As we’ve been looking at live looper options from BOSS and VOX, Mike Nelson from Boomerang points us to his company’s live-oriented loopers, boutique-made in Texas. And they look as delicious as Texas BBQ.
What’s unique about the Boomerang III “phrase sampler” is just how much it can do with loops once recorded, with computer-like manipulation of your samples. You can undo and redo, play back one-shots, stutter, re-sample, line up loops in sequence, play up to four loops as once, sync to tempo, drift to different tempos, fade, play at half speed, and play in reverse. (Software makers, take note.)
Of course, you could do all of this with a computer, but having this in a dedicated box has a lot of appeal, particularly if you’re an instrumentalist. There’s also expression volume control support. And your computer doesn’t have a “Bonus” button. (Well, mine doesn’t, anyway.)
There’s a lot more; see the full specs:
Boomerang® III Phrase Sampler
The one thing I’m looking for that isn’t here yet – and that would help integrate this with a laptop setup, if you so choose – is expanded MIDI support. Right now, you can use MIDI to upgrade the firmware, but can you control the looper with MIDI? Mike says:
Not yet. The next MIDI addition will be the ability to respond to a companion pedal, called the Side Car, that will be released in about 2 months. It will allow all of the III’s many functions to be available by foot control at once.
See our image of the new front panel below.
You can get the Boomerang III from your local dealer; street price in the US is well under US$500. That’s a premium versus the larger brands, but you get what looks like a unique pedal, and it’s made in Texas. Now, that’s right, you may not be from Texas, but I hear Texas wants you anyway.
Without further ado, the promised videos — first, from the makers:
And here’s an independent hands-on review: