Using loop pedal for rhythym guitar live

[MarshallStack]

Anyone play in a band with only one guitarist and use a loop pedal in a live situation to play the 2nd guitar part, especially during solos? I'm thinking the train wreck risk is to high to try this, but wondering if anyone has made this work for them?

[musicmanmu]

I've tried it, but I found I could not get it to work. The biggest issue is timing. It's nearly impossible to sync the loop pedal up on the fly perfectly with the drummer. Thus, your loop will start to go out of sync with ever pass. You'd be better of having a laptop with midi triggers or something to bring in rhythm parts, but that's probably way more involved than you want to get.

[kurfu]

 

Anyone play in a band with only one guitarist and use a loop pedal in a live situation to play the 2nd guitar part, especially during solos? I'm thinking the train wreck risk is to high to try this, but wondering if anyone has made this work for them?

 

 

I think those looping pedals are really meant for solo singer/songwriter types. I can't imagine the nightmare of trying to get most drummers to sync to something like that...

[BATCAT]

I think those looping pedals are really meant for solo singer/songwriter types. I can't imagine the nightmare of trying to get most drummers to sync to something like that...

 

Well, the problems would be twofold (at least):

 

1: The guitarist must to end the loop perfectly, so there's no gained or lost time as it restarts

 

2. The drummer needs to hear the loop clearly and be able to play along with it

 

There's no question it's a tricky proposition, but here's how I'd try it...

 

First of all, not all loopers are good at "on the fly" looping. Get one that is, and that also has stereo outs. (Also, some loopers can store your loops) Practice with it so you get it right every time.

 

For the drummer, get a small mixer with some earbuds and run the second out from the pedal into it. Now the drummer will hear the loop clearly, even if he/she can't hear your amp well enough.

 

Not foolproof, but I'm guessing it would work pretty well.

[TrickyBoy]

To me it sounds like a trainwreck waiting to happen.

[badhabit]

I tried it. The drummer, who is a good drummer, could not follow it and we'd get out of sync. Now, I use it in a duo situation. I create loops beforehand to play over, using a drum machine and the looper. So, it is really more like playing to tracks I guess, except they are tracks I created. I can loop on the fly if I want, just not with the drum machine as well. The drum machine is midi capable but my looper is not.

[BATCAT]

You know, if I was attempting to do what the op is describing, I'd just record a backing track with click, panned hard L/R, then run the guitar part into an amp (or the mains, depending) or something and give the drummer the click.

 

[tlbonehead]

I've done it with my Jamman a few times, but you really need to be playing to a click track. And lots of songs have different chord progressions just for the solos, rendering it useless.

[Raskolnikovs axe]

It's next to impossible to pull of that way due to the problems already mentioned - but my old guitar teacher did it at every gig without fail. But in this case we're talking about professional musicians with college degrees on their respective instruments.

[srspud]

Marc Harris does it a lot. Check out his videos. He uses two amps and that might be the ticket.

http://www.youtube.com/MarcMusic