Fading Out a Loop
 

One of the things I hate about my loop pedal (RC-3) is that when you stop it, it instantly stops. Yes, I know that's what it's supposed to do! But it doesn't seem natural at the end of a song. As in some songs you want it to fade out. I recently read about the EHX 720, which has an option to fade out, which I would love. "But" I also like to start and stop my loop while playing. So if you were to do that with EHX 720 every time you stop it would fade. That's not what I want either. I was wondering if anyone uses a volume pedal at the end of there signal chain to fade out their loops? About the only way I can think of to make it work with a fade. Then go back and kill your looper while the volume was down. Ideas?

Volume pedal after the looper?

Volume Pedal
 

Yes, at the end of the signal chain before amplification. When you're done playing and your loop is running just roll the volume down and fade it out.

That would also allow you to set the volume of the loop dynamically. It is my observation that loop rigs are among some of the most personalized rigs out there. There's no reason you couldn't experiment with it.

Bob

'Fade out' endings don't work well in live shows. Reminds me of the old American Bandstand tv show where the bands would be lipsynching and as the song faded they'd all be looking at each other wondering what to do. Fade-outs were used on single 'hits' a lot to cut down the length of them, where the band might have continued on for another minute
LJ's idea above is the best one.

Some loopers have a fade-out function, which can be handy. I agree, a full fade is pretty weird live, but you can also combine it with Larry's technique, play in unison with loop, start the fade and keep playing. Fade a bit, then kill the loop. That will make the drop in volume (maybe) a bit less obvious. May not work everywhere, but it's one more trick to have up your sleeve as long as you have a looper that can fade out.

BTW, I do several examples of stopping a loop, while hopefully creating a somewhat natural ending by continuing to play in real time as the loop ends in the article I did for AG on looping recently: (Also, for those interested in ToneDexter, it got some use in this video as well)

http://acousticguitar.com/a-guide-to...w-to-use-them/

Loop Fade
 

Thank you everyone for the great suggestions. Great playing Doug and a fantastic video and article! Very informative!

I'm a single player so I have to be the rhythm, percussion, vocals, etc. I don't do a lot of soloing mainly because my soloing abilities are limited (but I'm working on it!). Singing has been my forte and to add something to my show I play most of my lead or melody breaks on harmonica. So my main use for a looper is timing. What I was trying to accomplish was to stop my guitar playing and gently have the rhythm track fade out, not so much for guitar parts to fade out. But I have songs that I start and stop my percussion tracks during the song. That's where the problem lies. Never seen a looper you could fade and also completely stop. Like when you stop playing a guitar the sustain of the guitar gives it a natural fade. When you stomp a looper there's no sustain ringing out, it's just an abrupt stop. It never sounded natural to me. I'll do some more experimenting and see what I can come up with.

Thank you everyone!

Thanks, glad my demo was useful.

The Boomerang III can fade and stop - separate buttons, or just let it fade to zero. I think the Boss RC-300 can as well. Here's an interesting video of the pigtronix showing various ways of stopping:

https://pigtronix.com/infinity/

I believe the pigtronics also supports an expression pedal that can control volume. For that matter, you could just put a volume pedal after any looper and control the fade yourself.

Fading a Loop
 

That Infinity is amazing!
I think we'll have to work our way up to something like that.
Thank you for sharing.

I use a Ditto X2 and manually fade out with my foot while controlling the live sound by picking dynamics. I've loved doing live fadeouts forever and it was natural for me to start doing it this way when I bought the Ditto back in June.

Fade out for guitar looper
 

Hi there...
I had the same need with my Boss RC-1 and VE-8 so I build a little device that fade out the input sound.
It’s like to have an external pedal volume that automatically fade out...!
This is the link on instructables https://www.instructables.com/Fade-f...molo-for-Free/
It’s possible to build just the fade-out circuit and insert inside the looper: I did for the VE-8 and I’m planning to do on the RC-1.
Hope this can help.

The problem with using the volume pedal idea is if your guitar is chained through the looper, as most folks would do, It also fades your "live" instrument, which you may not want to do.

The fade works well with the EHX-720, but there are a few problems with using it effectively. The fade time is universal and the fade time settings are not the same as the fade number setting, so you have to get creative with figuring out your fade times. You can simply stop your loop if you use an auxiliary foot switch, but that can also be problematic.

I recently switched to the new EHX-1440 which doubles the total time to 23 minutes and gives you 20 storage locations.

More importantly, the EHX-1440 has several revisions to the more primitive 720.

Since it has a direct display, now the loop fades can be set directly in the number of seconds you want. More importantly, each loop fade time can be set independently, so no more need to use a universal fade time. They don't even explain this in the user manual or the sales blurb for the 1440, but this can be a big deal for the user.

I use my looper with the left and right sides hosting two amps, guitar or other instrument on the left and my bass amp and bass through the right side.

Yes, a volume pedal can be used, but think carefully about how you actually want to use your looper. It may simply be adding another device that you don't need to use.

I don't get anyone who thinks it's unnatural to fade the "start" of a song. I would never use a looper fade like that. Hit the stop for the last part of your B section or course and fade naturally to the end. You wouldn't want to fade from the top of the loop normally.

Fade outs are fun. A good way
To get your band to cooperate.
Learning to fade out live involves
Everyone. A vol pedal is a good
Way to do this live and solo.
I'm able to set the ratio of fade
( the amount of travel vs the decrease
In vol.) with my helix stomp which is handy.