So if you’re using commercial loops in music you can certainly use them as they come. Maybe you’ll do a bit of pitching up or down to get a melodic or harmonic loop in the key of the song. Obviously some stretching to get it in time with the rest of the track. But those are really just the start of how you can manipulate loops. There is a lot of nuance and originality you can bring to loops to really make them your own.
Here are some techniques I use when working with commercial loops:
Layering Loops
This is a really simple way to synthesise new sounds. Here are some ways I like to layer loops:
- Drum loops: mash those beats up! Don’t have a top version of full beat, play those loops together and high pass the loop who’s kick pattern you’re not into as much. Throw a high-hat loop in, cut it up and rearrange it (more on that later). Add percussion elements. Sculpt with EQ, saturation etc.
- Drum loop doubling kick and snare with samples that enhance the feel even more. A subtle technique but great for adding life into a loop. Or completely replace the kick by carving out the low end of the loop.
- Risers and downshifters: Layer those sounds, pick some one-shots that sound different from each other. Mix them, try EQ, adding delays to one of the layers etc. You can really make some elements that are unique and your own.
- Melodic parts: Grab a pitch shifter, take it up an octave. EQ it, saturate it, add more delay/reverb to this part and tuck it into the mix. Great for adding life and width to a melody as the song starts to build.
Re-Recording Loops
I will often do this with melodic and bass parts. I might want to completely replace the part or I might layer in my version of the melody with the original. Either use a sound that’s similar or something that creates more texture or helps the original loop cut through more.
Again you can have fun with these new re-recorded parts if you’re blending them. Delay/Reverb them to give dimension and spread to the original whilst maintaining the integrity of the original loop.
Mangling & Cutting Loops
- Rearrange that beat by cutting in bars, half bars and even ¼ notes. You can find some really interesting ideas by doing this. Apply some of the techniques above and that beat will sound nothing like the original loop.
- Sometimes I like to take parts of a melodic element and introduce part of the phrase earlier in the song before you hear the full melody. You can mangle these snippets with some EQ, lo-fi them with a tape plugin.
Offset Loops & Uneven Loops
Just because a loop starts on the 1 doesn’t mean it needs to stay on the 1. Try starting loops on different beats to come up with interesting rhythmic and melodic ideas.
Similar to not starting on the 1 beat. Take an 2 bar loop, start it on the one but cut at the 7th beat and loop it multiple time. This means you’ve got a 7 beat loop that keeps changing where it starts each time it repeats. This means it’s always slightly different against the rest of the arrangement each time it repeats. Doing this with percussive elements or repeating melodic ostinatos (arps) works really well and ads a nice sense of movement and variation to a song.
These are just a handful of ways I like to process loops to make them unique and enhance them.
Takeaway: If you’re not already, start making those loops your own. Try some of the techniques above and let them inspire you to come up with your own creative ways of processing loops. Feel free to let me know about your experiments in the comments of this post.
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