Tips & Tricks

1. Looptastic is easy to use, but surprisingly deep. Here are some insider tips for creating more exciting performances.

Quick Mix
You don’t need to wait for all the sounds to load before starting to mix. As soon as a loop icon lights up, you can drag it to the playing field and begin your performance. You can even drag unloaded sounds there; they’ll start to play as soon as they’ve loaded. (This technique works best with percussive loops.)


You don’t have to wait for loops to load before starting your performance.

Hello, I’ll Be Your Fader

Play the Extremes
The Looptastic crossfader is a lot more expressive than you’d think. Tap the extreme right and left edges of the fader on the beat to create DJ-style transform effects. (Try tapping the filter screen on offbeats, too.)

Cue & Evolve
Move the fader all the way to one side, cue up some loops in the silent zone, and then snap the fader over to the silent side on the next downbeat. That will transition to a new section in your song. Repeat this left-right, cue-and-snap movement to keep the mix evolving.

Instant Breakdown
Put all the loops except a vocal into one side zone, and then quickly crossfade to the other side to solo the vocal. (Keeping a subtle hi-hat pulse going in the center zone — which always plays — helps propel the mix along.) Now drag loops horizontally from the silent zone into the center zone, one by one, to start building up your track again.


Right now, only the vocal (right zone) and hi-hat (center zone) are playing. Dragging loops horizontally from the silent zone (left) adds them back to the mix, creating a build.

No-Stress Recording
Unlike most music apps, in which you click Record and then pray you perform something good, Looptastic is always listening. In Looptastic, you hit Record after you’ve played something great, knowing Looptastic has already captured it. This retro-recording design eliminates the “red light jitters” so many performers get.

Producer’s Cut
With the flagship Looptastic Producer app, you can really personalize your mix by importing your own sounds over Wi-Fi. (We call it Mashup to Go.) Looptastic automatically time-stretches your loops so they play in sync, but there’s also a hidden sound-bite feature: Before import, change the mode to One Shot on your computer. That disables the time-stretching so your sound bite plays normally. By setting the loop length, you can control how often it repeats.


Set sound bites to One Shot mode and Looptastic Producer will play them at the original speed. Control how often the phrase repeats by picking a bar length.

Export Control
One of our biggest customer requests was for a way to export recordings as high-res audio files. That’s now possible in all versions of Looptastic. (Except the free one, although even it captures your performance moves, so you can still record the iPhone’s analog output.) You can burn exported files directly to CD.

 Got a hot tip? Send it in! We’ll feature the best ones here, along with a link to your site or YouTube demo.

Support

Is there an easier way to create new LoopSets out of my own loops?

Yes. You can use the SetMaker tool to build the LoopSet. You can download it at http://www.soundtrends.com/zip/SetMaker.zip

Where do I see how to work the software? Is there a manual?

 We are working on more text-based documentation. However, you may find even more helpful information on our soundtrends YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/soundtrends.

I have an iPhone 2G and am having trouble making the app work.

We are working on a fix for this ASAP, so that most of the features in the app will work on this older device. Note that recording features will not work on the older 2G models as cited in the feature list above.

How do I transfer loop sets from another version of Looptastic into Looptastic Producer?

Version 3.1.1 of Looptastic enables you to transfer loops you purchased in Looptastic Gold or as part of Looptastic Edition into Producer. Here are the steps to make the transfer:

1. Make sure you are running version 3.1.1 by updating your Looptastic apps to the current version. Use the "Check for Updates" feature in iTunes or download the update on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Version 3.1.1 of Looptastic Gold and Producer went live April 8, 2010. Version 3.1.1 of the Looptastic Editions, went live May 4, 2010.
2. Open the version of Looptastic you want to transfer from. Once you get to the main screen, you can quit.
3. Open Looptastic Producer, press the Loop Store button and then the Restore button. Looptastic will then download all the needed loop sets. This may take several minutes based on your connection speed and the number of loops to download.

How do I restore Loop Sets I purchased on another device or on the same device?

From the main screen, press the Loop Store button followed by the restore button. Looptastic will then download the loop sets you purchased again. This may take several minutes based on your connection speed and the number of loops to download.

I’m having trouble uploading; what should I do?

It is important that your device have a valid Wi-Fi connection and be on the same Wi-Fi Network as your computer.

If your device is saying it is unable to establish a connection, try restarting it using the following steps:

1. Hold the power button at the top for 5 seconds
2. Swipe the "slide to power off" slider.
3. Wait for the device to power down.
4. Press the power button again.

You may want to try setting up an ad hoc Wi-Fi network between your computer and your device. On the Mac, the steps are as follows:

1. Click on the Wi-Fi icon on the menu.
2. Choose Create Network. Choose a name for your network and click OK.
3. On your device, open the settings. Choose the network you created in step 2.
4. Open Looptastic and press the Import/Export button.
5. On your computer open a browser with the address shown on the device screen (for example, http://169.254.237.89:8080). At this point you should see the Looptastic web page.

I don’t hear the sound. What’s wrong?

1. If you are running iPhone or iPod OS 3.0, make sure you update to the latest version of Looptastic. We have fixed the incompatibility in version 2.1.0 of Looptastic.
2. Make sure your iPhone is not in silent (vibrate only) mode.
3. Make sure the volume is turned up.
4. Make sure that you have moved the loops (colored squares) to the top of the screen so that they play at full volume.

Do I have the rights to use my Looptastic composition for commercial use?

Sound Trends grants you a license to use your musical creation made from Looptastic, on a world-wide, royalty-free basis. This grant applies to sounds you acquire with the application or through the Loop Store. If you acquire loops from other sources, you will need to secure the rights to use that material as well. You may not resell the individual loops as separate parts--you only have permission to use the completed music composition.

I’m having trouble with audio breakups or the application closes by itself. How do I fix this?

Try restarting your iPhone or iPod Touch to free up memory:

1. Hold down the power button.
2. Swipe the slide to power off.
3. Wait for the unit to power down and then press the power button again.

What is the best way to create loops for Producer?

There are several good ways to create loops. Both Ableton Live and Sony Acid allow you to export tracks individually. This is very helpful for creating separate parts at the same length and tempo.

You can also use Apple GarageBand to prepare loops for Looptastic. The key is set up a 4- or 8-bar section and use the looped playback feature to set a range. Then, solo one track and export your mix to a AIFF file. Repeat for each track in your arrangement.

Here are some freeware loop editors that may help:

Mac:
Loop Editor
Audacity

PC:
Wavosaur (Tutorial)
Audacity

The tempo is off; what do I do?

For best results, use loops that have a similar or identical tempo. Also, use loops that are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, or 32 bars in length. Looptastic Producer will do its best to line everything up automatically. If all else fails, make each track the same length.

Where can I get some loops?

Here are three demo sets developed by Adam Smith Kipnis that you can download and use with Looptastic Producer.

Operator
Kickit
Electric

Still having problems? Email us: support@soundtrends.com