[Binladeda]

 Hi,

 Most of this year I've been in the Kent countryside, convalescing and looking after my grandson.  Consequently, I have been away from my equipment and studio.
 So the only recourse to writing songs was with a laptop and Garageband Loops.  BUT, what a revelation it has been.  It's a fascinating world, and I have become a
 bit obsessed with it.  Did not know you could do so much with them.

 I've always used midi, either hooked up to a guitar or keyboard, but I only started using loops when I went digital about 4 yrs ago (thanks to this lovely place )
 and even then I steered clear of them, thinking they were a cheat.  And that is the problem I still have.  Every time I write something using loops, I'm left with a
 feeling as if I've done something bad.  It's hard to describe, but usually when I've written something and played/sang it, I get a feeling of satisfaction that I just don't
 get with loops. With loops I don't connect with anything physically....just a mouse and a keyboard.  Even when I really like the end product, and it's been fun and
 exciting to compose. I still feel as if there is something missing.  Is this a problem that other people have ??  Or is it an age thing, that I must overcome ??

 Anyway, I have now started writing stuff using just loops.  Two of which I've recently posted on the Finished Song thread.  The one for the Get Shorty Comp has had
 some really good reviews.  Is this the way forward ??  Should I be embracing them as another instrument to learn, and practice, practice, practice ??  Or are they just
 another colour on the palette ?? They do have certain advantages.  You can compose very quickly.  The production is minimal.  You can experiment with different styles,
 and use instruments that you can't play, from all over the world .  It's a bit like a sweet shop.....

 Love to hear some other views on this.  Also, would love to hear anything written using just loops..
 

[cowparsleyman]

Whato Bin

Nice to hear a bit of history behind your work, and what super stuff it is. For me it doesn't matter how you do it as long as you're happy with it, I can relate to your dichotomy though, as I have the same feeling when I use something like my Dr 770 drum machine, when I have a perfectly good drum kit sitting about 10 ft away.

I ALWAYS wanted to write, play record produce everything, in fact my first purchase of my first pay packet was an Akai reel to reel, which could do overdubs, so when I eventually got there, I was as happy as larry, the world was my oyster....or was it? I found my creativity was surpassing my physical ability on the keys, or drums, and no way could I play a trumpet or hire a string section, so inevitably synths did it, and I'm OK with that. (Frank Zappa got Steve Vai in to play the bits he wrote, but couldn't play)

Loops are fine with me, they take the same skill to mix and produce them, once the thing is a track, then what's the problem?

Your 1 minute entry, was that all loops? can you play that well yourself? who cares really? the joy one gets from playing is personal to you, the joy the listener gets is personal to them, they don't care whether you played it, Eric Clapton played it, or anyone else, as long as it sounds good to them.

If you imagine folk are judging your playing abilities, then tell 'em they are loops, to free yourself from any guilt.

Anyway Mr B your work is great, and I for one don't care how you do it, it's the ideas/melodies/hooks that are the gold dust.

Hope this helps you sleep at night 

cpm

[Skub]

Heh,my attitude is...loops are just tools like anything else. A jigsaw is just a mess of bits until you work out how it all fits together,then you get the picture!

[Viscount Cramer & His Orchestra]

I think you'll overcome your misgivings.....yeah maybe it's an age thing...plus you can play the guitar so you're feeling that you ought to be playing it yourself. you'll get over it I'm sure.

Always gonna be somebody says it's cheating etc etc...that's their lookout. Just about everybody uses drum loops without batting an eyelid so why not loops of anything else too.

I use em…..sax loops especially, and the female vocal on my shorty thing was all made up of loops chopped and farted around with.

Other thing is that you're restricted a bit by what you can find so might use a guitar part which is great but maybe not exactly how you'd have done it yourself so you have to make some compromises....maybe that's causing you some misgivings?


yes, as Skub say they're tools for the job. Use them I say. i'm going to! And as CPM says...it's the ideas that count...and if the final product is music to our ears, all is good.

[pompeyjazz]

IMO Loops are a great part of the writers toolkit @Binladeda . You can do so much with them. You can squash em, stretch em, cut em, shift em, apply weird FX to them. I haven't used any for a while but you've inspired me to go and write something with loops as the starting point 

Congrats on the new arrival BTW