Ed Sheeran has become one of the hottest new artists in the business after capitalizing on years of tireless hard work, which at one point had him playing venues in London while homeless not so long ago. However, this young man persevered and is now a widely celebrated and respected artist working with many of the biggest names in the industry. However, there was a bit of controversy, or rather confusion regarding a certain part of his performance that involves a musical tool called a “loop pedal.” The device is a foot pedal that allows Sheeran to enhance and layer vocals during his live performances.
During his performances, Ed can tap a pedal to record part of his song and then tap another to play it back during the song. However, after one performance at the Glastonbury festival in Pilton, Somerset, England, fans took to social media to accuse the artist of not really playing his guitar but rather miming. One fan pointed out that the music kept playing after he took his hands off the guitar to walk around. Folks then started saying that he merely uses pre-recorded music and pretends to play his guitar half of the time. However, Sheeran fired back at critics challenging them to educate themselves on what a loop pedal really does before passing judgment.
Never thought I'd have to explain it, but everything I do in my live show is live, it's a loop station, not a backing track. Please google x
— Ed Sheeran (@edsheeran) June 26, 2017
In this video, Sheeran demonstrates how to use a loop pedal in the 102.7 KIIS-FM studio. After Sheeran gives JoJo, the radio DJ, some instructions on what he was going to do during the performance, Sheeran explains that he’s going to set up a 3-minute loop and then a 30-second loop first. As he starts playing, we see Sheeran stepping back and forth until after a few seconds; his foot taps a pedal.
Image via YouTube
Then before you know it, a track is playing over his guitar, adding another layer to his performance as he continues to play different sounds. The process is fascinating to watch, and towards the end, Sheeran starts singing into the mic as both loops are playing.
Image via YouTube
Watch and see how Ed Sheeran makes his magic in the video below.
