Loopers have their origins in the tape loop compositions of artists such as musique concrète luminary Pierre Schaeffer in the 1940s, and early minimal pioneers Steve Reich and Terry Riley in the 1960s. These first experiments developed the idea of repeated musical phrases which could be layered and set out-of-phase with each other until they sounded like no music that had come before.
Modern loopers add quantisation, effects, and real-time loop addition/subtraction for a complete on-the-fly production environment. Whether you're looking to create full solo performances, add an extra member to a band, or just lay down a backing track to practise over, a loop pedal is some of the best fun you can have with an instrument.