Live looping is the recording and playback of a piece of music in real-time using either dedicated hardware devices, called loopers or phrase samplers, or software running on a

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

with an

audio interface An audio interface is a piece of computer hardware that allows the input and output of audio signals to and from a host computer or recording device. Audio interfaces are closely related to computer sound cards, but whereas sound cards are opt ...

. Musicians can loop with either looping software or loop pedals, which are sold for tabletop and floor-based use.

History of the looping device

By the late 19th century,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

had heavily influenced popular music, encouraging musicians to experiment with rhythm, repetition, and

musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of Emotion, emotions and Musical technique, instrumental techn ...

. With the advent of sound recording on

gramophone record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

, invented in 1887 and first marketed in 1889, came the

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

and the development of pure

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

. On 1 October 1947,

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

became the first American musician to release music via tape broadcast. In 1953,

Les Paul Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz guitarist, jazz, country guitarist, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid body ...

demonstrated live looping on the television show Omnibus. In 1963, musician and performer

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

released an early

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...

piece called “The Gift”, featuring the trumpet playing of

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

. It was the first piece ever based on a tape delay/feedback system with two

Revox ReVox (on-logo styling REVOX) is a brand name, registered by Studer on 27 March 1951 for Switzerland, Swiss audio equipment. History The first Studer-designed tape recorders were branded Dynavox. After the first production series of Dynavox rec ...

tape recorders. (Riley used to call this system the Time Lag Accumulator. This name did not catch on amongst other performing musicians.)

Digital delay A digital delay line (or simply delay line, also called delay filter) is a discrete element in a digital filter, which allows a signal to be delayed by a number of samples. Delay lines are commonly used to delay audio signals feeding loudspeakers ...

systems in the 1980s were experimental and not intuitive, but the equipment's limitations inspired innovators of the technique to find creative applications. Even by the early 1990s, when dedicated loop machines first went on sale, the term "live looping" had not yet been coined. The first dedicated loop device was the Paradis LOOP Delay. The Paradis and other models had volatile memories, forcing composers to develop fresh loops live in front of their audiences — and thus, live looping came into existence. Roland and

DigiTech DOD Electronics, or simply DOD, also known as their brand name DigiTech, is an American manufacturing company that makes guitar effects pedals, as well as active crossover gear. DOD is owned by Cortek, the parent company of Cort Guitars. Thei ...

loop pedals entered the market in 2001, around the same time DJ mixing gained popularity. When the 2002 Repeater introduced real-time studio looping, looping devices became affordable enough for aspiring at-home composers to enjoy. As laptops gained popularity in 2004, computer software began to emulate the 1990s effects of early looping devices.

Modern live looping tools and applications

Live looping has become increasingly popular in recent history as it offers the ability for a single musician to create multiple layers to their live music, resulting in a sound close to that of a "full band" experience. Notable manufacturers of looping devices include

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

and

TC Electronic TC Electronic (sometimes stylized as t.c. electronic) is a Danish audio equipment company that designs and imports guitar effects, bass amplification, computer audio interfaces, audio plug-in software, live sound equalisers, studio and post-pro ...

Notable artists

In a 2012–13 poll of 1000 singers, 11% stated that they used live looping while 51% did not know what live looping was. Artists known for their use or advocacy of the technique include: *

Juana Molina Juana Rosario Molina Villafañe (; born 1 October 1961) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and former actress, based in Buenos Aires. She is known for her distinctive sound, considered an exponent of folktronica, although it has also been descr ...

KRNFX Terry Im (born May 13, 1989), better known by his stage name KRNFX (stylised krNfx; also pronounced "Korean FX"), is a Korean-Canadian beatboxer and singer. He is perhaps best known for his participation in the first season of '' Canada's Got Tal ...

Howie Day Howard Kern Day (born January 15, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. Beginning his career as a solo artist in the late 1990s, Day became known for his extensive touring and in-concert use of sampler (musical instrument), samplers and effect ...

Keller Williams Keller Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician who combines elements of bluegrass, folk, alternative rock, reggae, electronica/dance, jazz, funk, along with other assorted genres. He is often described as a 'one-man jam-band' ...

Boxwood ''Buxus'' is a genus of about seventy species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box and boxwood. The boxes are native to western and southern Europe, southwest, southern and eastern Asia, Africa, Madagascar, northernmost So ...

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

Mavka Mavka ( ) or Nyavka ( ) is a type of female spirit in Ukrainian folklore and mythology. The Mavka is a long-haired "Soul of the Forest", typically depicted as a temptress figure who lures men to their deaths. Terminology There is variation in ...

Dub FX Benjamin Stanford (born 11 June 1983), better known by his stage name Dub FX (stylised as ''Dub Fx'' or ''DubFx''), is an Australian musician and worldwide street performer. Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia,Moses, Allan (2010)Dubbing int ...

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

* Ambre McLean *

Jacob Moon Jacob Moon is a solo Canadian folk singer/songwriter and guitarist based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He has an extensive repertoire of songs, with nine albums to his credit. He has won many accolades and has been invited to perform for and w ...

* Amy X Neuburg *

Beardyman Darren Alexander Foreman (born 14 May 1982), better known as Beardyman, is an English musical producer, DJ, multivocalist, musician and comedian from London known for his beatboxer, beatboxing skills and use of live looping. Early life Darren ...

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two 2 ...

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

Kid Beyond Andrew Chaikin, better known by his stage name Kid Beyond, is an American singer, beatboxer, live looper and voice actor, based in the San Francisco area. Performances Kid Beyond has toured nationally with Imogen Heap. He has also performed at ...

Tune-Yards Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus (vocals, various instruments) and Nate Brenner (bass, various instruments). Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and use ...

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

* Spirit Cool * David Thomas Broughton *

Reggie Watts Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts (born March 23, 1972) is an American comedian, musician, beatboxer, and actor. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. He refers to himself as a "disinfo ...

THePETEBOX Peter Sampson, known professionally as THePETEBOX, is a live looping human beatbox artist from the UK. He was crowned the BBC Radio 1 beatbox champion in 2005. Career THePETEBOX uses a loop pedal to create songs using his vocal and beatboxin ...

French Kiwi Juice Vincent Fenton (born 26 March 1990), known professionally as French Kiwi Juice or the abbreviation FKJ (sometimes stylized Fkj), is a French multi-instrumentalist, singer, and musician from the city of Tours. He is known for his solo live performa ...

* Rick Walker * David Ford *

Netta Barzilai Netta Barzilai (, ; born 22 January 1993), also known mononymously as Netta, is an Israeli singer. After winning Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018#HaKokhav HaBa L'Eurovizion, the fifth season of ''HaKokhav HaBa'', she earned the right ...

* Val Vigoda *

Jarle Bernhoft Jarle Bernhoft (; Jarle Norman Bernhoft-Sjødin; born 21 June 1976), known professionally as Bernhoft (often stylized as Bern/hoft), is a Norwegian singer, musician and songwriter. His best known songs are "Streetlights", " Shout" (a Tears for ...

* Marc Rebillet *

Tash Sultana Taj Hendrix "Tash" Sultana (born 15 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer, described as a " one-person band". Sultana rose to international prominence with their 2016 single "Jungle", which was ...

Theresa Andersson Theresa Andersson (born 11 September 1971) is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. History General Andersson came to New Orleans in 1990 to play violin with fellow singer-songwriter and Swede, Anders Osborne. Nine years later, she ...

* Sam Perry *Bernhard Wagner * Andre La Fosse * Michael Peters * Leander Reininghaus * Hideki Nakanishi (aka MANDOMAN) * Joel Gilardini * Emmanuel Reveneau (aka Brain Integrative Project) *

SungBeats ''Sung Lee'', professionally known as ''SungBeats'', is a beatboxer, live looper, and content creator based in New York City. He is best known for winning Amateur Night at the Apollo (Season 80), and the ''American Beatbox Championships'', Loo ...

Fabio Anile Fabio is a given name descended from Latin ''Fabius'' and very popular in Italy and Latin America (due to Italian migration). The name is written without an accent in Italian and Spanish, but is usually accented in Portuguese as ''Fábio'' (with t ...

Andrew Bird Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing musi ...

* Masnada Lilian

References

{{Reflist

External links

Live Looping tools and technique

Music looping

History of the looping device

Modern live looping tools and applications

Notable artists

See also

References

External links