Instruments

An instrument turns MIDI notes into sound. Looper Studio has two built-in instruments, LS Drums and LS Bass. Both are synthesized, so they need no sample files. You can also use third-party instruments.

To play and record an instrument, see Record MIDI.

Where instruments go

An instrument goes in the instrument slot of a MIDI track. Each MIDI track has one instrument slot.

• In the plugin drawer, the instrument card comes first, before the PRE FX chain. The instrument's sound then goes through the track's effects. See Effects and plugins.
• In the mixer, a MIDI track's strip has an INSTRUMENT row.
• Audio tracks, buses and Master have no instrument slot. If you try to put an instrument there, the app says Instruments go on a MIDI track.

Add an instrument

1. Select the MIDI track.
2. Open the Add popover in one of these ways:
   • In the mixer, click the strip's empty INSTRUMENT row.
   • In the plugin drawer, click +. On a MIDI track with no instrument, + opens the instruments list.
   • In the Play drawer, click Instrument.
3. The header says Instrument for and the track name. Choose a category: All, Recent, Built-in or AU / VST3 (AUv3 on iPad).
4. Click Choose on a built-in instrument, or Add on a third-party one. You can also double-click it.

You can type in Search instruments… to find an instrument by name.

Replace or remove an instrument

• In the mixer, right-click the INSTRUMENT row and choose Replace… or Remove.
• In the plugin drawer, click × on the instrument card.
• Adding a new instrument replaces the one in the slot.

For a third-party instrument, click the filled INSTRUMENT row in the mixer to open the instrument's own window.

Play an instrument

• Play it from a MIDI keyboard or pad controller. The track must listen to that MIDI input.
• Click Play drawer (the piano icon) in the bottom bar. It has pads and keys that play the armed MIDI track. See Record MIDI.
• Tap a pad on the LS Drums card, or a key on the LS Bass card, to hear it.

LS Drums

Drums and percussion on 16 pads, with choke groups.

The card has three parts:

• KIT: the kit picker, the pad layout picker, and the kit Level and Pitch.
• PADS: 16 pads. The heading shows which notes play them, for example PADS · GM 36–51. Click a pad to hear it and to select it. A pad flashes when it plays.
• PAD: the controls of the selected pad, for example PAD · KICK.

Kits

A new LS Drums starts on 808 Classic. When you pick a kit, it sets all 16 pads to that kit's values.

The kit menu also lists Rock and Jazz brushes under LATER — recorded kits. They are greyed out and marked Needs samples. You cannot pick them yet.

The kit menu

Click the kit picker to open the kit menu.

When you change a pad, the menu shows changed next to the current kit, and the kit picker shows a dot.

Your changes to a kit are saved with the song. A factory kit never changes.

My Kits are saved on this computer, in the app's settings folder. Every song on this computer lists them. A song that uses one of your kits keeps its own copy of the pad settings, so it plays the same on another computer.

Pads

The pads play the General MIDI drum notes 36 to 51.

Choke groups

A hit on a pad in a choke group cuts every other pad in that group that still rings. This is how a closed hi-hat cuts an open one.

• In the five drum kits, Closed HH, Pedal HH and Open HH are in the Hats group.
• In Percussion, Tri Mute, Tri Open and Shaker are in the Hats group.
• All other pads start with None. Use Group 2 and Group 3 for your own groups.

LS Drums controls

Use your pad controller

Your controller's pads may send other notes than 36 to 51. LS Drums can learn them. The controller is the MIDI input that the track listens to. The PADS heading then shows its name.

Choose a pad layout

Click the pad layout picker in the KIT area:

With no MIDI controller, the menu says No MIDI controller and its items are greyed out.

Teach a pad

1. Right-click a pad on the card. On iPad, touch and hold the pad.
2. Choose Learn from controller. The pad says Hit a pad….
3. Hit a pad on your controller. The card pad now shows that note and learned.

Press Esc to cancel.

The pad menu also has:

• Set note…: type a MIDI note from 0 to 127 for this pad. Needs a controller.
• Preview: plays the pad.
• Reset to General MIDI: puts this pad back on its General MIDI note. Needs a controller.

A pad map belongs to the controller, not to the kit or the song. It works in every song and with every kit. The app turns your controller's notes into General MIDI notes before it records them. So a recorded clip plays the same on any computer, with any controller.

LS Bass

Synth bass, mono or poly, with glide.

The card has three groups of controls (SOUND, FILTER and AMP) and a keyboard strip. Click a key to hear it. Use the arrows to move the keyboard up or down an octave. The line under the keys says how the sound plays. For example: 808 Sub plays one note at a time and glides between held notes.

Sounds

Click the sound picker to choose a sound. Each sound sets all the controls, except Voice.

A new LS Bass starts on 808 Sub.

The sound menu also lists Electric Bass and Upright Bass under LATER — recorded. They are greyed out and marked Needs samples. You cannot pick them yet.

Your changes to a sound are saved with the song.

Mono and Poly

LS Bass controls

The defaults are the 808 Sub values.

Third-party instruments

You can use third-party instruments in the same slot:

A third-party instrument card shows the maker and format, with INST. Click Open editor to open the instrument's own window. Its controls are in that window, not on the card.

For how the app finds and scans plugins, see Scanning for plugins.

Turn off the built-in instruments

Go to Settings → General → Instruments and turn off Built-in instruments. This setting is marked Experimental. It is on by default.

When it is off:

• LS Drums and LS Bass do not show when you choose an instrument. The instruments list opens on AU / VST3.
• The Play drawer button leaves the bottom bar.
• A track that already uses LS Drums or LS Bass keeps playing.

See Settings.