If you have even been looking for beats for scratch practice, you may have come across YourLooper.com, which features 1000s of loops you can scratch to, bundled up as small exe programs.
Although you can play exes on a mac with VLC player, I was super pleased to come across a new web based, flash swf, universal / cross platform alternative:
ScratchLoopers.com
Features
Currently archiving 848 Total Loopers.
Loopers open in a new window.
Open multiple loopers at any one time and easilly switch between them.
Add a looper to your “favourites” which the site remembers. Here is my current favourites screen:
You can transfer your favourites to another browser or computer though copying and pasting a simple link:
Overall, I find it so much quicker to use compared to individual looper files.
Simply plug in your mac headphone / line out into the line in of your mixer, open the site, pick a favourite looper and off you go!
About
The site was created by DJ Fiznaky who is a coder and DJ from Los Angeles.
I caught up with him to ask about the site:
How did Scratch Loopers come about?
I just got bored one day and decided to make this website. People seemed to like it so I started developing it further and as a DJ I always wished someone had done this before… AND I never liked loopers in EXE format. When I started putting the site together I found a whole bunch of EXE’s that were definitely not loopers, haha!
How did you even convert all the loopers?
So I basically just wrote a script to aggregate all those loopers to my server. Then I found a program that does a bulk conversion from exe to swf and wallah. Had a lot of problems and cigarettes in between though 🙂
Is it possible for users to add loopers to it?
It is in the works. My initial mission was to archive as many loopers as I can find but I definitely want people to contribute to the site so you should see an upload button shortly. The site has only been up for about 6 months, so there is definitely more to come.
Thanks for the insight Fiznaky!
Bonus Upload
As a bonus for all mac users, I have created a very small app that will keep Scratch Loopers in your dock and open with a single click.
Please note that I cannot provide support for this app. I’m not a coder but can sometimes hack my way thourgh things, which I did to create this app. I hope you find it useful.
> Download Scratch Loopers app
Mac only. Does not work on iOS.
Installation instructions
- Download and unzip.
- Double click to open.
That should be it!
Let me know how you get on by leaving a comment. Enjoy the loopers!
Happy Scratching!
– Emma Short-E