Tape loop: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetative, rhythmic musical patterns. A measure of recorded magnetic tape is cut and spliced to end to end, creating a circle or loop which can be played continuously.

Simultaneous playing of tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms was developed and initially used by musique concrète and tape music composers, and was utilized by Steve Reich (phasing) and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Pop musicians, most notably The Beatles and Pink Floyd have used tape loops on their albums.

Brian Eno's and Robert Fripp's Frippertronics is one of the earliest examples of using tape loops produced on stage during live performance. Another early live tape loop pioneer was Mission of Burma, who combined the use of loops with the chance theories of John Cage, often feeding back into the mix snippets of vocals and guitar passages recorded only moments before. These effects were often combined with glissando, a technique wherein the playback speed of the loop is increased or decreased over time.

Digital sampling--which can generally provide similar results with less effort--overtook much tape loop use, beginning in the early 1980s. Some musicians and composers, however, continue to use tape loops for various reasons.