanation of loopy. Too bad its only on apple products.

[@JohnSAitken]

Why do you keep on saying “amm” it’s off putting.

[@mcriscione]

Need to work on that

[@Curious_Skeptic]

Rude. Omg. 😂 ok. Few minutes in... Obama did this. Dude, u r awesome, but a redo or update w less umms. You are umm looping. Jk.