Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy...
Not all heroes wear capes. Not all quests require great peril. Sometimes the most heroic gestures happen on the smallest scales – the mundane scales. Sometimes the copier jams. The labors of the day-to-day don't involve a hydra, but the labors of Hercules didn't involve toner, now, did they?
It's the always perils of real-world trials that truly test us, isn't it? It's the fax machine that won't send, the red light that won't turn green, the jukebox that won't play "The Twist." It's the simple stuff. Sometimes you have a Fonzi with a magical fist to jumpstart a jukebox and sometimes you have a Walrus Audio to take on one of the guitar world's most essential pieces of gear: the looper. Today, we're talking about Walrus and their take on one of gear's trickiest knots.
This is the Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper.
Shop the Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper
Carry the Xero
Introducing the Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper
Now, it's no secret that the archetypal looper is a time-tested effect pedal formula. It seems that nearly every name in pedals has tried their hand at looping at least once. Loopers, the go-to way to jam with yourself, have been an institution in effect pedals for some time, with the design even spawning an entire subculture of effect pedal enthusiasts. You know the type. One guitar, one microphone, one looper, one-man-band. Funnily enough, such a subculture has a place at the table with today's Walrus creation, but we'll touch on that in a minute.
The Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper is a striking new addition to the Walrus Audio lineup. After years of not touching the classic effect archetype, the Walrus Xero is something of a long time coming. It's with this new release that Walrus delivers with their classic expertise and know-how in the looper realm. The Xero Polylooper, a looper designed not only with basic loops in mind but more intricate, performance-based loops, is definitively a Walrus creation with all the inventiveness and intuitive design you've come to expect from them.
At the onset, the Xero Polylooper is an involved but intuitive looper pedal. Designed for inspiration at every level of operation, the Xero is a pedal ready for your simple jams, your interlocking compositions, and everything else in between. Let's get into it.
Infinity Fold
Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper Design
There's a good bit to the Xero that you're not likely to find elsewhere. At the center of this pedal is a dual-channel looping engine that enables players to build independent loop sections with dedicated volume and pan controls. Two independent channels land on the Xero for building up more intricate looping compositions that can be mixed, panned, melded, and messed with. At the very start, the Xero's powerful looping capabilities open up with this basic design foundation.
Central to the Xero is this exploratory and experimental tendency that's sure to fire up established loop enthusiasts. With the Xero, one can start looping on the first channel, swap over to the second channel, start another loop, mix the first channel to taste, bounce back to it, add to its looping layers, do the same for the other channel... you get the idea.
The Xero Polylooper can carry up to three minutes of recording with nearly infinite stacking of loops. This, yet another player-forward feature for loop enthusiasts, is certainly worth mentioning as stacking up loop after loop is something you'll absolutely want to do with one of the Xero's key features. Onboard, the Xero features three loop sync modes.
In Sync The Xero's Polylooper has three dedicated looping sync modes to build loops as simple or intricate as you can imagine. Standard – Keep all subsequent loops time-aligned with your first loop recorded. Unsynced – Allow all subsequent loops to operate at completely independent lengths. Polyrhythmic – Create polyrhythms within your loops by utilizing shared time divisions (like 3:4, 5:7, etc.) to fashion interlocking loop textures.
Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper Control
With Xero, players are treated to a streamlined way to get creative and experimental with their loops. Speed is of particular fascination for Walrus. We've all been there, admittedly, right? You get the looper, you try the looper, you turn into a tap-dancer. You forget all the gestures to layer, undo, stop, and go again. Walrus has taken on this task of making your typical loop pedal playing experience easier with more straightforward gestures via a two-footswitch setup.
Xero's two-footswitch configuration allows for efficient and effective control. Onboard, Walrus designed in the foundational looping controls as such:
- Tap the left stomp switch to record and playback loops
- Hold the left stomp switch to undo
- Tap the right stomp switch to stop loop playback
- Hold the right stomp switch for speed effects
- Double-tap both switches to swap between the two loop channels
- Hold both switches to trigger a full stop or full erase
The operation of the Xero is designed from the ground up to be player-friendly, quick, and ultimately headache-less. In a world where smooth starts and stops can mean the difference between triumph and disaster, Walrus has you covered with these streamlined footswitch gestures.
Copier Jams
Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper Playability and Connections
Once you're on your way with your loop recording, you're sure to run into a couple of the deeper functions and connections with Xero. If you're into loop-based playing, this might be the showstopper of the pedal. Xero's playback effects enable even deeper customization of the pedal's near-infinite looping capabilities. Onboard, each independent looping channel features push-button controls for playback speed and direction. Walrus went ahead to implement your classic loop pedal effects including half-time, double-time, and reverse playback, sure to inspire expressive playability alongside the pedal's different loop sync modes.
Further features on the Xero Polylooper include considerations for connectivity and control. The Xero Polylooper is outfitted with a 1/4" external expression control connection that can break out its stomp controls to add even quicker access to secondary features. This expression connection, when combined with CC control and clock sync-enabled 1/8" MIDI connections brings this looper thoroughly into the modern era for players who dream biggest. In essence, the Xero is primed to be your new looper wunderkind. A USB-C connection opens up the horizon of the Xero's future for firmware update support later down the road.
Walrus Audio Xero Polylooper Final Thoughts
For looper fans everywhere, the Xero Polylooper is absolutely one to check out. Starting a square one with a design that is encompassing but compact and intuitive, the Xero is a player-forward pedal that balances the instant physical feedback of more simplified pedals with the power and customization of more involved units. Walrus Audio's outlook in design and finesse in execution show themselves plainly across the Xero for players who already have some loop pedal tricks up their sleeve and for players who are relative newcomers to the field. However you slice it, the Xero is a fresh take on looping from the crack team at Walrus.
Making copies has never been more compelling.
