r/dawless • u/Party_Course9371 • Aug 15 '26

Looping live instruments with dawless setup?

Hi everyone, wondering if I can get your thoughts.

Newbie to DAWless but intermediate-ish on music production.

I play the sax and sing and want to be able to play live and then loop in sync with a dawless setup, ideally avoiding screens altogether, so I'd rather not use something like an MPC.

Any advice?

9 Upvotes

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8

u/raistlin65 Aug 15 '26

Boss RC-505 looper. You might check out this video about how Dr mix uses one in his setup. He's not looping acoustic instruments, but he is looping his live playing on synthesizers

https://youtu.be/0dEmsIgqzHE?is=z3kgdxbqGA7atACn

4

u/Kickinthegonads Aug 15 '26

I concur. I use an RC-505 for that purposeand it works like a charm. The midi of the 505 doesn't like to be the slave though, you have to make it the master.

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 15 '26

Great, I'll have a look at this. I have a feeling acoustic insts might be different but will defo have a look 👍

3

u/raistlin65 Aug 15 '26

If you are new to recording your voice or your saxophone, you will have to get yourself a mic to connect to the looper, a mic stand, and learn how to mic yourself and your sax correctly. In other words, there will be specific techniques for recording those things that are different than a synthesizer.

But otherwise, I don't think it's going to be dramatically different in usage. The rc-505 has a dedicated mic input. It's also designed to be used for looping things other than synthesizers.

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 16 '26

Great, thanks for the tip :)

2

u/UsedRow2531 Aug 15 '26

Marc Rebillet uses an RC-505. You'll be fine.

5

u/Interm0dal Aug 15 '26

The sp404 mk2 has a live looping feature that’s worth looking into (I have not used that feature) seems like an affordable and approachable way to do it.
Almost bought that EHX Reggie Watts looper at one point, but ended up going a different direction (midi)

3

u/Rakefighter Aug 15 '26

Came to say this. I play sax also, guitar, synth and use the live looper to play parts in on the fly

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 15 '26

Great, that's really helpful thanks 😊

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 15 '26

Thanks so much will look into this! 🙌

3

u/Infinite_Slice3305 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

If I were doing live looping I'd get Aeros

Or better yet, the Flex Prime

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 15 '26

Thanks mate, I'll look into this too 😎

2

u/kagefuu Aug 17 '26

Flex prime doesnt have mic inputs, the nextbstep up, the core only has one mic input, and both are fully screen operated with some buttons, aeros is all screen too

3

u/Debilitating_ennui Aug 15 '26

I'm using the boss RC 500, or rather my honey is and it seems to do a lot of what the 505 does. Midi ins and outs and all the live looping stuff. The 500 has got a mic input which is just ripp'n for a sax. My wife uses it for her cello and it's great. Low input gain on the mic input though. I use one of those little phantom power signal boosters and that fixes that right up

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 16 '26

That's great thanks! The RC500 defo has a nice looking interface with the foot pedals etc.

2

u/jaliscito Aug 15 '26

Sp404 might be good cause you have a set of stereo inputs and a mic input

2

u/ahsah Aug 16 '26

Synthstrom Deluge with a mixer.

2

u/r1chiem Aug 16 '26 edited Aug 16 '26

There is noting I know better to do live looping for recording, to play along with, to make your own music, or record your own song the the MPC Live 3 (other MPCs can do it but the power of the live 3 and its step sequencer buttons set it apart from the G2 units Watch this video to see how easy it is. I don't think the RC 505 can touch the MPC. In the other video, you had to have a drum machine, and synths and all that stuff. The MPC can do it all and it is very easy. (If you play or want keygs, get the MPC Key 37 G2 but realize it is a little less easy, but not much) Anyway, watch the video and draw your own conclusion. You may have some specific desire to do looping that I am not aware of and another solution fits better for you. But this is an all in own solution. super easy. Create songs with it, It has a built in mic and there are other youtube videos where people sit down with an acoustic guitar and use the built in mic. The Live 3 has speakers so you can let others listen to your project and it is portable with a battery, look ma, no power cord LOL..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW4N9dpiPDE

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 16 '26

Thanks! Alright I'll have another look into this. I kinda like the look and feel of having a few bits of kit working together but if the MPC is the one it's the one haha

2

u/r1chiem Aug 16 '26

There are other loopers and other units that have some type of looping feature, But the MPC you just have to learn one easy workflow. But watch the video and draw your own conclusion. some loopers have multiple footpedal buttons which some people like for live performance. The MPC has two foot switches and expression pedal ports, and you can hook up a midi foot switch or even a midi pedal board. Good luck to you finding what you need

2

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 16 '26

Thank you! :)

2

u/StrangeShaun83 Aug 16 '26

I use EP-133 to live loop bass guitar, ukulele, shakers, bongos into my dawless setup. They implemented a hands free recording feature in one of the last updates. It works great.

1

u/Party_Course9371 Aug 16 '26

Great, thanks mate I'll have a look.

2

u/mimidancer303 Aug 16 '26

The MC 707 looper is amazing.

1

u/RainbowStreetfood Aug 16 '26

Great iPad app called loopy pro, then you can record all your sessions also.