Live Looper Talks Up Improvising Tools

Las Vegas NV (April 16, 2025)—Live looper John Allen performs his real-time, improvised score accompanying 4K space footage for Stardust: An Immersive Music Experience in planetariums and theaters nationwide using an assortment of tools from Tascam.

Allen’s style covers a wide range of musical genres; a licensed educator, he also offers looping workshops. His Tascam Model 12 recording mixer and DAW controller, Portacapture X6 portable audio field recorder and DR-10L compact recorder with lavalier mic are central to everything he does.

“I use the Model 12 to record my planetarium show,” Allen explained. “I noticed using a direct recording from my loop station didn’t adequately document the room’s sound, which is very much a part of my show’s sonic fingerprint. The reverbs and delays didn’t really have a chance to breathe. I brought in the Model 12 to capture not only the direct audio out of my loop station, I also set up room mics and ran them into the Model 12. This gave me an incredibly accurate capture of my performances and how the ‘room sound’ is very much part of the show. With the Model 12’s captured audio, audiences can also go to my online store and purchase the show they attended.”

He also noted, “I am not a ‘studio head’ by any standard. What the Model 12 enables me to do is have a very flexible and easy-to-use platform to record my shows. I am a fan of the top-down design and its ability to record everything to a SIM card makes it easy to drop into a DAW as needed. TASCAM’s Model 12 provides some very high-tech solutions in a very manageable, easy-to-understand way. When it comes to transporting the system, the weight of the Model 12 makes it easy to take to shows and its setup is equally easy. Best of all, the system’s onboard digital features are readily available on a moment’s notice when needed.”

A Versatile Recordist

Allen continued, “I use the Portacapture X6 for content creation. Much of the voiceover work for my online content, tutorials and trailers for my show are done on the X6. The X6 makes it very easy to record on location outdoors as well as for tradeshow appearances when I’m not spoiled with a controlled environment.”

He uses his DR-10L for tutorial creation on his YouTube channel. “The DR-10L’s compact design and low-profile aesthetic make it easy to wear on camera when a more traditional microphone would be in the way of a particular shot.”