I recently experimented with an improvised bass loop using a T.C. Electronics Ditto looper pedal I’ve had sitting around for a while. Of course, it was tons of fun. I originally bought the pedal to run simple bass line loops at the front of my pedalboard. It’s helpful for fine-tuning tones and settings without having to play bass at the same time. However, so far I’ve only used it as a test simulator in the studio. I’d secretly been wanting to play around with it more creatively for a while. I wish I hadn’t waited, as live looping is a ton of fun!

Accordingly, I took the plunge and improvised a quick composition live on the spot.  One pass, under a camera’s eye, with the record light on for a bit of pressure.  Enjoy!

To Loop BAck…

It was fun building a loop in realtime like I do more methodically in a modern DAW application like Logic or Pro Tools. Even moreso only being able to rely on my bass for the sounds.  Additionally, the ever-ticking clock made me dig a lot deeper as an instrumentalist to come up with something harmonically and compositionally meaningful. As a result, I’m going to leave the Ditto on my board and start using it for a few practice items each day:

• Rhythmic drills
  (put a click down, treat it as the 3 of a measure, for example, then fill in the remaining beats w/o dropping time)
• Melodic improvisation
  (comp in interesting chord progressions and practice lines/solos atop/underneath)
• Live songwriting/arranging improvisation
  (let it all hang out for a bit and see what happens)

If you’ve been using one of these loopers for a while and have some great advice to share I’m all ears, please hit me up down below or DM on Instagram (@sfegette). I’m admittedly quite fascinated with the possibilities here.