Looper UNDO

[rd2rk]

I don't normally use the looper, so I'm not sure if this is normal behavior.

I've recorded a loop and two overdubs. When I press UNDO I expect to delete the second overdub (manual: If you make a mistake on your last overdub, step on UNDO to erase it), but it deletes ALL overdubs.

 

I'm on v2.82.

[silverhead]

I'm also on v2.82. I cannot reproduce this behaviour. I record a loop with 2 overdubs, then pressed the UNDO switch and only the 2nd overdub is deleted. I still hear the first overdub playing. I am using the 6-switch looper in post-position.

 

EDIT: I did notice something apparently wrong with the 1-switch looper. The description in the firmware v2.60 where the 1-switch looper was introduced. The release notes describe its operation and include this information:

 

While the 1 Switch Looper is in play or overdub mode, press and hold the switch for 1 second. The most recent recording is undone. Holding the switch again will redo the recording. On Helix, Helix Rack/Control, and HX Effects, “UNDO” or “REDO” briefly appears on the scribble strip. On Helix LT, “UNDO” or “REDO” briefly appears in Performance view.

 

I did the same test - record a loop and add two overdubs. (This time the looper was in pre-position but I doubt that's relevant.) The above description seems ambiguous to me. it says "the most recent recording is undone." I don't know whether that means the whole loop including overdubs is undone, or just the most recent overdub. In any case that doesn't seem to matter because it seems that nothing is undone. I still hear the loop with both overdubs.I do see the brief appearance of UNDO and REDO on the display as described but the loop playback is unaffected by holding the switch for 1 second.

[Fenderflame28]

Trying to get my head around the one button looper. I press it once, it records. Press it again and it plays back. Double tap and it stops. Press and hold and it deletes the loop. But here's the thing, when I press and hold it plays about a second of the loop before it clears. It's this a bug?

 

Ideally I want to stop the loop and then clear it (silently) without all the tap dancing that the six button looper entails.

[silverhead]

No, that's not a bug. Unfortunately that's the way it is designed to work. What you can do, knowing that this 1-second playback is going to happen when you hold down the switch, is turn down the output volume during that 1second (e.g. by using an EXP pedal assigned to a VOL block that is positioned after the Looper block).

[rd2rk]

6 hours ago, silverhead said:

I'm also on v2.82. I cannot reproduce this behaviour. I record a loop with 2 overdubs, then pressed the UNDO switch and only the 2nd overdub is deleted. I still hear the first overdub playing. I am using the 6-switch looper in post-position.

 

Since you couldn't dupe the problem, I was thinking it must be a problem in my Helix, I exported my setlists and impulses, then did a 9+10 reset. Re-imported my setlists and impulses, then rebooted. My setlists rebuilt on reboot, and I tried it again. No joy.

 

I can't see that I'm doing this wrong, but - I record a loop. Exit looper (still playing the loop) and change effects, record an overdub. Record another. After it plays through once or twice, while the original loop plus 2 overdubs is playing, I press UNDO. That should delete the second overdub, leaving just the original loop and one overdub. Then I tried recording a loop, recording an overdub, then stopping playback, exiting to change effects, starting playback, then recording a second overdub, then pressing UNDO. Again, both overdubs are gone.

 

Normally, when I play with loops, I do it in Reaper, e-z p-z. But this should work, darn it! Makes me crazy.

 

I'm going to call support and see if they can sort it out.

[silverhead]

OK - definitely something weird going on. After restarting Helix I duplicated the 1-switch looper test I described above. This time everything worked as expected The 1-second hold on the switch did, indeed, UNDO the most recent overdub (not the entire loop). Another 1-second press (REDO) restored the overdub. At least this all worked as expected while I was doing all this during without stopping the Looper. HOWEVER, after I stopped the loop playback and then restarted it I got the behaviour I described earlier - the 1-second press does nothing to the already recorded loop plus overdubs.

 

Perhaps you could test if there's any behaviour difference between doing all recording, overdubbing, undo and redo in a single looper 'session' and doing the same things over several looper sessions (defined by stopping looper playback but leaving the recording in place).

 

I think it's good to open a support ticket.

[rd2rk]

I finally figured it out. As usual Operator Error. Operator unable to fully comprehend incomplete/vague manual.

 

What the manual doesn't properly explain is the concept of DISCRETE OVERDUBS and LAYERED OVERDUBS.

Yes, I made up those terms, to describe the way the Looper actually works.

 

Once the initial loop is recorded, if you press RECORD/OVERDUB it SAVES the initial loop and goes straight into OVERDUB mode. You can record as many overdubs as you want, but if you press UNDO it deletes them ALL, leaving just the initial loop.

 

If you press PLAY/STOP, the initial loop and the LAYERED OVERDUB is SAVED as a DISCREET OVERDUB. That overdub can be deleted by pressing UNDO.

If you record further overdubs and press PLAY/STOP, THOSE overdubs, simple or layered, are saved as DISCREET OVERDUBS, become the most recent, and will be deleted by pressing UNDO, leaving the initial loop and any previously saved overdubs.

 

As long as you press PLAY/STOP between overdubs, a DISCRETE OVERDUB is created, and UNDO will delete only the last SAVED (DISCRETE) overdub.

 

I hope that makes sense.

 

I know, all the smart cats figured this out themselves long ago. Maybe because it's how standalone loopers work? Dunno, never used one.

 

However, I do not think that this is intuitive. The manual could have gone a bit more in depth about the process. If it did, and I missed that part, point me to that part of the manual, I don't see it.

 

As for me, I'll continue to use Reaper for loops. Much easier for me to deal with. Besides, I can never time the button presses right! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[silverhead]

Good troubleshooting and great explanation. Thanks.