GL100

Throughout MOOER’s track record of producing electric guitar pedals, the company has put a lot of its innovative prowess into its range of loop pedals, including 2023’s VP3 Loopation. Ever since, MOOER’s engineers have been hard at work designing the GL100, a feature-packed dual-footswitch stereo phrase looper and drum machine that has far more on offer than its younger looper siblings.

Perhaps the most impressive upgrade that MOOER has integrated into the GL100 is the sheer amount of looping time that this pedal can provide. In total, the pedal supports 300 minutes of looping time, all of which can be manually or automatically saved into 100 different storage slots.

The two footswitches are the primary means for controlling this feature, used through short presses and holds to trigger phrase recording, playback, overdubs, cancellations, and, most impressively, undo and redos. Most importantly, the pedal’s position-jumping function gives users the flexibility to switch between storage slots with the footswitches while performing, providing them with the potential to perform fully structured loop-based music.

In synchronization with the phrase looper, users of the GL100 can also leverage the pedal’s integrated drum machine, which contains 11 variations of 20 different drum pattern styles in various time signatures. Ultimately, this ensures that just about every musical genre is covered, regardless of whether it’s for music performance, rehearsals, or simply experimenting at home. It’s very simple to use, being triggerable with the device’s footswitches, editable through the touchscreen, and, of course, tap-tempo synchronizable. Four different stop modes are also provided to facilitate perfect drum machine endings. More still, for the first time, MOOER has integrated its AI Band Technology feature, an intelligent accompaniment system that automatically matches suitable drum patterns based on the character of real-time guitar input, facilitating control-free synchronization.

Notably, MOOER has also made a serious effort to ensure that it is easy to record the perfect loop with the GL100. For example, the count-in function is very easy to use, as is the auto-record feature, which allows users to capture perfect loops by triggering it based on signal detection, preventing the need for perfectly timed footswitch presses. Better still, this signal detection feature can be toggled on or off with a single button press, and the signal threshold is easily adjustable, helping to support instruments of varying signal ranges.

A simple footswitch press also primes the pedal for various drum synchronization features, triggering the drum pattern to stop after one bar, repeat, or reset the looper, making it easy to perfect the loop’s ending and creation–not just the beginning. To aid in this, an internal quantizer function is active to ensure that users always trigger and stop recording perfectly, even if they are slightly late with the footswitch press. Better still, the phrase looper even has a time-stretch feature, facilitating the changing of the tempo of a recorded loop but without changing the pitch, allowing any loop to sync perfectly, in key, with the drum machine.

As with any other MOOER product, the team’s designers have really pushed the boundaries when it comes to the user experience. Despite packing so many features into such a small device, MOOER’s signature multi-purpose footswitches, dials, and, most notably, touchscreen have all been integrated into this pedal to ensure users can squeeze as much dynamic use out of it as possible. A perfect example of this is how users have two different ways to browse through their phrase loop creations–both through using the pedal’s menu encoder and by pressing and holding the footswitches, enabling dynamic looping control and real-time phrase selection without needing to stop playing the guitar.

Furthermore, the GL100 also stands out from MOOER’s past loop stations for its flexible audio routing functionalities. As you would expect from a modern looping pedal, stereo input, and output are provided, but these inputs and outputs can be used with different amplifiers or instruments depending on the routing settings, allowing performers to coordinate complex loop phrases and drum patterns together in a coherent and sonically diffused manner.  This includes mono connections, dual-channel connections, and even the isolation of both drum machine and instrument channels.

Finally, the GL100 comes with its own MOOER Studio software, compatible with both Windows and iOS, which users can use to save, export, import, and delete phrase recordings, expanding the device’s storage capabilities. This same software can also be used to download firmware upgrades to the device when available and to complete a factory reset if ever necessary. Overall, this pedal combines an expanded showcase of MOOER’s impressive looper and drum machine functions, along with a focus on innovative user experience, convenient performance flexibility, and, most importantly, accessibility to create the perfect loop from start to finish.

www.mooeraudio.com