Folks, let me tell you a secret: I sing. I sing all the damn time. It’s a good job I work at home all by myself, because if I worked in an office I’d drive my colleagues crazy by singing at them all the time.
And since the birth of the App Store, I’ve been looking for a looper. A looper, for those who don’t know, is a musical effects pedal that grabs a short snippet of audio and, well, loops it. Over and over again. And lets you record another loop on top. Repeat, ad lib to fade.
It’s a quick and easy way to do clever things live on stage, and fun things when you’re trying to write new songs.
There’s been a load of apps that promised some kind of looping capability, and I’ve tried a bunch of them and never found anything that really nailed it. Looping needs to be ultra-simple, instantaneous and spontaneous. None of the apps I tried made that possible. None of them until Everyday Looper.
To understand what Everyday Looper does, watch this quick video. The demonstrator is speaking and singing in French but that doesn’t matter, you’ll get the idea:
I’ve been playing with Everyday Looper for a few hours now and I’m addicted. Yes, it requires a bit of getting used to (mainly learning all the touch/swipe commands). But after a little practice you can start putting songs together and having fun.
Once you’ve made something you like, there’s a built-in web server so you can connect to the phone from your desktop computer and copy over the finished song files.
Everyday Looper costs five bucks but if you are interested in music making with loops, I think it’s five bucks that you won’t regret spending.
Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He also writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. You can find out more at his website, and follow him on Twitter @gilest.
