Cool Hunting

by Emily Kramer

Not just a run-of-the-mill looper, the Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai isn't just a piece of beginner's gear—in addition to looping, it includes blend, decay, filter, reflect and delay controls. By clicking the bypass button on the right, these effects can be used on their own without looping. The left button loops and adds the above effects to any sample—even after you've recorded it. And most importantly, the additional controls mean that the sound is immediately textured and forever pliable so you'll be making noise out of music in no time.

The real bells and whistles of this little guy are eight different programmable modes that, when in combination with the controls above, each allow different custom settings for the repeated parts of your loops. For instance, music can start off soft and then grow louder and louder each time it repeats. The stereo feature works to create a ping pong effect between two speakers if you have two separate outputs while the tap tempo is a critical facet for live performance.

The Stereo Memory Man runs about $215 and is available at Main Drag Music in Brooklyn where you can try it out with a Moog keyboard in one of their private rooms or purchase one online from Amazon or Sweetwater.