From tape machines to Overdubber: building the recorder I wanted

Overdubber is a looper and multitrack recorder for iPhone and iPad. Record a part, listen back while you add another, and keep building. A melody becomes a harmony. A beat becomes something you can play along with.

I made the first prototype in 2019, for a project at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. Seven years later, I picked the idea up again.

The idea in Melbourne

Looping and stacking were at the centre of it from the beginning. I sketched out the first vision on paper at the university campus, back when SoundCloud was where I imagined people sharing what they made.

I had a great time at Swinburne. It was where I became interested in iOS apps and UX design. After Melbourne, I kept reading, and Dieter Rams became a big inspiration for this app in particular.

For a while, though, music production got most of my attention outside work. My job took most of my programming energy. Spending that time making music helped me understand more clearly what I wanted from a recording app.

Two tape machines

Along the way, I got interested in analogue tape. My first machine was a Grundig TK 248, bought in “condition unknown.” I had a lot of fun with it.

But lo-fi. Very, very lo-fi.

Later, I bought a Tandberg TD-20A. It is an amazing piece of engineering, and it became a big inspiration for the look and feel of Overdubber.

Picking it up again

By mid-2026, the concept was clearer than ever in my mind. I still hadn’t found a recorder that worked the way I wanted, so I came back to the prototype.

The sharing part had changed. I was now thinking about TikTok and Reels: showing the performance, and letting people watch the layers come together.

That led to Session mode. It records the app with a picture-in-picture view of your performance, so you can share the process of building a loop. It is now available in Overdubber.

I’ve also started posting on Overdubber’s TikTok. That feels like a fitting place for an idea that was always about making something and sharing it.

Who is Overdubber for?

Overdubber is for musicians who want to capture ideas without setting up a full digital audio workstation. Use it to layer vocals, guitar, beatboxing and other instruments, build loops, or sketch a song on iPhone or iPad.

Making music with VoiceOver

Accessibility has become an important part of that work. Feedback from someone using Overdubber with VoiceOver helped improve what happens when a take ends, where the next layer starts, and how Magic Tap behaves. These are small details that matter when you’re trying to stay with the music.

In the recorder, VoiceOver’s two-finger double tap, called Magic Tap, starts and stops a take. There are spoken recording updates and input-level information, plus labelled, adjustable controls in the mixer and clip editor. Haptic feedback, layouts that adapt to larger text, and symbols alongside colour for mute and loop states give you other ways to follow what’s happening.

Try it

The free app lets you record up to eight layers, balance them, and export a WAV or M4A mix. A one-time purchase adds unlimited layers, audio import, individual-track export, more themes, and removes ads. No subscription required.

And that’s pretty much the story. A university project, a few years of making music, and two tape machines. Don’t let your ideas stay ideas, I guess.