Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

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jukingeo
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Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by jukingeo »

Hello All,

As my subject says, I am looking for a good, easy to use looping program that I can use for live performances in which I can turn loops on/off using the COMPUTER (not Midi) keyboard.

What I am looking to do is put a collections of loops together similar to what you would do in Fruity Loops. Once set up, I would like to be able to start the loops independently using a standard computer keyboard.

Thusfar I have found a Windows program called Soundplant that does this, however, it doesn't sync the loops.

Another feature I would like to have is that I want the set up to be stand alone and not have to depend on Jack.

In my search thusfar, I have found a program called LMMS (Linux Multi-Media Studio) and I can set up loops nicely with this, however, I have not been able to determine if it can be setup for computer keyboard control.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank You,
Geo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by tatch »

take a look at giada maybe? I dunno if it does what you want but it's an option.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by autostatic »

And to control it with a keyboard you could use something like lsmi: https://github.com/original-male/lsmi
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by TheSafePlaces »

Ableton Live could be set up to trigger loops via computer keyboard too. That was, however, long ago, and I think I might have had trouble with it because of conflicting keybindings. Not to mention that it was quite resource intensive...

Not sure if you want audio or MIDI loops. Giada can do both; if it's only MIDI you want there's seq24 and it's more complex but more powerful cousin HarmonySEQ.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by autostatic »

seq24 can be controlled with a keyboard. But it doesn't loop audio, only MIDI patterns.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by jukingeo »

Hello All,

Thank you for the replies.

I tried Giada out and unfortunately it doesn't seem to work on my system. I get no sound. I tried it with direct ALSA and also through Jack. Jack kicks Giada out completely as it doesn't even show up in the connections box. I am using Ubuntu Studio 12.04.

So unless it something happened in the download or installation, I don't think it is going to work on my system. Shame though because it does do the key assignments.

Live is a great program and I have a 'lite' version for Windows...however even the 'lite' version is a bit too heavy for my needs.

I doubt SEQ24 would be any good since I would like to use both MIDI AND Audio Samples. In fact I am leaning more towards audio samples.

In Windows I discovered a program called Sound Plant. Here is the link:

http://www.soundplant.org/

As you can see when the page loads up is a screenshot of the program. It is different in that instead of sample slots, you are presented with a keyboard and you load samples into each key. Naturally the keys correspond to the keys on a computer keyboard. You can set the key to one shot, restart, and even loop. Overall this is ALMOST exactly what I am looking for, but there is a problem. The samples on each key don't sync up unless the samples are precisely timed and you push the keyboard key EXACTLY in time with the loop(s) that is playing. What I am looking for is for the samples to sync up like they do in Fruity Loops.

Granted I was looking for a program for Linux and I can use Sound Plant if I have to, but it still isn't what I am looking for. In Linux, one program I am taking a liking to is LMMS (Linux Multi-Media Studio). This program WILL sync loops, but thusfar I have not found a way to map the keyboard to the samples.

So what is next on the list?

Thank You,

Geo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by autostatic »

Petri-Foo maybe? But that's JACK only.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by ssj71 »

I haven't used it for a few years, but freewheeling definitely does looping controllable by keyboard. http://freewheeling.sourceforge.net/ Read the documentation cause the interface takes a little bit to get used to.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by autostatic »

And it should work with ALSA so seems like a good option! There's also Kluppe and SooperLooper but both rely on JACK.

Edit: Freewheeling needs JACK.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by jukingeo »

AutoStatic wrote:Petri-Foo maybe? But that's JACK only.
I took a quick peek at the sites for this, but there doesn't seem to be much documentation. From looking at the list of features, it seems to have MIDI control, but not keyboard control, but without further documentation, I don't know for sure. However, because it needs Jack does complicate things. I am trying to keep the setup as simple as possible.
ssj71 wrote:I haven't used it for a few years, but freewheeling definitely does looping controllable by keyboard. http://freewheeling.sourceforge.net/ Read the documentation cause the interface takes a little bit to get used to.
This is another one I couldn't get to work. I click on the link in my menu and nothing happens...even with Jack running.
AutoStatic wrote:And it should work with ALSA so seems like a good option! There's also Kluppe and SooperLooper but both rely on JACK.

Edit: Freewheeling needs JACK.
Yes, I did try to run Freewheeling with Jack as well, just to see if it would 'fire up' but it doesn't. I have not tried Kluppe yet, but I do have SooperLooper. SL seems to be more 'record on the fly' oriented rather than sample syncing oriented. Basically the best way to explain SooperLooper is that it is akin to a Multi-Track tape recorder. If you record the tracks within the program one after the other, then they will sync. But if you use outside samples, more then likely it will not sync. And yes, I know it needs Jack as well.

I did sign up to the Giada forum and left a message there as to why I am having an issue with the sound not functioning. From what I can see, there are not that many posts in the forum, so I don't know how long the program is out and furthermore how the support is. Thusfar this seems like it MIGHT be a contender as it does have the key assignments. The bad thing about Giada is that it doesn't use MP3's, you have to use WAV files. However, for my project that wouldn't be too much of a problem as I am mainly interested in the program to 'build up' a song using key controls.

As I said, I don't think SooperLooper would be up to the task since the emphasis is not on looping samples, but live recording looping.

So it would seem that Kluppe would be next in line. But I don't know how far I will get with that since it needs Jack.

If anyone has checked out the Sound Plant program I linked to above, that is kind of what I am after, but the bad thing about Sound Plant is that it doesn't sync AND you have to use Windows. There was mention that it would work with Wine in Linux, albeit with quite a bit of latency. THAT I can't have.

So it looks like my main hold out right now is to see if I can get Giada running or if something else comes down the pike.

Thanx,

Geo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by autostatic »

jukingeo wrote:
ssj71 wrote:I haven't used it for a few years, but freewheeling definitely does looping controllable by keyboard. http://freewheeling.sourceforge.net/ Read the documentation cause the interface takes a little bit to get used to.
This is another one I couldn't get to work. I click on the link in my menu and nothing happens...even with Jack running.
That's because it can't load a shared library, you can solve it with:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install libgnutls-openssl27
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnutls-openssl.so.27 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnutls-openssl.so.26
jukingeo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by jukingeo »

AutoStatic wrote: That's because it can't load a shared library, you can solve it with:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install libgnutls-openssl27
sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnutls-openssl.so.27 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgnutls-openssl.so.26
Uhhh, this isn't going to disturb anything important, will it?

BTW, I was messing around with SooperLooper again and the main problem I have with that is I can't load in a file. There is a load button, but when I click on it, I get a dialog box that says:

Choose a file to open on remote host 'localhost'.

What does that mean? I figured if it was looking for a file, I would get a drop down box with access to the File Manager. So this is a bit weird.
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by khz »

maybe

Code: Select all

hostname

Code: Select all

ifconfig

&& edit

Code: Select all

/etc/hosts

Code: Select all

your_ip      your_hostname
http://www.essej.net/slforum/viewtopic.php?p=40#p40
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jukingeo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by jukingeo »

khz wrote:maybe

Code: Select all

hostname

Code: Select all

ifconfig

&& edit

Code: Select all

/etc/hosts

Code: Select all

your_ip      your_hostname
http://www.essej.net/slforum/viewtopic.php?p=40#p40
Ok, I am assuming I am putting this all in the terminal. Did you want me to post the output info here? The third one, /etc/hosts, I get access denied. Should I be putting this in super user mode? I just need a bit more info.

Thanx,
Geo
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Re: Need a Looping Program that a computer keyboard operates

Post by briandc »

Hi Geo,
did you try AutoStatic's recommendation? He's very knowledgable and won't tell you to do something that would "harm" your pc.

Yes, the commands above need to be done in the terminal. The terminal gives you control to change modifications. Sometimes a file needs to be moved or checked or modified slightly in order to do what you need. That's all.


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