The looper above turns your computer into a loop station. Plug your guitar in, record a part, and it plays back on repeat while you play over the top. Stack up layers, build a whole song across four tracks, and save it when you’re done. It runs entirely in your web browser: nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, and nothing you play is ever uploaded.
This guide covers everything, from your first loop to song sections, the click, saving and exporting, and why your loops stay perfectly in time even though every computer adds a little delay. If you want more guitar sounds to loop with, it pairs with our free guitar effects pedalboard, which has 24 pedals and a set of artist rigs.
🎸 What you need
- A guitar and cable. Electric, or an acoustic with a pickup.
- A way into the computer. A small USB audio interface with a guitar input gives the best sound and the least delay. A guitar-to-headset adapter in your laptop’s headphone jack works too.
- Wired headphones. Bluetooth headphones add a delay you’ll feel on every note.
- Chrome or Edge. Safari and Firefox work, but Chrome and Edge let you choose exactly where the sound comes out, and they support MIDI footswitches.
💡 No guitar handy?
Press Demo riff at the top of the looper. A built-in guitar riff plays in, so you can record it, overdub it and try every feature before you plug anything in.
⚡ Your first loop in a minute
- Press Start guitar and choose Allow when your browser asks to use the microphone. Your interface or headphone jack counts as one.
- Strum and check Level in. Turn your interface’s gain up until the bar moves well, but stop if the red Clip light flashes.
- Press the big Record button, or the space bar, and play a part: a chord progression, a riff, a rhythm.
- Press it again at the end of the part. The loop starts playing straight away, and the ring around the clock shows where you are in it.
- Press again to overdub. Play another part on top, then press again to stop adding. Each overdub becomes a new layer.
The first time you open the looper, a short setup guide walks you through how you’re plugged in and how you’re listening. You can reopen it any time from Help.
🔴 The big button
Like a real loop pedal, one button does almost everything. It always works on the selected track, the one with the coloured outline, and its label tells you what the next press will do.
| When the track is… | Pressing the big button… |
|---|---|
| Empty | Starts recording |
| Recording | Closes the loop and plays it |
| Playing | Starts an overdub on top |
| Overdubbing | Stops adding and keeps playing |
| Stopped | Plays it again |
Under it, Stop, Undo, Redo and Clear work on the selected track, and Play all or Stop all controls every track at once. While anything is recording, a red bar pins itself to the top of the screen with the time and a button to close the loop, so you always know when you’re being recorded.
🎼 Building a song with four tracks
Overdubbing piles layers onto one loop. Tracks keep parts separate, so you can turn the bass down, mute the lead, or undo one part without touching the others. Press + New track (or N) and the looper picks the next empty track and starts recording it.
- Selecting a track: click its number or waveform, or press 1 to 4. Shift with a number works the big button on that track directly.
- Each track’s own controls: Record, Stop, Undo, Mute, Solo, a volume slider and a pan slider. Double-click the pan slider to centre it.
- Longer tracks: record a part that runs twice as long as your first loop and it becomes a ×2 track, with faint lines showing where the first loop repeats. Great for a four-bar melody over a two-bar groove.
- Names: click a track’s name to rename it, such as Drums, Bass or Chorus.
🔄 How loops work: the four settings
Tracks: Locked to loop 1, or Free length
Locked (the default) makes every new track a whole number of first loops long. Stop a little early or late and it rounds to the nearest, so everything always stays together. Free length lets each track keep its own length, for loops that drift in and out against each other.
Play: Together, or One at a time
Together stacks every track. One at a time treats tracks like song sections: a verse on track 1, a chorus on track 2. Press Play or Record on another track and the looper waits for the end of the current part, then switches cleanly on the beat.
Snap to: Off, Bar or Loop
With Snap on, starts and stops wait for the next bar of the click or the top of the loop, which takes the pressure off your timing on the button. A press just after the line still counts as on it.
After recording: Play, or Overdub
Choose Overdub and closing a loop drops you straight into adding a layer, the way many loop pedals work, so you can keep building without an extra press.
⏱️ Keeping time: click, count-in and tempo
Press Start click (or M) for a metronome. Set the tempo by typing a BPM or tapping Tap (or T) in time, and choose 2, 3, 4 or 6 beats to the bar. The first beat of each bar has an accent, and the beat dots light up in time.
- Whole bars: with the click on, your first loop is rounded to whole bars, so it always loops in time even if your button press is a touch out. Close it a little early and the looper finishes the bar for you.
- Count in one bar: gives you a full bar of clicks, with big numbers on the clock, before recording starts.
- Tempo lock: once your first loop exists, the tempo locks to it so the click stays in time with your playing. Clear all to change it.
- Click after the fact: recorded a loop without the click? Turn it on and the looper works out the tempo that fits your loop.
- Never recorded: the click stays out of your loops, your exports and your takes.
Start recording when I play is the hands-free option: press the button, get your hand back on the guitar, and recording begins the instant you play your first note.
↩️ Undo, redo and clear
Undo (or Z) takes your last overdub off the selected track, or cancels one you’re in the middle of. You can step back through three overdubs per track and Redo (Shift + Z) them again. Clear (or C) removes a whole track, and the message that pops up has an Undo button if you change your mind. Clear all asks first, because it removes everything.
🎶 Half speed and reverse
½ speed plays a track at half speed, which drops it a full octave and makes it twice as long. Play a riff, switch it to half speed, and you have a bass line or a slow, dreamy pad. Reverse plays a track backwards, which turns ordinary chords into swelling, backwards-tape textures. To overdub onto one of these tracks, switch the effect off first.
🎛️ Your sound
The looper has six built-in sounds, borrowed from the pedalboard’s amps and effects: Clean, Crunch, Lead, Ambient (chorus, echoes in time with your tempo, and a big reverb), and Bass (octave down), which turns your guitar into a bass for looping bass lines. Direct leaves your guitar untouched, for when you already have your own pedals or amp modeller in front of the computer.
For the full set of tones, including Edge, Slash and Gilmour-style rigs, play through the pedalboard and record the result as a take. The Tuner button at the top gets you in tune first. For acoustic guitars without a pickup, our acoustic guitar tuner listens through your microphone instead.
Hear my guitar live lets you switch off hearing yourself through the looper while it still records you. Use it if your interface already lets you hear your guitar directly, so you don’t hear it twice.
🔌 Setting up input and output
Everything to do with plugging in lives in the Input, output and lag panel at the top. It folds away once you start looping, and the line beside its title tells you whether your guitar is on.
A USB audio interface
Plug the guitar into the interface’s guitar input, set Source to Interface, and choose it under Device. If your guitar only comes out of one side, set Channel to the input you’re using.
The laptop’s headphone jack
You’ll need a guitar-to-headset adapter: a guitar socket on one end and a four-ring (TRRS) 3.5 mm plug on the other, because the guitar goes in through the jack’s microphone contact. Set Source to Laptop jack, which brightens the sound a laptop’s mic input loses, and set your level with the microphone volume in your computer’s sound settings. A USB-C headset adapter works the same way and keeps your laptop speakers free.
Choosing speakers or headphones
In Chrome and Edge, Output device lets you send the sound exactly where you want, such as your interface’s headphone socket. On small laptop speakers, set Sound to Laptop speakers to trim the deep bass they can’t play. Macs switch their own speakers off while something is plugged into the headphone jack, so on a Mac use headphones, USB speakers or a USB-C adapter.
🎯 Lag, and why your loops still line up
Every computer takes a few milliseconds to bring your guitar in and send it back out. On its own that’s just a slight delay, but in a cheap software looper it’s worse: every overdub lands a little late, and after a few layers the loop smears. This looper measures that delay and takes it off everything it records, so every overdub sits exactly where you played it, layer after layer.
💡 Make it exact with Test lag
The looper starts with your browser’s estimate. For a perfect line-up, turn your volume down, connect a short cable from your interface’s output to its guitar input, and press Test lag. It plays five clicks, times how long they take to come back, and uses that from then on.
To keep the delay itself small, use wired headphones, close other tabs and apps that use sound, and turn off your interface’s direct monitoring or untick Hear my guitar live. Reduce lag runs a quick check of your setup and flags anything slowing you down, such as a Bluetooth output or mismatched sample rates. The pedalboard guide goes deeper into cutting lag on Windows and Mac.
💾 Saving, exporting and recording
- Kept automatically: your loops are saved in this browser as you go. Close the page, come back later, and the looper offers to load them again.
- Save session: keeps a named copy. Sessions lists them to load or delete, and can save one to a file so you can move it to another computer and open it there.
- Export mix (WAV): saves all your tracks mixed together, with their volume, pan, mute, solo, half speed and reverse settings, going round once, twice, four or eight times. The click isn’t included.
- Export tracks: saves each track as its own WAV file, one loop long, ready to drop into a recording app.
- Record a take: captures everything you hear, your live playing and the loops, as one audio file. It’s perfect for recording a jam or a solo over your loops.
⌨️ Footswitches and keyboard shortcuts
The space bar is your footswitch. It reacts the instant you press it, so your loop points land where you mean them. In Chrome and Edge, press MIDI and use Learn to link a MIDI foot controller to the big button, stop, undo, next track, new track, play all and the click, then loop hands-free.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Space | The big button: record, close, overdub or play |
| 1 to 4 | Select a track (add Shift to work its big button) |
| N | Record on the next empty track |
| S and A | Stop the selected track; play or stop all |
| Z and Shift + Z | Undo and redo an overdub |
| C | Clear the selected track |
| M and T | Click on or off; tap tempo |
| R | Record or stop a take |
| Esc and ? | Silence everything; open Help |
⭐ Tips for great loops
- Start with the foundation. Loop the rhythm first, then bass, then chords, then melody. It’s far easier to play in time against a steady groove.
- Press on the beat, not after it. Hit the button right on beat 1 of the next bar to close a loop. Turn the click and Snap on while you’re learning, and the looper rounds it for you.
- Keep the first loop short. Two or four bars is plenty. Short loops are easier to close cleanly, and longer parts can sit on ×2 tracks.
- Leave space. Every layer adds sound. Play softer, simpler parts on later tracks, and use each track’s volume to balance the mix.
- Write sections, not just layers. Switch Play to One at a time to build a verse and a chorus on separate tracks and move between them.
- Map out the chords. Looping a progression is a great way to practise soloing over it. Our circle of fifths tool helps you find chords that work together.
- Use the solo layer for practice. Loop your rhythm part, press Record a take, and record a few solos over it. Listen back and keep the best one.
🧰 Troubleshooting
Record doesn’t do anything
The looper needs something to record. Press Start guitar, or Demo riff to try it without one. If the browser blocked audio input, click the icon at the left of the address bar, allow the microphone, and press Start guitar again.
My overdubs sound late or doubled
Run Test lag so the looper knows your exact delay. If you hear your guitar twice when you play, turn off your interface’s direct monitoring, or untick Hear my guitar live.
The loop has a hiccup where it repeats
The loop was closed a little early or late. Undo isn’t needed: just Clear and record again, pressing right on the beat. With the click on, loops are rounded to whole bars, which removes the hiccup entirely.
It crackles or drops out
Your computer is struggling to keep up. Choose the Direct or Clean sound, close other tabs and apps, and plug a laptop into power.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Is the looper free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with nothing to buy, install or sign up for.
Is my playing uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything happens on your own computer. Your loops are stored in your browser, and files only leave it when you export or save them yourself.
How long can a loop be?
Your first loop can run up to a minute, and other tracks up to two minutes. Most great loops are only a few bars long, so you’re unlikely to hit the limit.
Can I use it with my own pedals or amp modeller?
Yes. Set your sound to Direct and the looper records exactly what comes in, with nothing added.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
It runs and fits on phones and tablets, and an iPhone or iPad with a guitar interface can work well. Most Android phones add too much delay to loop comfortably, so a laptop or desktop is the best bet.
Can I loop vocals or other instruments?
Yes. Anything your interface brings in can be looped: a microphone, a keyboard, a bass. Choose the Direct sound for anything that isn’t a guitar.
Ready to build your one-person band? Scroll up, press Start guitar and hit Record. When you want new sounds to loop with, the pedalboard is waiting, and the rest of our free tools are a click away.
