Tips on Making Music Loops
Many music producers and video editors today use short music loops as the basis for their productions. Music loops can be of single instruments such as a piano at a specific tempo and in a specific key are often cut in 4 to 16 measure repeatable phrases. They can also be loops of multiple instruments such as a rock band or orchestra. Often loops are in 4 to 16 measure repeatable phrases. The tips below will guide you in creating loops that you can use in your own productions or that you can sell to other media artists as downloadable online products.
1. You will need to record your loop but first you must decide the type of loop you’d like to make. You will either make a melodic loop such as a flute phrase or a background loop such as harp strums.
2. Secondly you will need to record a performance that can then be cut into loops. Either use a microphone to capture a studio performance such as a guitar riff or use a software instrument to capture the playing in MIDI.
3. Third, some frequencies may affect the quality of your loop and you should use eq to get rid of this sonic annoyance. A great sounding violin loop, for example, may be compromised by an offending air conditioner. But, by cutting all frequencies below 200Hz you can get rid of the AC and keep the beautiful violin.
4. Fourthly, after using your chosen eq and reverb line bounce down a rough sample of the loop played three times in succession. Next, bounce down the middle part piece of the three part rough mix to create your final single loop which has the reverb throughout from start to finish and loops perfectly
5. For video editing purposes, create a loop with a 48k 24bit sample and bit rate in stereo. Libraries and individuals who license your loops with value this format over all other since 48k is ready for use in video editing.
The above steps provide a simple but effective outline on the process of creating high quality and sell-able loops from your audio samples for distribution in professional loop libraries.
Filed under: Music