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Loopy Controller for second iDevice
I've been working on this a while. It's finally nearly ready. This is a layout to use in MIDI designer Pro, which can control Loopy wirelessly on your main looping iPad from a second iPad. This is really useful if you are recording with loopy in the background and other synths or audio apps in the foreground.
Here's a screen shot. It has volume, pan, record, mute, overdub for all 12 tracks and a few extras I'm still working on.
I thought I would post here partly because I want to know if there is a way to save or share MIDI binding layouts. That would make it much easier to use.
Comments
Wow, that's quite a thing! Alas currently, no, there's no MIDI control presets, but this is on my list of things to add in the near future. Great work!
That is epic!
@michael even if the midi config was available as an XML (or plist, txt, whatever) file via ifunbox, people who want to could work it out. That is to say, please don't let a bunch of UI/UX work get in the way! At least not for the first go round.
Thanks guys. Still working on this. It would be nice to be able to use that delay on/off and % fader :-) I guess its future proof, so I can use it whenever delay gets added to the Loopy MIDI binding options.
@syrupcore, did you try tinkering around in ifunbox? I haven't yet
@Michael, mighty fine MIDI work in this app. I finally had a chance to test this setup... I was panning, fading, muting all 12 tracks at once. Loopy kept up without a single problem! Very smooth, no glitches, yay.
(You will find a crash report in your inbox from when I started tweaking the tempo excessively :-} No need to investigate)
@hmtx I have now.
There is a plist file with all(?) of Loopy's preferences, including midi bindings, at Loopy>Library>Preference>com.tzisoftware.loopy.plist
In theory you can copy and paste the midi binding section (if you have something like xcode to open the file) from one plist to another* but messing around with this file seems like a recipe for sad face. It should be its own file or set of plain text files, eventually.
*the midi section appears to be plain old xml but the plist file itself is a binary file so you can't just open the whole thing up in a text editor, copy/paste/save - it'll blow up loopy! Or loopy will just ignore it and create a new default one.
Oh interesting, thanks for checking syrupcore. Well, fortunately Loopy's MIDI learn is fairly easy and quick.
Yay
For now my band has retired Loopy in lieu of using dedicated loop stations (VLT2 and RC505) due to Loopy's flakiness when slaved to MIDI Clock and the strange problems with audio crackling. Both problems seem to be similar to common problems in audio software when the playback/recording buffers are either too small or prone to cumulative errors such as memory leaks. This also seems to get worse as loops are added i.e. the problems might be related to maintaining sync under load. For example, Loopy will sometimes lose sync on one or two loops, but then subsequently recover the sync once it "catches up", which makes me think "buffers"......
So when you say "@Michael, mighty fine MIDI work in this app", I'm sure you are correct with regard to binding etc, but do you notice any factors which might be causing sync issues when Loopy is slaved to MIDI Clock?
I'd love it if Loopy was robust enough for a live band comprising 3 musicians, each with an iPad running Loopy HD. Your controller app adds a fair bit of "hmm, that could be REALLY useful!" possibilities.....
But for now we are using 3 x VLT2 plus 1 x RC-505 with master MIDI Clock provided by an Alesis Performance Pad Pro. Works really well, very stable etc but costs a lot more than Loopy!
Hey, thanks for the input, Diggo. I don't have any experience with syncing loopy as MIDI clock slave. But what I've read agrees with you, that there can be problems in that configuration.
I always have Loopy set its BPM from my first loop, then it is the master clock for drums and synths that I record via audiobus. This scenario is pretty solid in my opinion, though I haven't checked it against a metronome. So my comment above is about how well Loopy receives MIDI control change messages without missing commands, stutters, or crackles! Some other iPad apps don't do as well in this regard.
Also, I am using an iPad 2 with stock iOS and have never had audio crackle problems with Loopy. Are you sure you are closing all other apps? Non-standard OS? If I try to play a lot of other apps into loopy, yes audio can start to crackle in my sound source apps, but never in Loopy.
If you are still trying to get Loopy to work for you, you might try running loopy thru Audiobus, which has the option to set buffer size for all apps running thru it.
Here's a new screenshot, the layout is basically complete.
In the image below I grayed out the buttons that do not need a separate MIDI binding in Loopy.
Love it !
Started with the midi 12 light version, added just a mute test at the moment...
Actually this will work with MIDI Designer Lite, (free version) totally works fine if you don't have Pro. you can drag the "upgrade to pro" banner out of the way as you are using it. I tried to design it so that the majority of the controls can be accessed with the banner ad slid all the way up. If you use it with MIDI Designer 12, I think you'll only be able to add 12 controls...
Oh oops, somehow I forgot to share the layout. You can download it from MIDIdesigner.com
http://mididesigner.com/qa/1875/loopy-hd-controller-for-second-ipad
How are you assigning decay and pan to a midi controller if there isn't a midi binding? Are they assigned to a default midi CC or something?
Right you are, sorry! The decay button/ knob is not functional. that was my wishful thinking when I designed it, then realized there is no option for it yet in Loopy.
Pan, however works perfect for the 12 tracks. And the top right section is for panning current "selected track". Just tap (hard left, 50% left, etc ) as you are recording a loop and it will be panned on playback :-)
Oh for pan you are using the "adjust track pan" binding I assume? I guess I didn't even notice that binding being in there before.