Midilooper
Most of us will have heard of a device called audio looper. It’s an essential part of many live performance acts. Electronic performers often want more flexibility and work with MIDI. This way they are not just triggering sounds, but they are free to tweak knobs and change parameters on the fly. Bastl Instruments took that idea and developed a little box that makes audio-style looping work with MIDI. They call it the MidiLooper!
Essentially this cute little box will loop MIDI in and out – synced via analog or MIDI clock. This way you get everything you are used to from looping audio, plus a few things that you can only do when working with MIDI. And here’s the kicker: Since this is MIDI, you are free to modulate the MIDI messages even AFTER they leave the Midilooper box. And last but not least, there’s analog integration in the box, meaning CV and trigger ins can also modulate MIDI. I’m really excited about that feature!
Here’s a rundown of the features:
- 3 independent voices (each has MIDI channel assigned)
- overdub/overwrite
- transpose mode
- octave transpose
- quantize, velocity lock, shuffle, humanize
- odd looplengths, time stretch
- mute, clear, erase
- one MIDI Input and two MIDI Outputs
- clock input (accepts analog clock or TRS MIDI Clock)
- analog reset input
- metronome output
- CV input connectivity (transpose, velocity, re-trigger)
- pedal control (record, clear, voice selection)
- USB powered
- adjustable divider/multiplier for analog clock
Now before you order it expecting to be able sequence all your gear with it, but this is not what the Midilooper is. For this use case I would look at my trusty Squarp Hermod – or if you didn’t dive in to the wonderful world of Eurorack – the big sister: Squarp Pyramid. Nevertheless the Midilooper is an exceptional little device when you are thinking about performing live or generally love jamming with MIDI.
You can find more infos on the Midilooper Bastl’s website – it’s shipping now and you can order it for €289 including VAT in Europe direct, or try your local dealer.
