Our diverse library of over 5000 free loops contains all the sounds you need to create a full track in most genres and styles. From neo-soul jams to trap hits and house classics, you’ll find what you’re looking for to start creating your next hit song. With everything stored in the cloud, producing music anywhere straight from your laptop is easy. And with loops, it’s really easy to get a track that sounds full and professional in minutes by just dragging and dropping.
Making the sounds your own can take a little more work. Here are five quick ways to add your personal touch to your chosen loops and get on the road to creating your first hit.
Slice and delay the loops
Drop a 16-bar loop onto the timeline. Slice at different points on the timeline to create a new sound from the same loop.
Add some delay to fill the gaps you’ve sliced out to give the sound a completely different texture. Shortcut: Hit ‘S’ to slice.
Reverse the loops
A technique popularized by electronic music producers, using reverse on the last kick in a loop will add texture and variety to your sound. Drop in a kick loop and slice the loop just before the last beat.
Right-click and reverse the last beat. Chop the reversed kick again and add it in more times for more variation to the kicks throughout your track.
Add a stutter effect
To create a stutter effect, simply select the point you want to stutter and copy this over a number of beats.
Tip: This usually sounds best if you do it at the end of a 16-bar loop. We’ve done it with a bassline as shown above, but this technique can work well with any instrument tracks.
Pan the track
If you’re looking to add some texture and width, you can try duplicating a track, reducing the volume and panning hard left and hard right. This works well on sweeping sounds and can also work very nicely on backing vocals.
Try creating simple backing vocals to your track by duplicating the lead vocal twice and panning hard left and right.
Re-pitch the loops
BandLab has built-in technology that allows you to change the pitch of a sound without changing the speed or affecting its quality. All you need to do is right-click the loop, select AudioStretch to change the semitone, or select “More” to adjust any region in your track up to a full octave up or down.
Tip: Try layering duplicate vocals over multiple tracks and AudioStretching each to different semitones for some really interesting effects.
There are loads you can do with loops and this is just the start. Whatever level of production you are at, loops are a great way to get creative and make music without too much prior knowledge.
Give some of these a try today and hit us up if you have any awesome techniques to share!
Read more: Six creative ways to use loops and samples
