Ed Sheeran responds to Glastonbury backing track backlash

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Full looper pedal rig revealed

(Image credit: Richard Isaac/REX/Shutterstock)

Love him or hate him, Ed Sheeran was Sunday’s Glastonbury festival headliner, but the heavily layered sound produced by the lone singer/guitarist left some viewers confused, accusing The Ginger One of using backing tracks or miming.

MusicRadar readers, the music tech-savvy lot that you are, will know that, of course, Ed was employing a looper pedal, and Sheeran himself was forced to reveal his not-so-secret sonic source on Twitter.

For anyone interested in how Sheeran produces his live performance witchcraft, it comes courtesy of the Chewie 2, a looper he designed with his tech Trevor Dawkins, which integrates with looping plugin Mobius, according to Equipboard.

Four channels are onboard: Guitar, boom (percussive guitar), RC20 (likely referring to Boss’s RC-20 Loop Station) and vocals. Keyboards are also integrated into the rig.

Ed gives a brief run through of Chewie on the Today Show below.

To emulate Ed’s looping skills (but possibly not his success, sorry), check out our lesson on how to use a looper pedal in the style of Ed Sheeran.

Michael Astley-Brown
Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.