#Loop production music how to#

The band 10CC wanted to create continuous backing vocals that would last for much longer than they could sing without needing to breathe. One of the most successful and famous uses of this technique originated in an incongruous location (Stockport) and recording (a Ballad). As musicians and producers decided to create bigger sounds and more complex soundscapes, they pushed against the limitations of the music technology that was available to them. Whilst this technique had previously been experimented with for several years by quirky engineering academics in acclaimed institutions, its use in popular music began to develop traction in the late 1970’s. Now imagine taking this piece of tape and gluing the beginning to the end and creating a physical loop (a tape loop). At the point where you reach your first clap, the tape is cut, and when you reach the end of the last clap the tape is then cut again. But just how simple is this technique? And how has it evolved over the history of modern music? We’ll dive into the answers to these questions below.Ĭontinuing with our story, imagine your 16 claps as a recording on an old piece of analogue tape. You can carry on for as many rotations (or loops) as you wish, as long as your speed remains consistent throughout each. Once you have your 16 claps you’ve got yourselves a loop! When you reach the end of your 16th clap, loopback once more and repeat it. If you doubled that, to four bars (or 16 claps) you would reach the most commonly-used length of music that musicians and producers tend to use to create a loop. Most importantly, you know where ‘The One’ (the first beat of the bar) is.

#Loop production music how to#

You now know how to play a repeated passage of music lasting for two bars and you also know where you are throughout. Once you’ve got this, you’re very close to understanding what a loop is, even if you don’t know it yet. Just make that first and fifth clap louder. So don’t speed up or slow down when you clap. Your first and fifth clap here should be louder. Now repeat this twice – amounting to 8 claps altogether. Repeat this step again, but this time, make your first clap louder than the following three.ģ. But what is a loop in music? Read on for our explanation of what a music loop is.Ģ. It allows them to build up an arrangement of sounds by themselves - like if they had a band on stage with them. These recorded sounds can perform a ‘loop’ - acting as a backing track or backing vocals. An artist may open their performance by recording a few beats or sounds on their instruments using loop pedals, before diving into the song. It has become an increasingly popular practice for musicians (such as Ed Sheeran) to record themselves live in front of an audience, using looper pedals. In fact, music loops are not just used in recordings by producers. Namely, the drum fill from I Want You Back, written and sung by The Jackson Five (1969). Apart from them being some of the most seminal tunes created in this genre, it may surprise you to discover that they all use the same sampled music loop.

& Rakim I Know You Got Soul, Jay-Z’s Izzo (H.O.V.A.) and The Notorious B.I.G.’s One More Chance. Here’s a great question for any hip-hop aficionados out there: What connects the following songs? Eric B.