Looper Pedals – What They Are and What You Can Do With Them

Guitar effects pedals have come a long way from simple overdrives. Today there are dozens of different effects you can put in your chain that will impact your signal in various ways. Some bring a more obvious change, while others are subtle.

With that said, looper pedals are probably among the most practical guitar effects you can get at this moment. Unlike others, looper pedals actually give you a whole new dimension of creativity to work with, producing some pretty interesting results. If you're not really sure what looper pedals are, or you've just heard of them, you are in the right place. Our mission today is to explain exactly what looper pedals do, and how you can use them to achieve some incredible effects.

What Are Looper Pedals?

When you really think about it, looper pedals is a genius device. In most cases, it looks just like any other guitar effect stompbox, but what it does is vastly different than anything out there. In simplest terms, a looper pedal allows you to record short segments and loop them over and over. length of these segments depends on the model of the pedal, but in most cases, you can record at least one bar of just about any song.

There are several types of looper pedals on the market at the moment. The most basic type will give you one loop to work with, and these pedals are mostly meant to be used as a tool that allows you to insert interesting details into your song. Next are pedals that allow you to record several loops and layer them on top of each other.

This is the most popular kind of looper pedals as it opens up your creative ability. Lastly, there are looper pedals that sport additional effects. What these additional effects will be largely depends on the exact model of the pedal. If you want to learn more about different models of looper pedals, check out this little guide here ‘Who Makes The Best Looper Pedals?

So How Does This Help You As A Guitar Player?

It's quite simple. For example, you can record the lead guitar riff using a looper pedal, and then jam along with it. You can pretty much create any kind of backing loop, whether it's from your guitar or an MP3 player. However, that is not all these pedals are capable of.

Most looper pedals will allow you to record multiple passages of music and layer them on top of each other. Each layer can be an instrument, or in some cases a microphone as well. What you can create with looper pedals can be a rather simple composition or a complex masterpiece. It's completely up to you.

One of the more popular uses for a looper pedal is to create music with acoustic guitars. What people usually do is create a percussion layer by tapping on the top of the acoustic guitar. Next layer is usually a rhythm riff of some kind and so on. If you let your imagination run wild for a while, you can make incredible pieces of music in no time using just one pedal, an acoustic guitar, and an amp.

Aside from being used to give you a whole different dimension of creativity to work with, looper pedals are an awesome practice tool. Have you ever tried playing a particularly hard solo, only to get stuck on a certain part? Well, using a looper pedal you can record the section which you are already comfortable playing, and then loop that part over and over. As that loop runs, you can spend time practicing the part which is giving you trouble.

Conclusion

There is a strong argument to be made in favor of looper pedals. On a grand scale of things, these pedals are probably the most versatile pieces of gear a guitar player can have. Unlike its the case with other effects stompboxes, a looper pedal alone is all you need to create great songs. The fact it works well with just about any instrument is an incredible feature.

You can use any kind of amplified guitar, but you can also use your microphone, which is what a lot of people do. If you are open to new things, getting a looper pedal can really expand your horizons and give you a valuable tool which you can use to transform ideas into impressive compositions.

With all this stuff out of the way, we'd like to point out that we also delved deep into today's market in pursuit for the crème de la crème of this domain across a variety of price ranges. We singled out a string of champions worthy of your consideration, so feel free to check out our list of Best Looper Pedals