Loops

Hold a section — a vamp, an outro, a solo — until you decide to move on.

Loop the section you are in

Tap Loop under the timeline. It names the section it will hold: Loop Verse 2.

The button turns blue and reads Looping Verse 2 · tap to release. When the playhead reaches the end of the section it goes back to the start, and keeps doing so. The section's block on the timeline gets a blue outline, and the state at the top of the panel says Looping.

On a keyboard, press L.

Let it go

Tap the button again. The loop is switched off and the song simply carries on from wherever it is — off the end of the section and into the next one. Nothing jumps and nothing has to be timed.

So to play a chorus three times: start the loop any time during the first pass, and release it any time during the third.

How it works

Downstage loops a section by moving Live's own arrangement loop onto it and switching that on. The wrap from the end back to the start is made by Live, on the sample, every time — nothing crosses the network to make it happen, so it cannot drift or arrive late.

Three things follow from that:

• It works on any section, including one that has no locator.
• If the iPad or the network drops while a loop is on, Live keeps looping. Reconnect and release it as normal, or press the loop button in Live itself.
• Your loop bracket is put back. When you release, Downstage returns Live's loop brace to where you had it.

When a loop ends by itself

• If you jump somewhere else — another song, another section — the loop is released for you. The button never says Looping when Live is not.
• If you ask for a loop in the last instant of a section, Live may already be past the end when the request arrives. The loop does not catch, and the button goes back to Loop — try again on the next section.
• While a loop is held, Downstage does not move on to the next song at the end of the current one. Release the loop first.