Glou-Glou Loupé - Looper Pedal

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

Glou-Glou just announced their new Looper.

Loupé3-product
Loupé3-product1200×800 145 KB

https://glou-glou.org/loupe/

OVERVIEW

  • 48khz / 24bit Stereo audio
  • 32 MB of RAM (86 seconds)
  • 2 Selectable Line / Mic Input
  • Pulse Sync Out, adjustable PPQ
  • Expression pedal Input with 3 dedicated modes
  • 9 assignable switches (5 footswitch + 4 tactswitch) can be individually set to toggle or sustain
  • Switch configurations are stored in 100 GAMES (50 factory, 50 user).
  • Classic EDP* Functions: Record, Overdub, Replace, Multiply, Insert, Trig, Mute, Start.
  • Up to 127 levels of Undo.
  • ReadFX: Pitch, Reverse, Stutter, Drift, Auto-Follow, Redux, Pitch Modulation (Sine, Random)
  • Adjustable High Pass and Low Pass filters in the feedback loop.
  • Adjustable Quantization of Functions and ReadFX.
  • Unique SCROLL function lets you move the playback loop around in the memory.
  • Audio Bootloader for easy update (future versions of the os).

*Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro

FUNCTIONS
All of the following functions can be assigned to any switch, and for each switch you can choose between Toggle and Sustain behaviour.

Some Functions have variants that can be unquantized or quantized to either the Quantize-Clock(/Q) or to the Bar-Clock(/B). The Quantize-Clock can be set to whole, half, quarter, eighth, or sixteenth notes.

  • Record, Record BPM (preset tempo): Record a first loop
  • Overdub, /B, /Q: Add layers to your loop
  • Replace, /B, /Q: Replace part (or all) of your loop
  • Substitute, /B, /Q: Same as Replace except that new material is played on the following cycle
  • Insert, /B, /Q: Lengthen your loop by inserting new material
  • Instut, /B, /Q: Copy part of your loop and instantly insert it
  • Multiply, /R, /B, /Q*: Change loop length (shorter or longer) by multiplying it while overdubbing
  • Stack, /R, /B, /Q: Spread your overdubs out over several cycles
  • Pause: Pause playback (and sync out)
  • Mute, /B, /Q: Mute audio output (sync out still runs)
  • Mutrig, /B, /Q: Mute then Trigger your loop (sync out stops on mute, resumes on trigger)
  • Start, /Q: Set your loop start point,
  • Trig, /Q: Trigger loop from the start point
  • Undo: Erase the latest function, (up to 127 levels)
  • Reset: Puts loupé in ready state, to start a new loop from scratch
  • Scroll: Shift the loop-window back and forth in increments from whole to sixteenth notes

READFX
To set up ReadFX, select values from the following parameters:

  • Toggle/Sustain: Set switch behaviour
  • Dry/Wet: Set the volume balance of the effect in relation to the dry sound (10/0 to 0/10)
  • Feedback: ReadFX can be fed into the feedback path letting you record the result (0 to 10)
  • Pitch: Change playback speed in semitones (-12 to +12)
  • Reverse: Read loop backwards. Either stay in the loop or use infinite mode
  • Stutter: Create mini-loops of rhythmic* length or micro loops at pitch intervals (E1-E4)
  • Auto-Follow: Automatically retrigger Pitch, Stutter and Reverse at rhythmic* intervals
  • Drift: Set speed at which Stutter-loop start-point shifts over time, either backwards or forwards
  • LFO: Affects pitch. Set Shape (sine, random), Rate and Amount
  • Redux: Change the playback sample rate for a lo-fi sound

All these effects can be combined, allowing complex combinations such as:[Reverse] + [Pitch+12] + [Stutter 8th note dotted] + [Auto-Follow 1] + [LFO sine, 1hz, amount 8]

*Rhythmic intervals: 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 all values have triplet, dotted, quintuplet and septuplet modifiers (quintuplet and septuplet are actually groupings of five and seven of the relevant subdivision)

GAMES
Loupé has 100 memory slots (50 factory, 50 user) called Games. Each Game contains a switch configuration and global parameter settings. One such switch configuration is printed on the pedal, but any combination is possible! This lets you build a custom setup tailored to your specific needs or taste. Games can be selected and edited on the fly without affecting loop playback. Switch parameters can be copy-pasted from one to another, and Games can be copied to other slots, allowing you to explore variations of complex Games without having to manually reassign every parameter. These are the global parameters associated with each Game:

  • QuantDiv: Set the Quantize-Clock (1, 2, 4, 8, 16)
  • Sync: Set Pulse Per Quarter note output (off, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 24, 48)
  • ScrollDiv: Set the increment of loop-window shifting (1, 2, 4, 8, 16)
  • LPF: Low-pass filter (20hz – 24khz)
  • HPF: High-pass filter (20hz – 24khz)
  • ForceDry: Distinct mode suited to looping with continuous sources (radio, video…)
  • Exp: Choose between three modes for the expression pedal (Feedback, Swell1, Swell2)
10 Likes
#2

To me, this looks like a dream looper. It is very configurable. There are 9 assignable switches, with some nice functions to pick from. There are also saved states called “Games”, where you can save your assigned switches, along with some global parameters. And you can switch between the Games without affecting your current loop. The FX list looks nice as well. There is a scroll function to move the playback loop around. HP and LP filters. 127 levels of undo. Also looks like it is stereo as well. This one ticks all the boxes for me, and then some.

2 Likes
#3

Isn’t “loupé” the past participle of “to mess up” or “to flunk”?

7 Likes
#4

I don’t really know the meaning. I just popped it into google translate, and it came up as a French word for magnifying glass.

#5

That’s “loupe” without the accent on the “e”. “loupé” should come from “louper”. But they’re French, they know what they’re doing (which might be playing a joke on non-French speakers, that has been known to happen).

3 Likes
#6

:man_shrugging:

#7

I need this!

#8

A modern looper without midi sync seems like a waste of otherwise great ideas!

Edit: as I’ve since commented. I’ve changed my mind about this statement and this pedal. It’s more of a tape-like sampler echoplex, and “looper” is an over-simplification for it.

6 Likes
#9

Yeah loupé means messed up, or missed. Obviously it’s a joke with the loop word : )

I just bought a rendez vous pedal from glou glou, if their looper is as good as the rendez vous it could be a blooper killer…

3 Likes
#10

I don’t think anything is a “___” killer. Workflow, size, features, x-factor, etc… Different things click for different people and/or use cases. That said, without midi sync, it cuts out a whole class of use cases.

#11

Yeah, a lot of my complaints about the Blooper seemed to have been addressed here with the Loupé. The Blooper still has some cool features this one does not, like the ability to export layers of loops now.

#12

Oooooooof…

Going to be hard not to buy this. GlouGlou are godlike geniuses. Pralines is possibly my most favourite pedal ever.

1 Like
#13

This is true, not having Midi will be a deal break for some. For the way I work, it is not an issue at all though. It does have sync out, so a converter could be used.

1 Like
#14

Yeah. I think it could be wrangled. I work with and without sync with both a Blooper and a Boomerang III. There are plenty of situations without sync… but anytime my OT is involved (which is most of the time) it’s just a must, unless going for other textures, which this is just too large to add to a live rig.

Now… after typing a rebuttal… watch this thing wind up on my studio desk. :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#15

It’s weird, they just sent me your tracking number. Looks like it will be delivered to you on Tuesday!

1 Like
#16

With no MIDI and only a Pulse Sync Out, this pedal clearly wants to be the clock master.

Unfortunately, Octatrack also loves to be the clock master, at least based on past reported issues, in which it misbehaved when syncing to another device as clock master.

Also unfortunately - for me - the above downsides are not a deterrent to me. Because I have no problem using this thing without the Octatrack, or vice versa…

I bought my Headrush E2 looper thinking that i’d use with Octatrack. But over time, I just never found the need to use another looper together with Octatrack at the same time. I’ve never been super enthusiastic about building up music, one loop at a time, in a live setting, which is a typical use case - like the guitarist who lays down a loop or two for chords, then plays his blues solos on top, or the violin player who loops a bass line with some kind of octaver, adds more loops, and usually ends up sounding like some variation of Pachebel Canon. This kind of “from one loop up approach” is more useful to me in private than in public. I’d rather make my multi-layered loop stuff at home, then edit that, then have something preloaded into the Octatrack or OP-1 for playback.

Back to the Glou-Glou… Implementation of classic EDP functions which are still rarely found in today’s loopers is a selling point for me as well.

My wallet is starting to sweat.

3 Likes
#17

You’re lucky it’s just your wallet sweating. This meat covered skeleton is raining buckets into the abyss.

7 Likes
#18

I like how this company will, ostensibly, develop their pedals until they are i) loaded with features, and ii) large/heavy enough to bludgeon large animals to death with.

3 Likes
#19

This thing looks incredible. The lack of midi is a bit of a head scratcher but then I just remembered the follow tempo function in Live 11 and I wonder if that would work, as that’s the world I mostly live in. Haven’t experimented with it at all, anyone else?

Any mention of price anywhere?

1 Like
#20

I wonder if it will have a relatively lightweight plastic/polycarbonate shell like the Pralines? That pedal (the only GlouGlou I own) is full of features and covered in high quality metal knobs but is relatively light for its size.