Echoplex Digital Pro

The Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro originated 1994 from a license of the first dedicated LiveLooping tool, the Paradis LOOP delay, developed by Matthias Grob in Biel/Switzerland in 1992.
It is often called the EDP to distinguish it from the very different analog tape delay Echoplex EP.
Its design took 13 years and the product retained its value on the used market since many of its functions were never copied. This is because:
*The EDP works with one infinite memory, imitating a Tape echo: The recording and playback addresses keep cycling through the whole memory. The playback address jumps according to function calls. some functions like Undo or Reverse also make the record address jump. Usually, loops are organized like samples (glued Tape loop), which defines start and end and organizes the music in rhythmical units, while the EDP user can easily change loop length and start point at any moment with many methods - which makes it especially suited for ambient and granular music and creates a feeling to flow freely.
History
1984, Matthias Grob discovered the use of Livelooping (this name was only coined 15 years later) because he needed to create relaxing sounds for his spine problem. He gathered experiences with the Roland SDE 3000 and t.c. 2290 digital delays which did not have sufficient delay and very limited control over the loop length. Nevertheless, by calculating and typing display times while playing, it was possible to create dense and rhythmic music in real time.
1987, Matthias contacts Roland, t.c.electronics and Lexicon, asking to modify their delays to suit the live looping demand, including a concrete proposal for the Record and Multiply command. Gary Hall of Lexicon likes the idea but doubts to reach Lexicon's minimal sales with such a product. (in fact 1994 Lexicon creates the JamMan with similar functions and production is stopped after a year). So he helps with his own personal PCM42 and explaining its functionality to enable Matthias to replace the internal processor by TTL logic and such verify the musical use of the functions.
1990, two musicians playing into the same delay line is too limited and Matthias decides to create his own Livelooping tool with a BrotherSync function. Starting with a Mac IIcx and becoming a Digidesign developer, he then realizes that a hardware tool is needed and chooses the most simple and low cost processor that could still do the job: Motorola 68000 - which later turns into a headache for software development, but worked.
1992 lucky-wise Eric Obermühlner who had just finished this Software engineer diploma moves into the chalet in Biel and within only 3 months the two engineers made the first prototype work - then called The LOOP machine.
1993 the ready product Paradis LOOP delay was featured and demoed at the Musikmesse Frankfurt and got attention, including visits from Lexicon employees and Keith McMillen who immediately asked for a license for Gibson. The same year a prototype with additional ideas by Keith was built at G-WIZ in Berkeley. So after only 100pcs the expensive LOOP delay manufacturing was stopped.
1994 Promotion problem: At first it is very difficult to explain to the world why Livelooping is useful and later why the EDP is superior to the small loopers coming up. Gibson hopes a brand helps and launches it as Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro - two brands they had bought from Oberheim and Maestro years before. The reuse of the Echoplex brand is delicate because many expect a digital version of the famous tape echo while the Oberheim brand suggests a synthesizer product. The Swiss root of the invention is hidden instead of featured. Since the EDP does not quite fit into Gibson product range, it is not shown at fairs and hardly promoted. Internally it gets the fame to "sell by itself" because of the promotion at Kim Flint's site Loopers-Delight.com and a few music shops like Alto in NY where a passionate sales person knows to demo the new kind of tool.
1997 Kim Flint, the main product developer of the EDP at G-WIZ leaves Gibson and founds the Californian company Aurisis Research LLC with Matthias and Eric and cares for the contact to Gibson, manufacturing and testing. Gibson changes the EDP manufacture several times with the acquisition and closing of Opcode and Trace Elliot and others and Kim repeats his support.
2004 The last manufacture: Gibson closed Trace Elliot and Aurisis insisted that production only continue if Andy Ewen was maintained at the lead, and as a result Gibson contracted Straight-Edge Ltd in Burnham GB. Part supply becomes difficult and Andy buys all possible stock. But in May 2009 the Straight-Edge factory burned down and all parts were lost and after about 3,500 units the EDP production ended.
2004 Jeff Larsen created the "EDP emulator" Mobius, a VST plugin and audio app that contained 8 virtual EDPs.
2008 Kim Flint left Aurisis and allowed to publish the computer version of the EDP software, the Mathons Echoloop VST plugin.
2009 Matthias started a successor of the EDP called Evoloop but needed a partner for its completion.
Special features
* 'Record' - the most trivial tap-play-tap function in any looping tool did not exist before the LOOP delay!
* 'Multiply' - allows to start with a short (rhythmic) loop and at any time multiply its length rounded or unrounded to either place longer (harmonic, melodic) sequences over the same rhythm or cut to create a different rhythm. still a rare function
* 'Brother-Sync' - a still unique function that allows to interconnect several EDPs and any of the players can adopt the timing of the others at any time and stay in time forever.
* 'Feedback' is always available like on a Tape echo and controllable by foot. this allows to morph from one musical scene into the next
* all the other features like 'Overdub, Undo, Reverse', which are common in other loopers appeared in the EDP for the first time
* many special functions like 'MoveStartpoint, Resync, Replace', are unique to the EDP due to its Tape echo memory structure
* Multi-tracking is not possible due to the processor power, but the 'Next' function allows parallel loops and switch between them
Early LOOP delay users
Willy Strehler, Ljubo Majstorovic, Michael Peters, Wito Wietn, Mich Gerber
Expert users
Andre LaFosse, Michael Schiefel, Andy Butler, Claude Voit, Bernhard Wagner
Best known users
David Torn, Eberhard Weber, Arild Andersen, Keller Williams, Brian Eno, Paul Dresher, Robert Fripp, Beatles, Randolf Arriola, Martin O, Dosh

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