Loopy iOS

[Philip Clevenger <phil.clevenger@gmail.com>]

Hey I just wanted to share some thoughts about the iOS looping app called 
"Loopy."

I've spent the last couple of days getting fairly deep with it, as part of 
the process of (finally) trying to grok making music on iOS devices.

There are things it does well, and some it does less well, like any 
looper. That caveat aside, the main thing I take away from my Loopy 
experience is this: the UI is just wonderful.

I have wished so many times for the various VST loopers (Echoloop, Mobius, 
Ableton, are there others?) to have such an interface. Large, nuanced, 
visually meaningful. In fact, I have not yet taken the time to set up MIDI 
foot control, but the touch UI is so effective that I can do most things 
gesturally without interrupting my play (Decay being one exception - it 
and Reverse are both just a tad more hidden than I would like). But the 
visual rendering of the loop waveform, showing in real time what's 
happening as one overdubs, decays, merges etc., just so very helpful. The 
layout, lack of clutter, the lovely visual style; all top marks from me 
(I'm a career UI designer FWIW).

So.. hats off to Loopy and its developers/designers, and I recommend this 
app to anyone who wants to loop on iOS. 

And VST developers out there, think about it… go large, go visual, make it 
beautiful. There's just no reason VST interfaces need to be so small and 
niggly ;)

Best,

Phil :)