loopop

Akai Force vs Ableton Push 2

Hi,

While at NAMM I stopped by the Akai booth and asked for an in depth interview about Force, and I was happy to have the team there oblige. Demos at their booth really only allowed for a superficial product pitch in quite a noisy environment, and there are enough of those...  

Pete Goodliffe is Director of Product from Akai directly responsible for Force, so we've got it righ...

Dataline's tips and tricks for live electronic music performance

Hi!

NAMM might be over but I've got two more videos coming off the editing table. This is the first, and in it Cenk (aka "Dataline") kindly agreed to share his tips and tricks for live electronic music performance. 

If you're not familiar with his work, you have GOT to check out his channel -...

Sirin review + a few more NAMM videos

Hi there!

I managed to get my hands on the new Sirin from Moog announced here at NAMM - and here's my review. It's very similar to Minitaur except the oscillators have been modified to support a broader range - but since so much has changed in the Minitaur since it was launched, I doubt many people know what it can do - so I created an extended review of the capabilities ...

January 2019 Book Update - it's quite big...

Hi!

Here's the latest update to Loopop's In-Complete but-growing-quite-a-bit-thanks-to-you Book of Electronic Music Ideas, Tips and Tricks...

Here's what's new:

1. I take requests! Patron Stefan W. asked that I expand on the topic of AC and DC coupled interfaces, so in this new section I dive deeper into what you need to know to create a hybrid modula...

Octatrack year 8 review + January book update coming soon

Hi!

Ease of use vs. features - I can only assume that whenever the discussion came up in product discussions when the Octatrack was put together and updated over the years, features won, obviously at the expense of a steeper learning curve.

This video has two parts - the first contains the top 10 features I think make Octatrack stand out after 8 yea...

Time to split: 4 ways to get more out of Stackcables from Tiptop Audio

Good Friday!

A video about a cable?

I recently uploaded a video where I used both ends of a Stackcable (split cables made by Tiptop Audio) as a three way splitter, and I got a few comments from people who didn’t know that was possible, so I thought make a dedicated clip about it, and some other uses for split cables.

Patch cables are a basic building block f...

10 Pairing ideas for 0-Coast

Hello!

Alongside the really positive response to last week's "0-Coast Hacks" video, I got a lot of requests for a follow up with pairing ideas - so here goes!

In a nutshell, pairings explored are:

1. MIDI and CV controller pairing options, preferably with built in sequencers and arpeggiators, and multiple MIDI and CV outputs.
2. Adding effects to 0-Coast, Reverb in pa...
   2019-01-03 16:45:40 +0000 UTC View Post

14 0-Coast Hacks... + brief NAMM update

Hello!

Last video for the year! This time I'm taking a look at Make Noise's 0-Coast - and there's a lot to learn from this little synth.

First thing, it sounds different. 

Second, it's original. 0-Coast takes care of the "problem" of instinctively reaching for the filter knob as tool for timbral variation by not having one (well, technica...

December 2018 Book Update

Dear Friends of Loopop!

Here it is, attached to this post - thanks to you - the December 2018 update to my ever growing book of Electronic Music Ideas, Tips and Tricks.

My goal has been and will remain quality and brevity over quantity, but that said, this fifth revision now has 85 pages compared to the 48 we got started with...

What's new? 2018-12-24 19:34:29 +0000 UTC View Post

Synth hack: How to make your synth BI-TIMBRAL + 4 exclusive presets

Hello! 

I’m especially excited about this little trick. While this video demos this “hack” on Peak, it can potentially work on other synths too. 

Ever since I got Peak one thought kept bugging me – that it wasn’t bi-timbral. When comparing its “pros and cons” to Rev2 or Prologue, they have the bi-timbral edge (Peak has its advantages too&nbs...

Peak 1.2 tutorial + 21 Patreon Exclusive Patches

Hi! 

Peak got quite an update with firmware 1.2, with 40+ new wavetables, 2 new LFOs and much more.

This video gives a brief overview of Peak if you're not familiar with it, covers all the new features as well as gives 10 patch examples inspired by what's new.

These patches and several more I created are made available exclusively to you as supporters of this channel.

If y...

Arturia Pigments: 5 ways it will help you learn synthesis

Hi!

I've never had this much fun with a mod matrix ;)

Arturia just released Pigments and I got a sneak peak at it (it's a free, very liberal demo, so you can too) - and I just love their new "mod oscilloscope" center-strip feature.

Sound is subjective, but from a user interface perspective, this is the easiest-to-learn synth I've ever seen, and yet still manages to pack a ton of grea...

Everything you need to know about MODX from Yamaha

Hi!

I love knob-per-function analog synths, and MODX is neither... but what it does do, is show how far technology can go if you're willing to give those two up.

The menu diving on MODX is intense, but once it clicks (and it takes a while), it actually quite makes sense, and gives you programming options like I've never seen in a synth this price.

I don't go into videos wanting to ma...

November Book Update (+ContinuuMini review)

Hi!

A double feature out today - the promised ContinuuMini review, and an update to the book. Here's what's new:

• New: a section about Ableton Live - including 7 ideas not mentioned in the companion video I made. As per the spirit of my original Ableton video, the idea is not to include everything in the manual, but rather highlight those features whi...
  2018-11-26 14:45:02 +0000 UTC View Post

ContinuuMini Review coming soon - what do you want to know?

Hi! Haken Audio just launched their KickStarter, and I'm happy to say I was included in the small pre-launch beta, and I happen to have one... I'm putting together a review to be released soon - so feel free to ask me anything!

Also, there seem to be quite a limited amount at the launch price - check it out here: http://bit.ly/Contin...

MIDI to CV and back: Can your "regular" synth become semi-modular?

Hello!

The beauty of Eurorack is the amazing amount of unique modules that do things regular synths just can't touch. Ornament and Crime comes to mind immediately, as does Rene 2 on the sequencing side, and Plaits and Rings just don't sound like off-the-shelf non eurorack synths. 

That doesn't mean you need to go "all in" on eurorack though - but the problem with combining eurorack an...

My take at explaining Ableton Live...

Hello!

A few years ago I bought a MIDI keyboard with a bundled copy of Ableton Live Lite, opened it up, and was quite intimidated by all the options... step by step, I forced myself to learn it and every time I stumbled upon something non-intuitive, I'd note it. This clip contains some of those insights, and I'll put the rest in the November update to my book.

I wouldn't call Live a DAW - ...

Squarp Pyramid Comprehensive Sequencer Tutorial

Hi!

This week's video is a deep dive into Squarp's Pyramid, probably as close as you can get to a DAW in terms of features, but all condensed into a hardware based workflow. There's certainly a learning curve to it but once understood, this is one of the best and most capable.

As I hinted previously, my goal for the November update to my ebook is to include a "sequencer bu...

Arturia's big keyboards compared (KeyLab MK2 vs Essential)

Hi! 

A MIDI keyboard is probably one of the first core purchases one makes when first building a computer based set-up, and these keyboards are getting quite smart and "knobby" - way more powerful than just sending out MIDI. I already dug keep into Novation's SL MkIII, and in this video I'm expanding on to Arturia's line, both high and low end.

Each of the major players in this area -...

6 ways to eliminate unwanted noise + October book update!

Hi! 

This video addresses the fundamental problem of noise - not the kind you want to make, but the annoying kind that's either in the wiring of your setup or coming in through your mic.

These tips and a lot more have been added to the now updated and even more expanded October Edition of the e-book.

Other new additions: the sampling sec...