The Secret Life of Loopers

When Liam Finn made his solo debut at the inaugural Camp A Low Hum in 2007, he was armed with only a guitar, a drum kit… and a looping pedal, a device that allows musicians to layer sounds on the fly, adding rhythms, harmonies and/or textures to transform a one-man band set-up into big band proportions. 

Built for lean times, live looping has come into favour around the world in recent years, as musicians have used looping to multiply their musical powers.

Sam Wicks finds out more about the background and use of this ‘band in a box’ item of equipment, and goes in search of resourceful local practitioners building sounds bigger than the sum of their parts.