The Best Looping Apps to Practice Your DJ or A Capella

By Kelly Schwarze

The second most downloaded app in the App Store's Top Paid iPad Apps has nothing to do with flying birds or creating a virtual world. It's Loopy HD (iOS, $4 for a limited time, regularly $8), a music app that lets users sing, beatbox, or play instruments into their iPads/iPhones and then layer those sounds into studio-like creations that could very well rival the current hits of the Top 40 charts. Why the iOS world's sudden interest in becoming a music producer? Loopy was the tool recently used on The Tonight Show to take Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel from a duet to a doo-wop group as they performed "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which you absolutely have to watch below.

We love Loopy's easy-to-use interface, and user reviews calling it a "go-to" agree. However, as our app-obssesed selves know, as you can never have too many photo-editing apps, when perfecting a new hobby, every app is a necessity. Here, some of our favorite apps that'll get you making music like a pro.

  • Loopstack (free, Android) — Here's your Loopy alternative, Android users! Create four separate audio tracks with loop times up to 32 seconds. The built-in metronome helps regulate the timing of your singing and strumming across the tracks.
  • iLift Loop (free, iOS) — There you are, listening to your iPhone's Music app, when that song you must learn to play on the guitar comes on. Open up iLift Loop and get an instant guide on how to replicate the song on your own. The best feature: sections of the songs can be looped, playing over and over again until you've mastered the 10-second intro.
  • Edjing (free on iOS, Android, and Windows 8) — When it's remixing you want to do, edjing is the app for you. With access to SoundCloud's library of songs, there's no limit to the beats you'll be reinventing. Billing itself as the first "social DJ app," edjing lets you post clips to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or even send them as a text (to your future manager?!) with a click.