Review: Looptastic HD for iPad

Music app has depth to act as a sketch pad, performance tool
4 out of 5 mice

For non-musicians unfamiliar with the ways music is made today, here’s a clue: It’s no longer necessary to play an instrument to create a musical composition. Another option it to piece together snippets of pre-recorded digital audio. This technique underlies a lot of what modern DJs and producers do. Sound Trends brings apps to iOS devices that allow you to do this kind of thing on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Its iPad effort is the $15 Looptastic HD, and true to its name, it’s a fairly “tastic” effort, allowing you to very easily piece together and mix tracks from a handful of audio loops.

The workflow is easy to grasp. Launch the app, tap a loop set (a set included with the app, one you’ve added via the Loop Store available within the app, or a set you’ve imported from your Mac over Wi-Fi), and, in the main screen, add and manipulate loops and effects. That main screen consists of a mix zone area, a crossfader controller, a bin for choosing other loop sets, an XY pad for controlling effects, and a list of effects that you can assign to one of the mix zones.

Loops at Your Fingertips: Looptastic HD’s interface features mix zones in the
center of the screen, the selected loop as a waveform on top, and the XY effects
pad on the bottom.