I completely agree with this. For example this is the way we record patterns in 7up on the monome and it's much much more flexible and freeform.
Basically, you simple hit the record button and it starts flashing to say its armed. I wish at least the light would turn red on the harp.
It doesn't actually start recording till you hit your first note which is quantized to a 64th or 128th note, after you are done with however long you wish to record, you hit the record button again to capture the loop. The loop starts exactly when you end the recording. After you get the hang of this it is incredibly intuitive and improvisational. You don't need things to start at all on a bar. Forget bars, it's more about playing with whatever is happening in the music.
The other thing to note is when you trigger the loop, it starts immediately(well quantized to 64th or 128th), so you have to time this, but that is easy to do for a musician, because the loop can start anywhere, you are free to mess with timing in the song.
At least I find this method to be an amazing option, even if the n-bar thing stays as well.
I think you can see me doing it here on the Manta.
Sometimes when you start playing you have no idea what you are going to record but you just feel when it should end and repeat.
Manta Improv
And actually even with the n-bar quantized to the bar thing, you shouldn't have to choose the number of bars beforehand, just start recording and click again to end recording and it's quantized to the nearest bar.
UK
