Live looping
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 with an audio interface. In the early days of looping, before hardware loopers were available, musicians would create loops with tape recorders. Live looping has become increasing 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". Notable manufacturers of looping devices are: Boss Corporation, DigiTech, TC-Helicon, Boomerang, Electro-Harmonix (EHX), Line 6, Pigtronix, and Vox.
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 Ed Sheeran, Dub FX, MC Xander, Mylets, Ambre McLean,Jacob Moon,Amy X Neuburg,Beardyman,Kimbra,KT Tunstall,Kid Beyond,Tune-Yards,David Torn and Reggie Watts.