Home Recording For Dummies, 6th Edition

Chapter 13

Working with Loops

IN THIS CHAPTER

Understanding loops and looping

Choosing loops

Using loops in your music

Creating and editing loops

The concept of looping is as old as recording with magnetic tape. Starting in the 1960s, it wasn’t uncommon to include tape loops in the recording process. These were actual loops of tape that contained a short section of music, often a drum groove, that was cut from the music, its ends taped together, and then run through the machine to play an endless repeating cycle.

Modern loop technology follows this same process but substitutes digital musical segments for physical magnetic tape. Because you’re not having to cut and tape the tape, you can loop on the fly. Loops can also adjust to fit the time, tempo, and key signature of your songs, which is something old-time tape loopers weren’t able to do.

In this chapter, I introduce you to the world of loops and show you how to integrate loops into your compositions. First, you discover the two basic types and multiple formats of loops. Then, you explore where you can find loops for your digital ...