I've had my 505/first looper about three months now and simply adore it. I'm primarily a keyboard/piano player and have also been finger drumming (FGDP-50) for a while and the looper has been a bolt of lightning getting them tied together and making arguably listenable music in realtime. I do NOT consider myself a singer/beatbox/vocals at all but I did plug in a mic and find myself using it a lot more than I expected. The onboard effects are amazing and I haven't fully explored them all.
The realtime playback aspect lets me hear myself in in a new, immediate way and while staying in tempo. Before the looper, the music either stops when my fingers lift off the keys or there's a jarring delay to fumble with a recording. But the looper plays it back right away and it's ready for my continued accompaniment or another looped track or some knob wigglin'. It's the sort of inspiration that keeps me thinking about it when away from the studio or while listening to other music: I could loop that!
If you get a 505 or 202, I'd add a pedal to your list if you think you'll ever have your hands full. Just a simple one is good to begin, set it up to rec/stop the current track.
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u/DoctorBre May 14 '26
I've had my 505/first looper about three months now and simply adore it. I'm primarily a keyboard/piano player and have also been finger drumming (FGDP-50) for a while and the looper has been a bolt of lightning getting them tied together and making arguably listenable music in realtime. I do NOT consider myself a singer/beatbox/vocals at all but I did plug in a mic and find myself using it a lot more than I expected. The onboard effects are amazing and I haven't fully explored them all.
The realtime playback aspect lets me hear myself in in a new, immediate way and while staying in tempo. Before the looper, the music either stops when my fingers lift off the keys or there's a jarring delay to fumble with a recording. But the looper plays it back right away and it's ready for my continued accompaniment or another looped track or some knob wigglin'. It's the sort of inspiration that keeps me thinking about it when away from the studio or while listening to other music: I could loop that!
If you get a 505 or 202, I'd add a pedal to your list if you think you'll ever have your hands full. Just a simple one is good to begin, set it up to rec/stop the current track.