The Living Looper: Rethinking the Musical Loop as a Machine Action-Perception Loop

We describe the Living Looper, a real-time software system for prediction and continuation of audio signals in the format of a looping pedal. Each of several channels is activated by a footswitch and repeats or continues incoming audio using neural synthesis. The live looping pedal format is familiar to electric guitarists and electronic musicians, which helps the instrument to serve as a boundary object for musicians and technologists of different backgrounds. Each Living Loop channel learns in the context of what the other channels are doing, including those which are momentarily controlled by human players. This leads to shifting networks of agency and control between players and Living Loops. In this paper we present the ongoing design of the Living Looper as well as preliminary encounters with musicians in a workshop and concert setting.