Loop pedal what is

We hit the record button again or the stop record button on some models , and the looper stops recording.

At this stage, most loopers will automatically begin looping the recorded audio, continuing to do so until we hit the stop button.

Most looper pedals will also allow us to overdub on top of the established loop. Some will even automatically go into overdub mode as soon as they start looping. Stompbox-style loopers are the smaller type of looper pedals. These are typically comparable to other compact stompbox guitar effects pedals and relatively simple.

I personally use the ultra-compact TC Electronic Ditto Looper link to check the price on Amazon to write lead lines over chords, to practice my theory chord-scale relationships and harmony , and to help develop musical ideas.

The Ditto processed bit uncompressed high-quality audio and has a single knob to control the loop level. This little pedal is awesome in the practice room but is a little difficult to control with precision live especially when it comes time to stop and clear the loop it will sometimes re-trigger the loop when I go to clear it.

Though compact, the RC-3 is mightily powerful with upwards of 3 hours of It can store 99 pre-recorded loops in its memory and features a built-in drum loop machine with 10 rhythms and tap tempo.

Loop stations are larger units for more advanced looping. They offer more control with overdubbing, engaging and disengaging overdubbed loops, having multiple recording loops to record over, additional effects, and much more. Many loop stations can also sync up to clocks via MIDI to help with loop timing and effects if the pedal offers effects. It has two loop tracks that respond the same as the aforementioned Ditto, along with a master stop button to make stopping the loop s easy.

The decay knob controls the amount of volume reduction that occurs each time an overdub is repeated, allowing overdubs to remain in the loop permanently dialled all the way up or gradually disappear from the loops. Loops can be stored on either loop 1 or 2 for recall. Loops can be played one at a time in Serial mode, allowing distinct loops to be switched back and forth.

Sync mode allows both to be played simultaneously. The pedal featured 7 loop FX to further improve the sonic possibilities of the Ditto X4.

These effects are:. The Boss RC link to check the price on Amazon is perhaps the most powerful loop station on the market. The pedal also features dozens of onboard rhythms to loop and play along to.

It also has an all-start and all-stop control. These effects include:. The aux input allows us to record practically any audio sound for looping. In my research, I went looking for an analog looper pedal to see if they existed. It still records the loop to a digital chip. It would take 25 ms analog delay pedals to hold the loop that this thing can play. Note that, in many pedals, these controls are accessible via the same footswitch, only by different triggers single or double-tap, hold, etc.

This restarts the loop that is stored in recent memory or the loop that has been loaded from memory. This removes the loop from the looper channel, allowing us to start recording a new loop rather than starting the stored loop anew. This allows up to undo an overdub or, in more advanced pedals, remove other loops from the main output.

There are plenty of additional effects that can be programmed into a looper pedal. Common ones include half-time, double-time and reverse. Looping can be difficult to get just right. You can see that it only has one footswitch which is used to control the loop functions. In future lessons we will look at more complicated loops and functions so for now, all you need is the ability to record and playback which is possible in every looper pedal.

Some pedals offer the ability to Quantize your loop which would avoid timing issues — but for this lesson we will assume your looper pedal cannot quantize. Being able to set up a loop without having to rely on a quantize function is an important skill everybody should learn.

If your loop pedal has a quantize function, I recommend turning it off for these exercises. This exercise will get you used to opening and closing the loop. You will start thinking about timing without having to stress about complicated rhythms.

In this basic loop we want the chord choose any chord you feel comfortable with to ring out for four beats then end the loop so it starts the chord again on beat 1. To create this loop, you need to hit the looper footswitch, strum the chord, count out the four beats, then hit the footswitch again at the very end of the bar. For this exercise, simply practice counting the beat out in your head or out loud.

Practice this until you can easily count the beat out while playing and hit the footswitch at the right time. In this exercise we simply pick a chord in this example A minor , then strum it eight times to give up two full bars in the loop. At the end of the second bar, we hit the looper footswitch to end the loop. If you time your footswitch hits properly, you will end up with a smooth loop as can be heard below:.

Notice that the space between the last chord and the first repeat is seamless? You want your loop to end just in time so it starts right back on the first beat. Practice this exercise until you can confidently play the part and hit the end of the loop at the exact time so the rhythm continues seamlessly. The most important part of creating a loop is to make sure the loop finishes at the right point.

A loop pedal requires you to push a footswitch at the start of the loop, then again when you want the loop to finish. Your job is to time it so the end of the loop is at the right position. Being able to keep a steady rhythm is important for a loop and timing the end point of the loop is crucial.

Fortunately with a bit of practice you will be able to easily time your loop perfectly without the need for quantizing. In this exercise we will take a standard blues shuffle and create a longer loop you can use to improvise over. The end point of the loop is after the second repeat of the A groove. This means you will end up with four bars in the loop — two bars in E and two bars in A. Most looper pedals will have a long enough loop time to allow this.

Just like the previous exercise, try to time the end point of the loop so the rhythm continues without any pauses or skips. Once you have your loop set up and the rhythm continues seamlessly on each repeat, you can then experiment with improvising over the top of the loop.

Experiment with different scales and jam along with the loop just like you would a backing track. Once you feel confident in creating a basic loop and timing the end point so the rhythm continues seamlessly, you can start to experiment with overdubbing.

Once you have a loop set up, you can hit the record or overdub footswitch again to record over the top of the loop. This is a great function that lets you build up very rich loops. Live guitarists often use this feature to build up complicated backing tracks all recorded one part at a time on the loop. This band-in-a-box solution provides two tracks for switchable song parts, as well as plenty of real-time adjustable drum grooves. The RC10R also features the ability to store up to 99 loops, so there is plenty of space to get creative.

Stereo inputs and outputs and a whopping 12 minutes of recording time round out the feature set, while your last loop is stored in the pedal even after you turn it off.

This super-compact mini pedal features a bright LED screen for real-time feedback, a whopping minutes of loop time, and bit audio quality. With a small footprint, clever new features and a substantial amount of recording time, this pedal is definitely worth checking out. With this series being an almighty hit, it was only a matter of time until the iconic RC got the treatment, and thus the RC was born. This newly designed looper takes everything you loved about the RC and brings it into the modern day.

Now sporting an extra footswitch for selecting a track, there is no need to learn how to tap-dance to operate this pedal. The Boss stereo looper engine boasts a whopping 13 hours of recording time with bit audio quality.

If that wasn't enough, it also features studio-quality effects and in-built rhythms, with 16 different drum kits and 57 preset rhythms. What more do you need?

You can record 10 independent loops, which can be switched between using an external three-button foot controller.

The ease of use makes this EHX effort a winner, as do its silent footswitches and loop fadeout trails mode. The key USP of this triple-footswitched offering is Sync Multi, which allows you to set the length of loop two to be one, two, three, four or six times the length of loop one - for keen loopmasters, this is an absolute boon for more complicated arrangements.

There are plenty of other stage-ready features, too: auto-recording where the pedal automatically starts recording when you start playing , count-in and an expression pedal, which you can assign to a whole host of parameters. You can even quantize your loops, add effects including transpose, flanger, phaser, modulator and vocal effects , while there are a wealth of rhythm patterns, too.

Dismiss the ludicrously tiny Wally Plus at your peril: it may be less than half the size of some other compact loopers, but it is positively feature-rammed. Besides its no-nonsense loop functionality, it can load and save sounds via USB, as well as dynamically change the speed of loops, slowing them down or speeding them up via the onboard tempo knob - music to the ears of more experimental players.

A must-have for crowded pedalboards. If you must have the most fully featured looper on the market, look no further than this behemoth from HeadRush. Looping on your own is one thing, but keeping your loops in time with a band adds another level of difficulty, which is where TC Electronic steps in with the Ditto Jam X2, which cleverly keeps up with your rhythm section. All the loopers we've included in our round-up of the best looper pedals have several key features in common.

Most importantly, each pedal on this list boats unlimited overdubs. This means that you can stack as many tracks as you wish on top of each other - the sky is the limit!

One of the most important factors to think about when choosing the best looper pedal for you is how many tracks you need. A single-track looper is a perfect sketchpad for songwriters working out lead parts or even harmonies. They can also be used to excellent effect when you want to embellish the odd section or use it on a song or two in your live set. If you see yourself as the next KT Tunstall or Ed Sheeran, then a multi-track looper is what you need. These loopers can come with two, three or even four tracks, allowing you to set up different song sections verse, chorus, bridge, etc.