2019-07-01_Computer_Music

iOS

Comparedtothepowerofmodernmusic

software,thehumblelooperpedalmight

seema littleanachronisticthesedays.When

eventhemostbasicDAWoffersmultipletracks

ofaudiorecordingatyourfingertips,whoneeds

sucha simpletoolforloopingandoverdubbing?

However,witha tape-inspiredfeaturesetandan

excellentcropofeffects,AudioDamage’sEnso

makesa solidcaseforthinkingotherwise.

Enso(PC/Mac/iOS,VST/AU/AAX)isa single-

tracklooperwitha stereoinput,a stereooutput

anda recordingbufferinbetween.Fromits

initialisedstate,punchRecordandthebuffer

capturesuptotenminutesofaudio(orfive

minutesinthecaseoftheiOSAUversion),which

automaticallybeginstoloopwhenrecording

stops.HitRecordagain,andtheincomingaudio

isoverdubbedontopoftheloopingbuffer.

Alternatively,Ensoalsoallowsyoutoimportand

exportaudioto/fromthebufferdirectly,should

youwishtoduboveranexistingloop.

Asexpected, recording is controlled by Stop,

Play,Recordand Overdub transport controls,

butthelastthree of those actions can also be

governedbythe Trigger control. This context-

dependentbutton effectively replicates the

footswitchofa stompbox looper (and is easily

mappedtoa control pedal for precisely that

usage),starting and ending the initial recording

whenclicked/stomped, before transitioning

betweenPlayand Overdub modes.

Tapethat

Inbothdesktop and iOS versions, Enso uses the

hostDAWasa clock source. The plugin has a

pairofsynccontrols for setting up quantisation

oftherecording start/end points and pre-

definingthelength of the record buffer loop

basedonbeat divisions from the host project. In

this‘setup’section, you also get an input

monitoringdrop-down (to control if/in what

contexttheinput is fed through to the output),

Audio Damage

Enso $79

The Damage’slatest combinesa workflow inspired by modern looper

stompboxeswith a soundinfluenced by classic tape machines

TRIGGER

Engages

recording,

playbackor

overdubbing

RECORDBUFFER

Thecentral circular display

givesa waveform view of the

audioin the buffer

DUBINPLACE

Twodifferentoverdubmodes

determinewhetheror not

effects‘stack’

FEEDB A CK

Controlsthe

loopingaudiolevel.

Actsdifferently

dependingon

overdubmode

SECTORS

The record buffer can be divided

into up to four Sectors for seperate

switchable loop lengths

PLAY &

RECORD

SPEED

Control playback

and record

timing. Negative

values reverse

the direction

OU TPU T

Separate Loop/Dry output faders

facilitate parallel processing

EFFECTS

Tape,FilterandChorus

effectsmodulesfor

signalprocessing

MIDI& SET TINGS

FlexibleMIDIsetupenables

triggeringandmanipulation

froma MIDIcontroller

and a Post-Record selector, which dictates

whether Enso goes into Play or Overdub mode

once the initial loop recording finishes.

So far, so Ed Sheeran... but Enso’s winning

formula lies in the fact that, although its

workflow is based on that of modern loopers, its

sonic behaviour is modelled on that of vintage

tape machines. This is most obvious in its tape-

emulating effects (see Tape tools), and the

absence of pitch correction when changing the

speed or direction of playback.

To take full advantage of this latter function,

Enso has separate speed controls for recording

and playback, which essentially act like the head

controls of a tape machine. What’s interesting,

though, is that these can be moved

independently, and also be set to negative

values, in which case they run backwards.

Because of this, it’s possible to have the buffer

playback running forward while overdubbing in

reverse, and vice versa. You can also record and

E E

90 / COMPUTER MUSIC / July 2019

reviews / audio damage enso