Any suggestions to get Basinski-esque decaying loops over time from ER-301?

I wish to get that decaying tape loop feeling. I am sure there are several ways to do that with ER-301.
I would like to do that without involving other modules, only using the units from ER-301.

any detailed recipes are appreciated !

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I’m trying the same, so I’ll just revive this thread…

My idea was: Manual Loops Unit → Degradation (for instance LP EQ) → Dub Looper.

Manual Loops and Dub Looper are sharing the same buffer (loaded sample) and are synced to the same clock (3s interval = loop length). I set the Dub Looper to 100% DUB (input completely overwrites the old buffer contents).

My idea was:

  1. Manual Loops plays back the initial buffer content (sample)
  2. EQ reduces high frequencies
  3. Dub Looper records the EQed signal (= replaces the buffer content with it)
  4. Manual Loops plays back the EQed signal… and so on, so each loop becomes more muffled.

Unfortunately this doesn’t work at all. When I listen to the Dub Looper’s output (move WET from 0 to 1) this signal is pitched higher than the original loop, which I don’t understand. When I engage the recording (PUNCH) the audio is pitched down and the level fades to zero within one second, which I don’t understand either. I tried to insert a microDelay after the Manual Loops clock input to delay the play head, but that doesn’t change anything.

Any idea why this isn’t working – or if this could be achieved a different way?

All the recording units play back their buffers at the system rate (48kHz or 96kHz). There is no resampling in these recording units. The Manual Looper on the other hand will resample the buffer as it is playing it back.

I haven’t tried it but I think the play head (i.e. the Manual Looper’s play head) needs to be after the record head not before. The wording is difficult but what I mean is that the play head needs to be running ahead of the record head. So that implies putting the uDelay on the Dub Looper’s reset?

Thanks, Brian! That solved at least a part of the problem…

Pitch Shift: I can compensate for the pitch shifting with the V/Oct setting in Manual Loops. I thought it should be (48/44,1) x 120 cent = 130 cent, but to my ear about 150 cent sounds way closer, so I think I got the maths wrong?

Play Head Shift: Of course you’re right. Inserting the Micro Delay after the Dub Looper’s reset works… – almost. The only problem now is that this Delay creates an audible glitch at the reset point while recording (Punch active). I tried to get rid of it by raising the fade times, but this only helps for the first repeats. With each loop repetition the glitches add up, so after a few repetitions they get audible again.

So it feels like it’s close to working, but nevertheless the glitches make it unusable. Any idea how to get rid of the artefacts?

My Trash Echo unit does degrading loops:

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Yes, thanks, but as far as I understood your Custom Unit is like an effect that emulates wow, flutter etc. instantaneously, right? What I’m trying to achieve (and I think the OP as well) is a unit that changes a loop more and more over time. Inserting any kind of “treatment units” into the signal chain in between Manual Loops (Play head) and Dub Looper (Recording head) would also allow for non typical tape fx.

The latest version degrades more with each pass of the loop

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Alright, I’ll give it a try, thanks! Perhaps it can also help to answer some of my questions.

I haven’t tried it with the latest firmware but hopefully it’ll work.
The realtime tape effect is a different custom unit. This one inserts that effect in the feedback path of a delay that can be set to longer lengths, so basically loops

I tried Trash Echo and Trash Tape and though they are great, they’re not what I want: Trash Echo is an echo, which produces layered echoes, not just one loop. Trash Tape is a realtime fx which doesn’t allow for stronger degradation over time.

Which brings me back to my initial questions, mainly: Is there any way to avoid the audible glitches at the reset point caused by the shared buffer between Manual Loops and Dub Looper?