Please, please, please make the next pedal released for the pedalboard a looper. Thanks Mike! You ROCK!!!

I'm very interested in doing this. My thoughts are that a looper/metronome/recorder module (not necessarily a pedal) could allow looping/recording of both the input and output signal. Looping the output signal has the advantage that you can change presets and build up a more complex loop. Looping/recording the input allows re-amping. I'm interested in any ideas people have to offer.

I use a looper pedal (Boomerang III) extensively during live solo performances. I've also played with a lot of different hardware and software loopers. Here are some random thoughts:

I think looping breaks down into either what I call utility looping, or performance/songwriting/jamming looping. Looper requirements for live performance are demanding, and require perfect loop "seams" and timing. Multiple loops are often needed, and synching loops has to be flawless. Hardware loopers reign here, although I've had a lot of luck using "Loopy Pro", an iPad-based software looper with deep functionality.

For studio/DAW use, I usually just use looping performance capabilities built into a DAW. This can be used for jamming and building parts. Most modern DAWs include some way to do this.

To do tight time-based performance loops, the user has to either 1) use a footswitch or MIDI controller to record the loop in "free" mode to their own tempo, or 2) record the loop to a metronome dictated by the looper.

I personally think the best use for a looper in S-Gear would as a utility looper to allow the user to record guitar input in a loop for testing presets and settings. Anything beyond this (looping for performance/songwriting/jamming) will require much more development effort, which could be spent on amps and fx/tone modules. Further, performance looping could be provided by other software for either guitar input or output.

My ten cents!

I like your idea of a multifaceted module (rather than a pedal) even better Mike. Here are two software loopers you might take a look at for ideas. It will be fun to see you work your magic coming up with a module that is simple, ultra-stable, and incredibly powerful/versatile.

Loopy Pro Overview:
Enso by Audio Damage:

Happy to be a sounding board if you wanted to kick ideas around. Thanks a million Mike!

Oh god oh god.
Mike, please don't be influenced by such super designed garbage. These things are probably created by artificial intelligence. You might as well stay with the equally horrible Reaper Super 8.
Should you have something like this in your mind, better design some more pedals.

I too have been using loopers for years, as far as a looper in S-Gear is concerned, it would be nice to have a simple looper for jamming or auditioning as John said. Save the intense stuff for amps etc.

I like the looper module idea. Just for basic looping/recording/metronome; doesn't have to be anything more complex that that imo.

Another view: while I understand the utility of beat/bar based loopers, if Scuffham is considering adding a looper please have a thought for those of us doing less rigid looping! For soundscape-type looping, having several loops available that are completely independent of each other's length or any tempo information is important. I want my loops to have fluid relationships and not always to repeat at the same or even related points. Thanks!

It's quickly obvious that adding a looper is not like adding an overdrive pedal or compressor. A looper has so many feature possibilities (and looper uses have so many different wants) that it could become a full-time job to develop and maintain a software looper that does more than the bare bone basics.

Example. There is a looper in my Helix Stomp. Its good enough for laying down a rhythm loop to play leads over, or to audition preset settings with both hands free. But I wouldn't use it for live performance; I use a dedicated looper for that. Still, there are always some users on the Line 6 forum asking for more looper features or complaining about the limited functionality. That's just the way it goes...

Good point. I use MSuperlooper (which is also bar/beat based) and Augustus Loop (which is great at free-running), so in fact I don't really need another looper anyway. Maybe in an amp sim the point really is just to ba able to record something and audition presets/changes, and any basic looping effect should work for that. But if it's a dedicated pedal, some more functionality might be indicated.

soundog wrote:

It's quickly obvious that adding a looper is not like adding an overdrive pedal or compressor. A looper has so many feature possibilities (and looper uses have so many different wants) that it could become a full-time job to develop and maintain a software looper that does more than the bare bone basics.

Example. There is a looper in my Helix Stomp. Its good enough for laying down a rhythm loop to play leads over, or to audition preset settings with both hands free. But I wouldn't use it for live performance; I use a dedicated looper for that. Still, there are always some users on the Line 6 forum asking for more looper features or complaining about the limited functionality. That's just the way it goes...

My two cents: I doubt Mike is thinking about an overly complex looper. He seems to follow the KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) ethos, to great effect!

A Looper with S-Gear would (for me) make an already brilliant program "Brillianter":

Native Instruments just released GuitarRig7 with a new Loop-Maschine feature.

I tried out the Demo-Versions of GuitarRig and S-Gear during the last couple of days, and even though GuitarRig offers tons of amps and plugins, the S-Gear sounded so natural. I could recreate the sounds that I love in no time without lacking punch or clarity.

The only thing that kept me sitting on the fence until I bought S-Gear yesterday was the loop machine, which is lots of fun to use.

Here's a link to the official online manual:
Guitar Rig Loop Maschine
The "auto grow" feature is a neat feature compared to hardware loopers.

So, I would also appreciate it if a looper would make it into S-Gear

Keep in mind that Native Instruments is BIG, with over 400 employees. I'm sure a significant number of those are software developers.