History of Electronic Music

Loop Pedals

A loop pedal is a digital sampler built into a foot-operated pedal which allows musicians, primarily guitarists, to be able to record a phrase of music and then loop it over and over again with the use of the foot pedal.
The loop pedal's origin came from tape looping, with the use of a reel to reel machine, recorded magnetic tape is cut end-to-end which then creates a loop which can then be played continuously. 
The sound that was looped however, was very short which, some musicians were fine with but other musicians would get two reel to reel machines and attach a longer piece of the magnetic tape in order to get a longer loop, which didn't actually create a longer loop but just created a giant echo. 
The modern method of looping however, is used with a loop pedal which is a much easier method than tape looping. 
Loop pedals can be a great asset to solo performers and one man bands who play the guitar or any instrument that requires an amplifier because it allows them to create layers of looped sound which can give them richer and deeper melodies and textures during their live performances.

There are various known musicians and artists who are known for using a loop pedal in their gigs/performances, here is a list of the known artists/musicians;

• Victor Wooten

Victor Wooten is a famous electric bass player who is known for his playing style, which includes techniques like slapping, muting, harmonics, tapping and playing chords on a bass guitar. In the video above, Victor is performing Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder and demonstrates many of these techniques, he starts by looping the chords of the song then afterwards he loops the bass line. 

Now that the foundation of the song has now been looped, Victor continues to plays the main melody of the song as well as improvising with chords and harmonics. At  3:05, Victor erases the previous sounds that he had looped and replaces it with a simple bass line and then continues to improvise over it.

• Ed Sheeran 

Ed Sheeran is an English singer-songwriter who began his music career in 2005 and moved to London in 2008 to pursue it further. His debut album '+' features a variety of songs it is literally just him and his guitar which makes him quite a unique young artist. 

In the video above, Ed is performing his song You Need Me, I Don't Need You with the use of his guitar along with his acoustic style of playing which usually involves himself using a loop pedal that is plugged in to his guitar as well as his microphone which he uses for beatboxing as well as singing long and short phrases to add effect as shown in the video.

The differences between Ed Sheeran's uses of the loop pedal compared to Victor Wooten's is that Ed tends to use more percussive techniques for example, hitting the bottom end of the guitar and looping to serve as the pattern of the kick drum. A similarity between the two players which is more unusual for Victor would be that they both loop chords and then play the melody over it.

• KT Tunstall

KT Tunstall is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. She began her career in 2000 and like Ed Sheeran, is known to play the guitar and sing.
In the video above, she is performing her song Black Horse & The Cherry Tree, she starts by looping the vocals and the beat as well as using the tambourine to make the foundation of the song then soon afterwards she starts to play the guitar and the lead vocal melody.

Between Ed and Victor's playing style with the loop pedal, KT Tunstall is very similar to Ed's playing style in the sense that, they both use percussive techniques on the guitar and they both loop vocal phrases but also, at the same time they are both very different artists. 

Different loop pedals include;
Boss RC-3 Loop Station
Boss RC-50 Loop Station (Image Below)

Akai E2 Headrush

VOX VDL1 Dynamic Looper Pedal Processor

Bibliography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_loop