digital playback device for live shows?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

This question is making me feel old....
Way back in the early 2000s my band used to use tape loops as part of our live show. We'd have different sounds on the left and right channel and run the output to an a/b pedal to switch between sounds.
Fast forward to the present and we're working up some of the old tunes. The problem is the 20 years later it's tough to come across a reliable reel to reel player let alone find one at a decent price. I'm looking to go digital with this stuff but am looking for a solution that isn't a phone, computer, iPod type thing. Dedicated buttons and a device that won't go to sleep are a priority.
Does anybody have any suggestions?

[jimjazzdad]

I'm not a performer so take this with a grain of salt... most digital multitrack recorders -Tascam DR series, SD7xx or MixPre, etc. - work fine as playback devices. Its just a matter of finding one that has a menu / button structure that suits your needs . My Tascam DR-70D is pretty much a sandwich size version of my Teac A3340s. Of course, I could be totally off-base here!

[Drone]

I have an old Digitech Jamman, that stores loops as single channel 16-bit WAV files on its CompactFlash card, I think newer ones use microSD and MP3 format, but it let's you tune / edit the loop and write it to the card, and then its just another pedal.

Then there's percussion things like Roland's sample pad too.

And yes I have used the JamMan live.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I have an old Digitech Jamman, that stores loops as single channel 16-bit WAV files on its CompactFlash card, I think newer ones use microSD and MP3 format, but it let's you tune / edit the loop and write it to the card, and then its just another pedal.

Then there's percussion things like Roland's sample pad too.

And yes I have used the JamMan live.

A couple of questions then -
What's it like sorting through the loops/samples on the stage? Is there a screen where you can see file names? Or is it numbers?

Also, there is one song that uses a vocal sample in the bridge (my sister in law's dad singing a show tune). In the reel to reel days I just had leader tape spliced to the start so I could line it up and it was good to go when I hit play. Archaic but it worked musically. How instant is playback when you hit the pedal?

[numberthirty]

Loop pedal was the first thing that I thought of...

I'd guess that in the time since that "MKI..." JamMan loop pedals have come a long way.

[numberthirty]

Here's a thread on the topic and a couple of videos. The first video is sorta "Just The Facts..." while the second video is kinda "Real World Usage...." The tail end of that second video seems like it's along the line of what you are discussing.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... s.1762767/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYraZHrV8N8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8AMn1fF1qM

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Food for thought! Thanks guys

[Drone]

It's a number, you can rotate the knob to increment or decrement, whilst a loop is playing, and then its starts playing the next loop when the current one finishes.

It's kind of liking having to keep track of your patch numbers for rack FX. You'd place loops for one song beside each other numerically.

Perhaps by now they have full displays, I don't know.

[winky dinglehoffer]

Electrix Repeater is old tech, and not a totally perfect device, but it's a 4 track looper with a volume fader for each track. It allows for overdubbing on the individual tracks, and loops can be stored on a compact flash card (256 MB max, and you have to buy the right kind to ensure proper function.) I used mine a lot in the olden days, but not in live settings.

[Scodiddly]

Look for a used 360 Systems "Instant Replay" or "Shortcut Editor". They were a classic for corporate show playback of cues, walkon music, etc.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

Just to clarify, I'm looking to trigger existing samples. Any live looping, overdubbing etc is beyond my needs. I need something that I can load the samples onto and have them play when I hit the button/pedal/whatever. Some samples may be looped, some are one shot. Stereo would be great as it would replicate what I used to do with the reel to reel tape loops.
The Jam Man looks promising. I have a little over a month before showtime so there's time to learn whatever I end up with.

[vvv]

There's a version of the Jam Man intended for vocals, also ...

What might work and is cheap is a used small multi-track digital recorder that you can load stuff into, like the Tascam Dp08.

Even easier might be a stereo recorder where you load the tracks in with track markers - they all use SD and/or mini SD nowadays, and you can get an adapter to mini for any regular SD unit. I have a old Zoom H2 that I think could work, but I bet newer models would work easier ...

[The Scum]

Elektron Octatrack.

You'll thank me when you're able to use the word "trig" 5 times in the same sentence.

[The Scum]

Less facetiously, the smaller, older MPCs (500/1000/2500) sometimes pop up cheap.
They can do a lot more, but simply playing samples is pretty easy.

[kslight]

I agree that some kind of MPC or similar would probably be adequate for triggering samples, even if it’s an older model.


I don’t have any experience with this, but this is cheap and simple anyway. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... controller

I think if it was me I would step up to something like an Mpc One or MPC Live or Akai Force, but those are more advanced and certainly quite a bit more expensive.