These days, guitarists, bassists and even vocalists and other musicians get a lot of use out of loopers. Looper pedals are great for rehearsing, jamming, writing, or performing complete solo shows. As the looper gains popularity, more specialised versions are offered for vocals or a combination of vocals and instruments. To find out exactly what a looper pedal is capable of and what the best kind of looper is for you, simply read this helpful Buyer’s Guide. If you can’t find the answer to your question here, feel free to contact us!
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1. What is a Looper?
In this context, loop literally means the endless repeating of a recording on a loop. In practice, a looper is a pedal that can be used to record something like a guitar riff and then repeat it endlessly, leaving your hands free to play and record a second guitar part over the top, and so on. This can come in useful if you want to jam on your own or try out some writing ideas, but there are a lot of musicians that use loopers in combination with a microphone or instrument to perform entire solo shows.
Besides guitarists, a lot of bassists and vocalists use looper effect pedals. Here and there, you might even come across some turntablists with a passion for guitar pedals that use a looper rather than a sampler. Some loopers can be used for any of the above, but there are also more specialised loopers that have been designed exclusively for stringed instruments or vocals. To find out if the looper you’ve got your eye on has been designed for what you want to use it for, always check the specifications on the product page.
Tip: When using a looper rhythmically, always make sure to hit record on the first beat of the bar and then hit stop/loop on the first beat of the following bar to make sure that your loop flows naturally, keeps in time and you don’t hear any weird noises during the transition from one repeat to the next.
2. For How Long Can I Record Myself with a Looper Pedal?
First, it’s important to figure out how much recording time you’re likely to want.
If you usually just play over a simple riff or short chord progression, then you’re not likely to need a looper that can record for more than a couple of minutes.
If you want to record the backing for an entire song in one go, then check the running time of your longest song. It’s unlikely that this will be over ten minutes.
If you really want to jam with yourself for a long time, then half an hour to 40 minutes of recording time will probably suit you better.
If you want to brainstorm new ideas without any limits so you can come up with some fresh material, then look for a pedal that can record for a full hour or more. Some pedals can even record for five hours or more.
The average looper pedal is often referred to as a mini-looper, comes in a small housing and can record just one track. This means that you can record a loop and then any overdubs you record over the top are recorded on the same, single track. This also means that you can’t mute specific loops since each loop is not separate. With these kinds of loopers, you can usually only ‘undo’ the last overdub or delete everything and just start all over again. While they’re limited, you can have a lot of fun with a mini-looper, even on stage.
There are also loopers with two or more tracks, so two or more simultaneous loops. With a guitar looper pedal with two tracks, you can do things like record the backing to the first track, then add some solo parts or melody to the second track. This way you can stop the backing on track one, leaving just the solo parts on track two looping, and vice versa. You can even set both tracks at different volumes, adding more dynamic potential to the looping performance.
4. Can You Get Looper Pedal with Built-In Backing Tracks?
Many loopers come with built-in drum patterns in various styles that can be played along with.
If you want more backing tracks, then you can also get pedals with a USB port so you can load in your own loops or backing tracks.
The newest design feature of some loopers is automatic backing tracks. Here, you can ‘tell’ the looper what to do, simply by playing your guitar, since the looper will generate a backing track based on what you’re playing. You can then record and stack your own parts over the top, just like with a normal looper.
If you want to make it more complex by working with something like soft synths, then you might be better off making the transition over to a laptop, audio-interface and a DAW like Ableton.
5. Do Looper Pedals Also Come with Built-In Effects?
Often, yes! A current trend in looper-land is to combine a looper with one or more effects. Delays and modulation effects, like chorus, are as popular as ever with guitarists and bassists, but you’ll also come across a number of other effects that have been combined with a looper, including the ability to completely flip a loop using ‘reverse’.
6. What Are the Stereo Inputs and Outputs of a Looper for?
Loopers with two outputs are used to send a stereo mix or to send two different tracks to two different devices. For example, one output can be used to send the lower pitched bass and/or a drum part that’s been recorded to one track to a bass amplifier, while the higher pitched guitar signal on another track is sent to a guitar amplifier. This way, the bass or drums are given more presence and won’t mess with your guitar signal, which in the early days of looping, could lead to unwanted distortion.
Some looper pedals come fitted with another two inputs. This is so that you can loop two different signals at the same time, like an external device and your instrument, two instruments, or vocals and an instrument, or you could even switch between instruments without having to mess with your set up and unplug anything.
Find the Right Looper
in No-Time with Our Gear Finder
Click on ‘Gear Finder’ and answer a few questions to get a clear overview of the Loopers that match the number of loops, recording time, format and budget that you’re looking for. Need time to think about it? We’ll mail over your tailored recommendations.
