Looking for a loop based DAW for beginners

[dellboy]

In a linear DAW you'd only have A/D/G, B/E/H and C/F/I "vertical slices" to play with. But in a clip-launching DAW you can easily play them like below, without ever recording anything & committing to it:

Yes, I am not arguing about the way that clip launching DAWs work, I think they are great. Now I think about it I can start to see the advantage of Bitwig and Logic over Live with the ability to drag clips straight onto the timeline.

But didn't Live get a new feature to to split the screen to achieve something similar ? Mind you, that sounds like a clunky solution.

[dellboy]

I thought the community is already past frowning upon using loops, samples, presets, generative devices, etc.? Although I'm still willing to die fighting the MIDI Chord Pack or whatever that dreaded YT ad is trying to sell to me

If it came across that way, I apologize, it was not what I intended.

Having said, that, as someone who has spent a lifetime learning how to play keyboards - guitar - violin, I will always encourage people to work towards that end. After all, real very talented musicians had to make the clips in the first place didn't they !

[Kinh]

Actually, I second Bitwig
Easy to get into for simple things with a ton of depth that's also pretty easy to go deep and can save a bit of cash due to the great internal effects, synths, and modulation sources.

Ableton is better

[antic604]

But didn't Live get a new feature to to split the screen to achieve something similar ? Mind you, that sounds like a clunky solution.

Yeah, it's pretty clunky and it was introduced in v9.something:

[pdxindy]

Of course you can stretch, duplicate, delete or turn off those clips in the timeline too. Those functions are the same as in any linear DAW.

Yes, as I said, this is an advantage over Live, the ability to drag clips straight onto the timeline. I suppose its the opposite that I see little reason for, dragging a clip from the timeline into the session view.

Personally, I never use anyone elses pre-recorded clips, I always record my own, so perhaps that is why I am having difficulty in seeing the advanatages of this feature. If the OP just wants to drag pre-recorded clips into the session view and loop and launch them it takes on a new perspective. Not so much if a DAW is used for its intended original purpose of recording your own stuff.

I only use my own recorded clips too.

The clip launcher paradigm works equally well regardless of where the recorded audio or midi came from. Why do you think that matters?

[dellboy]

I only use my own recorded clips too.

The clip launcher paradigm works equally well regardless of where the recorded audio or midi came from. Why do you think that matters?

I am not sure that it does matter, I have not put any thought into it, it was more of a gut feeling than anything.

Do you create hundreds of your own pre-recorded clips of different lengths for using at a later time ?

[vurt]

I only use my own recorded clips too.

The clip launcher paradigm works equally well regardless of where the recorded audio or midi came from. Why do you think that matters?

I am not sure that it does matter, I have not put any thought into it, it was more of a gut feeling than anything.

Do you create hundreds of your own pre-recorded clips of different lengths for using at a later time ?

many people do this in many ways.
some may, design loops as needed.
or others will do recording sessions, hours at a time, with a particular instrument, just feeling it!
then at a later date, go through the task of listening back, finding loops, then using these to form the basis of a track, and build from there.

not everyone works in a linear fashion, or even the same way every piece.
it's art, there's no right and wrong, there is process and result.

[pdxindy]

I only use my own recorded clips too.

The clip launcher paradigm works equally well regardless of where the recorded audio or midi came from. Why do you think that matters?

I am not sure that it does matter, I have not put any thought into it, it was more of a gut feeling than anything.

Do you create hundreds of your own pre-recorded clips of different lengths for using at a later time ?

many people do this in many ways.
some may, design loops as needed.
or others will do recording sessions, hours at a time, with a particular instrument, just feeling it!
then at a later date, go through the task of listening back, finding loops, then using these to form the basis of a track, and build from there.

not everyone works in a linear fashion, or even the same way every piece.
it's art, there's no right and wrong, there is process and result.

There... that answered the question better than I would have

I do lots of recording of my playing... both midi and or audio, from software or hardware.
Then I take out parts and save them to use as pieces later. I work in a variety of ways to suit the moment.

[vurt]

my own thoughts on this, similar to reading..
you want younger people to engage with either of these, get them hooked with things they are interested in.
once their interest is peeked, if it is supposed to be, they will seek more, deeper, meaningful things as they grow.

don't bore them and put them off so they don't get hooked.

if the kid is in to loop based music that's what will get him hooked, and as he learns he will realise, that what initially sounds like pure repetition is a little more, and so keeps you listening and so on...

[vurt]

a little loop based "here's what you can get from a single loop" type showcase
the loop was built in battery, nothing fancy.
then played in a granular sampler.(on the modular, straight recording)

viewtopic.php?p=8045069#p8045069

[dellboy]

We keep on learning.

I have been messing around with computer music since the Atari days, and I can honestly say it has never occured to me to pre-record my own clips for later use. I can now see a reason to drag a clip into the session view to audition and then copy and paste into the timeline. Hmmm

[dellboy]

a little loop based "here's what you can get from a single loop" type showcase
the loop was built in battery, nothing fancy.
then played in a granular sampler.(on the modular, straight recording)

viewtopic.php?p=8045069#p8045069

That poor loop, what you did to it, it sounded cruel.

There should be a law against it.

Or are you sure you were not in a jungle with a steam train in the background while you were sawing wood and listening to the radio ?

And I am sure I heard a police siren coming to arrest you

[vurt]

a little loop based "here's what you can get from a single loop" type showcase
the loop was built in battery, nothing fancy.
then played in a granular sampler.(on the modular, straight recording)

viewtopic.php?p=8045069#p8045069

That poor loop, what you did to it, it sounded cruel.

There should be a law against it.

Or are you sure you were not in a jungle with a steam train in the background while you were sawing wood and listening to the radio ?

And I am sure I heard a police siren coming to arrest you

no mercy for loops


that much fun should be illegal though, that is true!

[MuzikFreq]

Actually, I second Bitwig
Easy to get into for simple things with a ton of depth that's also pretty easy to go deep and can save a bit of cash due to the great internal effects, synths, and modulation sources.

Ableton is better

Not really.
I mean, sure it has SOME features that make it better like a key scale folding option and a couple other things, but the overall is that bitwig is priced WAAAAAY better and has more tools for the same price as Standard Live
You either have to buy Live Suite to get all the other bits or buy them all individually which costs more in the long run.

Oh I forgot to mention you can have more than 1 synth on the same track. So for things like Cthulhu which is seen as a synth, you can add this and the synth you want to control on the same track and have the notes turn to chords through the signal path.
Though it wont record the chords and have to still use a separate channel for that as far as I know.

Also there's WASAPI support which pretty much eliminates the need for a dedicated audio interface.

[antic604]

...it has never occured to me to pre-record my own clips for later use.

Frankly, it doesn't even have to be a dedicated session.

In my case, I usually pretty quickly get to 1-2m of material (say an intro and some kind of "verse" / pre-chorus) and then I usually get stuck... Clip launcher comes to the reascue, because in there I can isolate a small bit of what I have but without much context that would "lead" me on (say a bassline + drums), loop it and add several completely independent ideas on top of that. Then I'd jam with them to see if and how it fits and use the good bits to expand on the main arrangement.

I'll repeat that several times until it's "finished"