All Analogue Freeze pedal with a tape loop?

[Lameller]

I was thinking about using a very short tape loop in a walkman or dictaphone to use as an analogue freeze pedal.

The idea would be to have a pedal attached that "presses record" when you hold it which would allow for a very short loop of whatever sound was passing through the pedal at the time.

Just like the EHX Freeze/Superego, but with a tapeloop instead.

Am I out of my mind in thinking that is totally doable?

Best

Lameller

[Mark Hammer]

I don't think you're out of your mind, but I do think that the Freeze is more than just a short sample that could be snagged on a short tape loop.

The Freeze mimics a sustained note/chord, and to the best of my knowledge there would not be any attack or decay included in the sample.  So unless I've listened to the wrong demos or been misinformed, there would seem to be some intelligent "editing" of the recorded sample (in the sense of selecting the start and end points) to make it sound like an infinite continuation of the sustain portion of the signal.

One of the issues of using tape for the purpose is that the startup time of a loop and recording onto one is not as quick and glitch-free as a digital sample.  A digital device could easily remember where in memory the sample starts and ends.  A tape loop has a fixed length and shortening/lengthening the sample would require altering the speed of the loop.  So, for a variety of reasons, I doubt whether there'd be a satisfactory result at the end of all the hard work and expense it would entail.

But it was worth thinking about at least.  BTW, I couldn't help but note the similarities between Mike Matthews in this video for the Freeze, and Joel Korte's unconscious imitation in this PG demo from Summer NAMM last week (starts at 1:30).  He laughed when I drew it to his attention.