AudioKit L7 - AUv3 Live Looper 4+

Potentially Amazing for Instrumentalists & Songwriters

This is a review of the current version from August 2020 (Version 1.41) This app is meeting many of the criteria I have for the perfect music app. It allows me, for the first time since getting into computer music 20 years ago, to really create on the fly and get into a flow of putting parts down. The workflow really allows instrumentalists like me to enjoy creation without getting derailed by having to move hands away from the instruments.

However, though I do think many people will really enjoy this app and I do reccomend it in it current version and I extend much respect and thanks to the developers, I must say that this app feels a little raw and unfinished still.

I’m not big on writing reviews and I only say this because the potential of this app really excites me and I need it to be better. So in the spirit of constructive criticism I would say that it doesn’t really leverage the power of the iPad as I wish it would, I want to be able to quickly set up a project with midi and audio tracks primed so that once I start playing music the project is ready to record every layer I can come up with, I want to be able to move from instrument to instrument and lay down takes, I want to be able to use some of the great iPad music making virtual instruments as well as guitar effects like AmpliTube. In terms of exporting projects I wish that I could export the whole project as an audio file instead of having to export each track one by one.

This has the potential to be my most used app but as it stands its a bit frustrating because there is a world of tones and instruments on my iPad that just won’t talk to this app and for that reason I am still using Garageband most of the time. To the developer I urge you to keep pushing because you are seriously onto something brilliant here. It could be a DAW replacement with a few (to my non developer mind) simple tweaks. It’s the app I’m most excited about and I think it has the potential to win over a lot of musicians who have stayed away from computer music but at the moment its still a bit undercooked. 5 stars anyway because its a hell of a lot of fun!

This is GOOD

.....and you CAN switch off the metronome! To do so click on the tempo (it’s set at 100 as standard) and a new page appears with the metronome volume slider. Enjoy.

Promising Looper (with puzzling absences)

Given that ios is an almost ideal platform to host a simple hand-activated looper (not to mention one that might be controlled by bluetooth pedal) it’s not surprising to see a new looper on the market, and a welcome effort it is. Mostly it gets things right, adding much-needed basic effects like reverb and tremolo (eh?) to each individual track, either as recorded or during playback. So far so good. But then, amazingly, there appears to be no way to silence the horrible click track (a horrible digital noise, not even a hi-hat or something that might fit with a given track). This renders the app pretty much useless, especially as a quick notepad, unless you enjoy the relentless digital intrusion. Another, small irritation is that on the playback window, each track should have a mute button, as is common in most loopers and DAWS etc. The L7 does have a mute function, but it’s not where it should be, in the window where panning and the various effects can be added and played with in real time and where the rudimentary volume ‘slider’ is as close to a mute button as the app comes. Two very strange omissions in a promising app; the next version, with luck, might sort them out.

Developer Response ,

Hi poet/tree, thanks for the review. You can silence the metronome by tapping the tempo number at the bottom of the screen and sliding the volume slider all the way to the left. You can mute a track by going to RECORDING FX and tapping once on the track. We released an update this morning that addresses lots of early feedback. Hope this helps!