Two instances of alfaloop run through a crossfader with various lo-fi effect options and some modulation capabilities. Can be used as a multi-fx chain without the loopers.
I like crossfades, and I like loopers, so this was bound to happen eventually. The basic architecture is as follows: Looper A and Looper B (each with their own control pages and dedicated record/overdub buttons) feed into a crossfader, which can be controlled manually or via sine/smooth random LFOs. The output of the fader goes into an FX chain in the following order: filter, distortion, delay, flanger, wow/flutter, reverb, sample rate reduction. An additional smooth random LFO can be used to modulate many of these effect settings. Mono input, stereo FX. Note that this patch takes a bit to load – don’t be alarmed.
Controls:
Press the AUX button to see the page layout; press the black keys while holding AUX to navigate to the respective page. Press the low C and D keys to start/stop recording for each looper, and C# and D# to start/stop overdubbing.
Page 1: Looper A
Knob 1: Feedback – leave at 100 to use as a looper, lower levels use as a delay or fade loop.
Knob 2: Ducking – sets level of loop relative to overdubs – loop is unaffected at 100, erased at 0.
Knob 3: Dry/Wet
Knob 4: A/B Fade position
Page 1: Looper B
Knob 1: Feedback
Knob 2: Ducking
Knob 3: Dry/Wet
Knob 4: Master Loop Level (pre-fx)
Page 3: Crossfader settings
Knob 1: Control source
Knob 2: Speed for LFOs
Knob 3/4: Min/Max fade position for LFOs
Page 4: Filter/Drive
Knob 1: Filter Type – various preset filter settings, ranging from off to increasingly muffled. Can be changed or added to via the ‘loss’ subpatch in the FX subpatch.
Knob 2: Drive Type – various preset waveshaping distortion settings. Again, can be altered/added to via the ‘drive’ subpatch within the FX subpatch.
Knob 3: Drive amount
Knob 4: Noise amount
High b key (note 83): Noise type
Page 5: Delay
Knob 1: Mix
Knob 2: Time – can get load at very short settings, but keep in mind that various effects such as chorus and interesting tuned delays can be attained with short delay times in conjunction with a brief decay time and the modulation options on page 7.
Knob 3: Decay
Knob 4: Damping – will filter repeats, leading to almost no volume at higher settings
Page 5: Tape
Knob 1: Stereo flanger mix
Knob 2: Wow
Knob 3: Flutter
Knob 4: Failure – random pitch fluctuations
Page 7: More FX
Knob 1: Depth of delay time modulation
Knob 2: Rate of delay time modulation
Knob 3: Reverb send – can crank it to get some crunch.
Knob 4: Sample rate reduction ratio – no effect at one, increasing mangling with lower ratio
Page 8: Random LFO
Knob 1: Target
Knob 2: Frequency
Knobs 3/4: Min/Max target values
High b key (note 83): LFO Off/On – Be sure to turn off if changing the target, otherwise it will change the values of anything you scroll past
Page 9: Times – WARNING: accessing this page can cause audio glitches – change these settings before beginning a loop.
Knob 1: Max Record Time: only change this if you want to use as a shorter delay
Knob 2: Loop record crossfade time – this can be used to get (relatively) seamless ambient loops. The looper will continue recording for half of the setting time after recording is ‘stopped’, so continue playing until you hear the loop begin. Keep it short for most uses.
Page 10: Presets
There you have it. The crossfader is a lot of fun for ambient stuff, but can also be used to pleasantly glitchy effect at higher speeds and with unrelated sounds on each looper. By leaving one looper empty and using the random crossfade you can get random drop outs in volume; using the sine option you can get a tremolo. Due to space limitations on the organelle interface, a lot of effect settings are hidden. If you want to change any of these defaults, there are relevant subpatches for the controls.
As usual, this patch is a big hodgepodge of other people’s work, all of whom I am grateful for.
This uses Silvain Poitras’ organelle adaptation of Marco Baumgartner’s ALFALOOP: https://patchstorage.com/looper/
@audivit’s generation loss module from orhack: https://patchstorage.com/orhack/
@samesimilar’s gen external of the Max 8 flanger example: https://patchstorage.com/squinewave-8/
@t8r’s plate reverb external:
https://patchstorage.com/datverb/
@baptiste’s page management system:
https://patchstorage.com/o-knob/
And probably more that I am forgetting!
An example with much craziness generated via the FX and crossfading; synth sounds from Elektron Digitone.
https://soundcloud.com/jason-borga-771355918/delocalization?si=05636cbc37c34399914a374b918c77df&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Could I suggest a change in name?
two aflaloops…
Alfalfaloop
Yes, so much better haha. Thanks!
this is sick ! i’ve been learning so much from reading your patches.