Looping

Looping is central to how Vamp works — sketch ideas by repeating a section, stacking passes, and building parts quickly. This guide covers playback loops, loop recording modes, and how stacked audio is stored inside a clip.

The playback loop region

The loop region is the sample range between loop start and loop end in the timeline header. When looping is enabled, playback jumps back to loop start each time it reaches loop end.

The playhead is separate. It is where playback begins when you press play, and it can sit anywhere on the timeline — not necessarily at loop start. You can loop one section while starting playback from a different point.

Press L or click the loop button in the transport toolbar to turn looping on or off. When looping is off, playback continues past loop end and the end marker is ignored.

Set and move the loop region

Drag the loop markers in the timeline header, or click-drag in the lower band of the playback scrubber to define a new range (this also enables looping). Drag the bar between the markers to move both boundaries together.

Select one or more clips and press K to fit the loop region to that selection and enable looping. This is useful when you want to rehearse or record exactly the span you selected.

Count-off (see Recording) plays a metronome in the bars before loop start so everyone enters together on the downbeat.

Record while looping

Arm a track and press R to record. If looping is on, Vamp keeps cycling the loop region while you play or sing. Each time playback wraps, capture continues into the same take until you stop.

When you stop:

Loop recording modes

When looping is enabled, open the chevron menu on the split loop control in the transport toolbar. Choose:

Stacked

Each pass through the loop adds a new audio layer inside the same clip. On playback, every layer sounds together — like overdubbing on top of yourself in the same bar. The clip badge shows a stack icon and the layer count.

While you are still recording a stacked loop, Vamp can play back completed passes after the first loop wrap so you hear earlier layers under the live take.

Last take

Layers are stored the same way as Stacked, but only the most recent pass stays unmuted. Earlier passes are kept (you can unmute them in the clip slideout) but playback emphasizes the latest idea — good for iterating without clutter.

During a live last-take recording, only the current pass is heard in monitoring; completed passes stay silent until you stop.

Your choice is saved per Vamp and applies to the next looped recording you make.

Flat clips (looping off)

A flat clip plays its audio once through the clip envelope and stops at the clip end (unless you loop-stretch the clip longer than its content — see Clips and arrangement). File imports and non-looped recordings always create flat clips. There is no separate “flat” option in the loop menu; turn looping off and record normally.

Stacked audio inside a clip

Stacked and last-take clips look like one region on the timeline, but they contain multiple audio layers, one per recorded pass:

Playback mixes every unmuted layer according to the clip mode: all layers for Stacked, only the latest unmuted layer for Last take (if the final pass did not fill the whole loop, that partial layer plus the entire preceding take stay unmuted).

Stacked recording vs loop-stretching a clip

These are different ideas: