Gauss Field Looper Brings Old-School Tape Looping To Your Mobile Device

Developer Bram Bos, in colaboration with synthesist Hainbach, has introduced Gauss, a new iOS app designed to bring old-school tape looping to mobile devices.

It works both standalone and as an Audio Unit effect plugin. Like real tape loops, Gauss takes you off the grid of your DAW: you can adjust tape speed and direction, even during recording. The flow of your loops will drift organically as the tape follows its own cyclical timeline.

It’s designed to mimic the behaviour. but not the sound, of magnetic tape. For example, recording on low tape speeds will give you longer recording time, but with lower recording quality.

Features:

  • designed as a standalone field recorder and an Audio Unit effect plugin (AUv3) in one package
  • universal app: plugin and standalone work on all iDevices, iOS11 and higher
  • variable tape speed; seamlessly change direction and speed during playback or recording
  • 4-step sequencer lets you trigger (polyrhythmic) tape-speed changes in sync with your host tempo
  • variable inertia for the tape drive motors (from instant to very slow speed changes)
  • built-in multi-mode filter with LFO modulation
  • delay effect with optional host-sync mode
  • β€œ1989” mode uses a special 8 bit/11KHz tape head for a last-century vintage digital sound
  • 45 seconds maximum loop size at 1x speed, proportionally longer at lower speeds (.e.g 90 seconds at half speed, etc.)
  • overdub at any speed or tape direction
  • plugin supports global cross-host preset handling (requires iOS13+, compatible AUv3 host)

Pricing and Availability

Gauss Field Looper is available now for $6.99.

13 thoughts on “Gauss Field Looper Brings Old-School Tape Looping To Your Mobile Device

  1. Instant buy. Nice app.
    The only criticism (with my iPad) is that the GUI is a 2/3 of the available screen, what a waste of space.
    I would prefer bigger knobs/buttons with the 100% of screen usage, for a better live usability.

  2. Awesome! Been going thru a sample everything/everywhere phase, especially extended ambiences like hmm, make a smoothie for breakfast, ok let’s record the whole process…so I bought this today. This app allows for so much beautiful freaky audio fun!

  3. Yeah, this thing is brilliant. Thanks, great that it’s standalone and just complex enough. Just tried some humming and chest thumping so far and Gauss made beautiful stuff out of it.

  4. a cool app but “old-school tape looping” to me also means something like Frippertronics style livelooping, and that would require a setting for feedback amount (or “decay”, or “regeneration”). I can’t believe they didn’t think of adding this simple feature that would make continuously changing soundscapes possible. Hopefully it will be added soon

      1. Hey Bram: y’better have it on the list to implement simple Feedback/Loop Aging/Loop Decay/whatever. Because AudioDamage’s Enso already does this, and you just *know* Chris Randall is never gonna let you live it down if you can’t. πŸ˜‰

  5. Yep, instant buy. Made some nice soundscape just with the sound of my shaking keys. And using it looping different apps with AUM its a delight to the ears.

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