Video will appear as you scroll through the story
Ed Sheeran · S2 E4
The Loop Pedal
One guitar, one voice, one piece of gear. Ed builds a full band sound from nothing
Ed Sheeran plugs a small orange box into his guitar amp for the first time. He plays a chord, presses a button with his foot, and the chord keeps playing while his hands move to something new.
"Happier" (Ed Sheeran, official music video, 2017). Listen past the story and into the arrangement: a single guitar pattern, layered vocals, everything transparent. That's the loop pedal's influence on Ed's studio work. Every note earns its place because he learned to build songs live, one layer at a time.
Happier, Ed Sheeran (2017)
"Happier" is built on a single acoustic guitar pattern and Ed's voice, layered in ways that echo his loop pedal technique. The melody rises and falls with the discipline of someone who learned songwriting by performing live, where every note has to carry weight. Steve Mac's production keeps everything transparent: you can hear every layer, every breath. That transparency is the loop pedal's lasting gift to Ed's studio sound.
Sources
Mulligan, Mark. "Ed Sheeran: The Biography." John Blake Publishing, 2018.
The Upgrade
Before the loop pedal, Ed is a guy with a guitar. After it, he's a one-man band. He can lay down a rhythm, add a bassline with his low strings, stack vocal harmonies, and beatbox a drum pattern, all live, all in real time, while the audience watches him build the entire thing from nothing.
Sources
Nolan, David. "Ed Sheeran: A+." Omnibus Press, 2014.
TAP TO REVEAL: What is the Chewie Monsta?
“I saw someone busking with a loop pedal and I thought, that's how I can sound like more than just one person. I saved up and bought one the next week.”
— Ed Sheeran (paraphrased from multiple interviews, 2011-2014)
Loop Pedal: The Facts
The Risk
The loop pedal turns every live show into a high-wire act. Ed builds the arrangement in front of the audience, and if he mistimes a loop or drops a beat, there's no hiding it. That risk is part of the appeal. Every performance is a one-take construction that can't be faked.
Sources
Mulligan, Mark. "Ed Sheeran: The Biography." John Blake Publishing, 2018.
Wake Me Up, Ed Sheeran (2011)
"Wake Me Up" from + has the layered vocal arrangement that comes directly from Ed's loop pedal technique. In the studio version, you can hear the stacked harmonies and rhythmic guitar patterns that he first built live on stage. It's a studio recording that still sounds like a loop pedal performance.
Wake Me Up, Ed Sheeran (2011)
"I should ink my skin with your name." The lyrics are direct and unguarded, the way someone writes when they've been performing to strangers every night for two years. No clever wordplay, no distance. Just Ed saying exactly what he means, the same way he does on stage with his loop pedal: nothing to hide behind.
What is Ed Sheeran's custom-built loop pedal called?
Ed has the sound, the songs, and the gigs. What he doesn't have is a record deal. Next episode: someone mentions an open mic night in Los Angeles, and Ed books a one-way flight.
0 XP earned this session