Music Making: How to Make Song From Loops

It's not hard to make a sample or loop. It can be, though, very hard to combine them in a way that sounds good. Many pitfals exist when trying to make loops, or music in general, for that matter. Like writing block, sometimes you just cant come up with anything creative, in this case it's almost always best to briefly take a break and occupy your mind with something new entirely.

Many things play a part in getting "loopers block", that is not being able to come up with anything original with your track. Here's some of the problems.

1. Choice

Not always is a huge selection best. Sometimes, simple is the most efficient.

When you go to a fast food place for example, take McDonalds. The menu is simple and to the point. You go to a local restaurant and you're likely to see a huge selection of dishes to choose from. The bigger the business, the bigger the emphasis on simplicity, because at the end of the day most people prefer simplicity and efficiency. The same goes with loop making.

Producing music with music making programs tends to be very similiar across the board when it comes to effects and tools. Take GarageBand, it has multitudes of instruments. These features can be manipulated in so as to get endless results. While it can be time consuming going through all the material, it's well worth the time and effort. Some really great sounds and effects are included with this Digital Audio Workstation.

Solution to Choice - Audio Sessions

Playing with audio is a huge peice of the puzzle when it comes to creating great tracks. Take thirty minutes and look through loopazon to find your favorite piano loops, drum loops, and vocals. After you can compile the best sounding and put them in your DAW's playlist. 

2. Less is better

It's a super common mistake you'll see almost all beginner's do, adding too much seperate instruments, loops, and samples to their music. You have to resist the urge to add more loops and samples then is absolutely necessary. A simple rule of thumb to follow, limit yourself to one of everything, one drum loop, one vocal, one melody, etc. When you start stacking sounds on top of each other a great peice of work gets ruined.

One only has to look at any song ever. Take a listen and take note how much different instruments there are. It's usually a drum, piano, and maybe guitar for all mainstream music. When it comes to music you dont want clutter, the goal is to convey an emotion in the most simple way. 

After getting an understanding of the drums, piano, and guitar bits you'll require to compose music create a new project in your Digital Audio Workstation of choice. Limit yourself to using just 2-3 instruments, and only  once each.

3. Ok now what

So, you have the loop made from a few instruments, the hard part isn't over. Then comes the tenuis and time consuming task of making transition between your loop so that it can play in an uninterrupted way for the length of the song.

A usefull tip

You might be entertained by this basic tip. If you have a loop you cant seem to get out of your head a cold shower can help. I know, it sounds crazy, but this shock to the nervous system is good in this situation, and others that brain "reset" would do well.

Mac Miller had a specific way out getting past creative blocks. By leaving the loop or sample playing in the background, and lightly reading, he was able to spark that unconscious creativity we all have but can't access. Einstein, after all, came up with his best ideas whilst asleep. Take a break, and focus on relaxing. It is then you will come up with your best ideas.