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131

november 2015 Guitarist

eleCtro-HarMoNIX

a tap tempo switch. You can add a dedicated dual

Loop Controller footswitch (£65), which offers loop

selection – the loop up and loop down footswitches

move through the 100 loop banks either 1 or 10 banks

at a time. As well as loop recording being initiated by

footswitches, there is also a Trigger function, with a

user-set threshold, initiating recording the instant

you start playing. Once loops are recorded, there are

manipulations for each, taken care of with a pair of

backlit functions above each loop’s footswitch. One

button reverses the loop for backwards audio while the

other, the Octave button, plays the loop at either half

speed and pitched one octave down or double speed

and pitched one octave up. Tap tempo retains the loops’

pitch, time-stretching them to ﬁ t the new speed.

In Use

While there are straightforward knobs for input gain

and the levels of each loop, setting up is done by a turn-

and-push knob that scrolls through a set of eight modes

and edits the parameters in each, which are laid out in

the display. That turn-and-push knob and small display

have their work cut out engaging and indicating the

many functions of the pedal. Consequently, the 22500

isn’t very intuitive and studying the manual is essential

to set it up for how you want the looping to work.

The ﬁ rst step is to set up the loops to be freeform

(totally independent) or locked together. If you choose

the latter, you can then set the length of loop B as a

multiple of loop A (in whole numbers to a maximum

Tech Spec

ORIGIN: USA

TYPE: Looper pedal

FEATURES: Dual

stereo, drum loops,

optional recall, USB

CONTROLS: Loop A,

loop B, Input Gain,

phantom power, L input

mic/instrument, Mic

Trim knob, loop A,

loop B and Stop/Tap

footswitch

CONNECTIONS:

L (mono) and R, XLR

mic, foot controller

input, USB, SDHC

card slot

POWER: 9V 500mA DC

adaptor (supplied)

DIMENSIONS: 146 (w)

x 121 (d) x 64mm (h)

Electro-Harmonix

www.ehx.com

of nine times longer). The third step is whether you

want to quantize the loops (in beats-per-bar related

to the onboard rhythms), while the fourth step sets

whether you want the loops to play in parallel (playing

simultaneously) or sequential mode (only one loop

plays at a time ). You can also set loops A and B to play

as one-shots rather than looping continually.

Another useful parameter is like a delay’s feedback

parameter, but sets how fast (from 0 to 100) each loop

cycle fades away when overdubbing onto a loop: a

setting of 100 ensures that the previous version of a

loop remains at the same volume during an overdub.

Verdict

The 22500 offers a creative environment for recording,

layering and playing back loops for a reasonable price.

Once you get the hang of it, operating footswitches is

second nature and the 22500 becomes a potent tool

for home practice, songwriting (not least because of

that ﬁ le transfer) and live performance, where you can

choose to layer the two loops or play them sequentially

for a verse/chorus structure to make music over. Not

the most intuitive, but a lot of looper for the money.

LEFT The Signature

Echo is fully stocked

with knobs and

buttons for on-the-ﬂ y

tweakability of the 64

user-editable echo

patches onboard

PROS Powerful, puts the creative possibilities of having

two independent or linked loops into a compact, affordable box

CONS The menu navigation is ﬁ ddly and requires careful study

of the manual, and there’s no MIDI sync on this unit

LEFT

The Signature