The Loop Loft - Custom Drum and Instrument Loops - Ryan's Corner

Remix Contest - Win Over $1k in Prizes!

2012-02-09T11:26:12-05:00

Are you ready to get funky? Are you ready to win over $1,000 in prizes? Let's do this.

Video: Eric Harland Soundcheck

2012-02-06T11:41:08-05:00

I recently had the chance to catch up with Loop Loft artist (and drummer extraordinaire), Eric Harland, and hang out during soundcheck for a concert at The Berklee Performance Center in Boston. Luckily, I had my camera (and some gum) with me and was able to capture some over the shoulder, breathing down his neck-type footage while the crew dialed in sounds. The band that night was a spectacular lineup including Larry Grenadier on bass, Julian Lage on guitar and Dan Blake on saxophone. NPR was airing the show live, and you can stream the recording of it here.

We're in the midst of production for Eric's upcoming loop pack and things are sounding (and feeling) INCREDIBLE. Stay tuned for more info on the release (coming in Spring 2012)! In the meantime, I give you these fly on the wall (or rather, annoying guy with camera) videos of their soundcheck:

Video: Using Multiple Loops In Multiple Meters (all at the same time)

2012-01-30T18:12:29-05:00

You were probably just asking yourself... "hmmm, is it possible to use multiple odd meter drum loops (in multiple odd time signatures) together at the same time, and make something that doesn't sound like a Dream Theater b-side?" Well, you've come to the right place, because I've got your answer: YES! It's totally possible, and the results are pretty interesting.

In this video, I show you how to take three different loops in three time signatures (7/8, 7/4 & 15/8) and play them together inside of Reason 6. It's easier than you might think, and it ends up creating a groove that changes slightly with every measure.

The MIDI loops utilized in this video come from our recently released Odd Meter MIDI Drums collection, while the 7/4 Rex loop comes from the Odd Meter Grooves Vol 2 pack, and lastly, the Kong Patch hails from our popular Cinematic Drums Vol 2 ReFIll.

Tip - Using REX loops in Pro Tools

2012-01-12T10:07:42-05:00

Lately, I've been receiving a lot of questions about importing REX files into Pro Tools. Rather than creating a tutorial video from scratch on this subject, the good people over at macProVideo have already put together this rather in-depth look into working with .rex and .rex2 files inside of Pro Tools. Once you have the preferences configured properly, it's a total snap (super lame pun intended...).

Check it out and comment below if you have any questions or suggestions!

Unreleased Rarities - Free Download

2012-01-03T14:12:26-05:00

I wanted to kick off the new year by doing two things:

Say thanks to everyone who helped make 2011 the best year in Loop Loft history (well, it was actually only our first full year in existence... but it was still pretty awesome)!

As a token of my appreciation, give away this very cool collection of loops, "Unreleased Rarities - Loops From The Vault".

Consisting of four complete sessions in all formats (WAV, AIFF & REX2), Unreleased Rarities covers a diverse set of styles & sounds including dirty funk, gated 80's Power Station snares, twisted odd meters, and head nodding 135bpm dance grooves that until now, have never been available to the public. All recorded live and all free!

To download, just enter your email below and you'll automatically receive a download link to the files.

Thanks again for making The Loop Loft one of the leading loop companies in the world. We're looking forward to an exciting 2012 and have plenty of amazing releases in the pipeline that we can't wait to share with you!

All the best,

Ryan Gruss

Founder - The Loop Loft

Video: Practicing With Loops

2011-12-27T13:11:00-05:00

Not only are loops great for music production, but they're also highly useful in the practice room. In this video, Loop Loft Artist, Janek Gwizdala, discusses his approach to utilizing loops in place of a metronome, the importance of locking in with the kick drum, and how to create your own loops to play on top of.

For more videos and free downloads of the loops used in the video, click here to head over to videobasslessons.tv!

Video: Making Linear Loops in Reason 6

2011-12-13T09:15:22-05:00

In this video, I show you how to create linear drum loops in Reason 6 by utilizing slice edit mode in Dr. Octo Rex to deconstruct a straight forward rock groove and fill the gaps with ReDrum. The ReFill I'm using in this example is Indie Rock Drums Vol II.

Subscribe to the blog for all of our new videos and tips!

Video: Multitrack Drums in Ableton + Free Template

2011-12-09T09:55:05-05:00

In some of my past videos, I've shown you how to work with multitrack drums inside of Logic and manipulate loops in Reason 6, but today my focus is on Ableton. In this video, I utilize the Felt & Wires Multitrack Session to explain my workflow for:

setting up the session before loading the audio files
getting a quick rough mix
recording a live arrangement from session view
grouping the tracks to clean things up

And as a bonus, I've provided the same template I use in the as a free download. If you own the Felt & Wires Session, or any other of our Multitrack Sessions, this will be a great starting point for setting up your tracks in Ableton.

Click here to download the template!

Have any questions or comments? Leave 'em below!

The Loop Loft Takes Manhattan

2011-12-07T16:19:25-05:00

Mark your calendars! On December 15th we'll be in NYC for a show lead by Loop Loft artist, Bob Reynolds. He's got an all-star band lined up that includes the incredible Eric Harland on drums, John Shannon on guitar, Oli Rockberger on keys and ANOTHER Loop Loft artist on bass, the impeccable Janek Gwizdala. They'll be playing a bunch of material from Bob's upcoming album, which they'll be recording the following day at the legendary Sear Sound studio. Hear it at the 55 Bar first!

Show Details:

Dec 15th

2 Sets: 10pm + 11:30pm

The 55 Bar

55 Christopher St. (Btwn Sixth/Seventh Avenue)

If you live anywhere in the tri-state area, this show is not to be missed. Get there early, as both sets will fill up and sell out quick. And if you're there, be sure to introduce yourself. The Loop Loft wants to buy you a drink! That's a tax write-off, right??

PS - There is also a dirty rumor going around that the legendary Victor "El Fuego" Machatchka might be sitting-in on jazz flute. That is, if he can remove his tracking bracelet for the evening.

Announcing Customer Reviews!

2011-12-06T13:07:02-05:00

Have you been wanting to share your thoughts about certain Loop Loft products? Do you wish you could hear what others are saying about our products before you plunk down your hard-earned money on a new loop collection? Well, today we launched a brand new social review system to enable all of that... and more!

Just go to the product page of any item you'd like to review and automatically sign in with your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or foursquare account (and no, it won't post to your wall or feed!). You'll be able to track all of your reviews not just on The Loop Loft, but from around the web, see how you are influencing others, and if you value their opinion, you'll be able to follow other reviewers to stay in the errrm, loop!

So, what are you thinking? Share your Loop Loft reviews with the world!

The look of the new reviews:

Follow The Transients - A Winner Shares His Secret

2011-12-05T11:22:30-05:00

Last Friday, I presented our first ever round of "Name That Meter". A new game where the challenge is to identify the time signature of a loop just by looking at an image of the waveform (two measures in length). Bizarre? A bit. Geeky? Definitely. But that's just how we musicians roll.

And much to my amazement, we had a winner within just a few hours of posting the contest. A loyal Loop Loft reader, "Todd X" (last name witheld to protect his identity.... there will be no stalking of my winners!), blew my mind by identifying the time signature as 15/8. Not a meter you see or hear everyday, unless you enjoy transcribing Stravinsky scores or have a cassette of Ten Summoner's Tales stuck in your '93 Civic (if that's the case, I feel for you on several accounts).

Todd?

Not believing this could actually be pulled off with any sort of valid, scientific analysis, I asked Todd how he did it. And well, he proved me wrong:

"I essentially used your suggestion to follow the transients. I divided the whole sample in half since there were 2 measures, then tried to chunk up the whole sample into equally spaced transients. Ignoring a few exceptions where there were no sounds, I figured out there were 15 equally spaced transients per measure. It was relatively simple, but actually not easy since the beats that were largest in amplitude didn't necessarily correspond to the beats I was expecting to be loudest. Not being a drummer, it took a little effort to convince myself that backbeats and offbeats are often accented. The 8 was just a guess, since technically it could have been 15/4 or 15/16 or whatever you chose to be the base length. But since it looked like a triple type feel, I assumed it would be eighth notes."

So there you go. The key is to "follow the transients". Somehow, I feel this very advice could be applied to much more beyond music. And just to clarify, that's "transients", not "transvestites". Two different things.

And after all of this, you must be wondering what the15/8 loop sounds like? Well, here it is. It's a drum loop taken from our popular Odd Meter Bundle, of which Todd is now a proud owner.

Think you have what it takes to "follow the transients"?? Click here to subscribe to the blog and stay tuned for the next round of "Name That Meter"!

New Cinematic ReFill for Reason 6

2011-12-02T15:43:17-05:00

We've configured our latest Cinematic Drums release specifically for use in Reason 6. Custom Combinator patches that utilize The Echo, Alligator, Pulveriser (along with a vast amount of other Reason components), will take this eclectic collection of loops and samples into directions you would never imagine.

Watch the preview:

Reason ReFill - Cinematic Drums Vol 2 from The Loop Loft on Vimeo.

ReFill Specs:

- 183 REX2 Loops
- 22 Dr Octo Rex Patches
- 7 Kong Patches
- 3 ReDrum Patches
- 3 Combinators
- High Quality, 24-bit 48 KHZ Audio
- File size: 100 MB

Time To Play "Name That Meter"!

2011-12-01T13:44:30-05:00

Not only is The Loop Loft a cutting edge audio company, we're also dabbling into the world of online game shows. So, without further adieu, let's play the first ever edition of "Name That Meter"!

Here's how it works: I post an image of a waveform from a drum loop that is two measures long, and you tell me what meter you think it's in (4/4, 6/8, 26/32 etc..). Take a look at the transients, do some calculations and attempt to figure it out. Post your guess in the comment section below or on our Facebook page, and the first person to correctly name the meter wins a free prize!

This week's free prize is our award-winning "Odd Meter Bundle" loop collection (a $35 value!).

So, are you ready? Drum roll please.... Now.... Name That Meter!!!

Check back later tonight (11pm EST) to find out who the lucky winner is and to listen to the audio of the loop!

Tip - Loading REX2 Into Stylus RMX

2011-11-29T01:10:55-05:00

I've been receiving a lot of emails from users asking how to load their Loop Loft REX2 files into Stylus RMX. Here's a step by step guide for loading the files into RMX:

• Quit all applications

• Open Sage Converter. It should be located on the Applications folder.

• Click on Import REX Files

• A navigation screen should pop up. Navigate to the folder where the REX files that you want to import are located.

• DO NOT select the folder itself!! Select the REX files that are inside of that folder instead. You should select all the files inside of the particular folder.

• Hit "Choose" or "OK" and a small dialog box will appear on the SAGE Converter application asking for a name for the new Suite for the REX files.

• Here you label the Suite with the same name of the folder that you are importing the REX files from. For example: If you are importing the REX files
inside the folder "Marcha 130 bpm" just name the new Suite on the SAGE Converter "Marcha 130 bpm"

• You'll have to do this for every single REX folder of the Brazilian Collection if you want the loops to appear organized by the same folder and names in Stylus RMX.

• For organizational purposes there are a few files on the Brazilian Collection that have more characters on their names than the SAGE allows. So when you get to those files just rename them before importing. The maximum characters allowed is 31.

• Once you open Stylus RMX you should find the new imported files folders organized by name with the respective REX files inside of them.

If you have any questions or additional tips, please leave them in the comments sections below!

Reason 6 ReFill Preview - The Doug Wamble Guitar Collection

2011-10-11T16:19:49-04:00

Here's a quick preview of our upcoming ReFill for Reason 6 - The Doug Wamble Guitar Collection. Along with hundreds of loops and samples featuring Doug's impeccable touch and sound on his signature Amistar resonator guitar, this ReFill contains a host of custom Combinator, Dr. Octo Rex & Kong Patches, all leveraging the incredible new functionality and effects found in Reason 6.

The ReFill will be available October 19th from both thelooploft.com and propellerheads.se!

Reason 6 - The Echo, Pulveriser & Neptune with Loops

2011-10-03T15:41:26-04:00

Here's a quick video demonstrating how to take a rather traditional drum loop (taken from our Cinematic Drums ReFill) and utilize some of the new effects in Reason 6 (The Echo, Pulversiser & Neptune), to completely change the vibe.

Nice Rack - Reason 6

Video Tutorial - Mixing Multitrack Drums

2011-09-30T10:16:43-04:00

Sit down, grab a drink and make yourself comfortable. This will take a while. In this 24 minute long video, I walk you through some of my own drum mixing techniques, demonstrated with our latest Multitrack Sessions release, Lucky Sevens. Again, I'm using Logic for this tutorial, but all of these basic principals of utilizing EQ, compression, gating, reverb etc can be utilized in any DAW (Pro Tools, Ableton, Reason, Garageband, yaddy yaddy yadda...).

And if watching a guy mix an odd meter drum session wasn't exciting enough, there is a surprise guest appearance by the police.

Questions? Comments? Insults? Leave them below or head over to our Facebook page!

Video Tutorial - Arranging Multitrack Drums

2011-09-16T09:31:01-04:00

The thought of working with Multitrack Drum Sessions may seem daunting to some of you, but it's really as easy as dragging and dropping. This video, utilizing our Thick & Meaty Session, gives you a quick overview of how the sessions are configured, as well as some tips for creating your own drum arrangements inside of your DAW.

This is the first of a series of videos I'll be posting in Ryan's Corner, so subscribe to the RSS feed to stay up to date with new content!

The Man, The Myth, The Legend - Al Foster!

2011-08-02T19:29:48-04:00

File this video under the "wtf... it's only been viewed 94 times?!" section. Hopefully this blog post will help fix that. Check out this amazing concert (40 minutes worth!) featuring a trio consisting of the great Joe Henderson on tenor, Dave Holland on bass and Al Foster on drums. Turn off the TV, sit back and learn a serious lesson in musicality.

My favorite track? "Relaxin' at Camarillo" (starts at 30:00). If you haven't already, check out Joe's album under the same name. Highly recommended. And if you dig the way this rhythm section plays together, then I highly, highly, highly recommend Henderson's 1993 release, So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles). I lived and breathed this album while I was in high school. Along with Rage Against the Machine... but that's for another blog post.

Behind The Scenes With Hall & Oates

2011-07-28T12:13:10-04:00

No, I wasn't searching for "bitchin' mustaches" on YouTube, but I did just happen to stumble upon this excellent behind the scenes video of Hall & Oates, recording their 1982 double platinum album, H₂O. Hosted by one of MTV's original VJs, Mark Goodman, these two 15 minute videos take us into the legendary Electric Lady Studios in NYC and gives us a detailed look into the production process for the song, "Go Solo".

It's pretty amazing to watch how Daryl and John work together, intensely bouncing, melodic and rhythmic ideas off of each other, keeping an incredible focus on the song itself and artfully molding the track throughout the entire process... from deciding on the perfect tempo to squelching out their patented, super-tight background vocal harmonies.

Since this is a pretty lengthy video, I'll highlight a few of my favorite parts:

- Mickey Curry on drums. One of my pop heroes and he has such a great pocket on this track.
- Watching them tweak overdub sounds with analogue synth guru, Larry Fast.
- Daryl stepping up to the mic to lay down the lead vocal. The dude has magic pipes... and oozes soul.
- Hugh Padgham discussing his thoughts on mixing. Hugh is the one responsible for the classic, "gated" drum sound:

"The whole thing came through the famous "listen mic" on the SSL console. The SSL had put this massive compressor on it because the whole idea was to hang one mic in the middle of the studio and hear somebody talking on the other side. And it just so happened that we turned it on one day when Phil [Collins] was playing his drums. And then I had the idea of feeding that back into the console and putting the noise gate on, so when he stopped playing it sucked the big sound of the room into nothing."

And with that, I leave you the videos, along with a streaming version of the final track. Enjoy!

The finished product:

Less Is More With Jamey Haddad

2011-07-22T12:53:00-04:00

I was fortunate enough to have studied under a lot of amazing drummers and percussionists while I was at Berklee. Each one of them brought something unique to the table and influenced me tremendously, whether it be regarding style, sound, or technique. One of the most influential of these teachers was Jamey Haddad.

With Jamey, the focus was making music. And by that, I mean being able to make anything you touch sound musical. The majority of my lessons with him were spent in front of only one instrument.... a ride cymbal, a snare drum or a frame drum, and focusing on developing meaningful, musical phrases with the item at (or in) hand. On the surface, this may not sound difficult... but trust me, it is. There's a reason that I tend to poke fun at guys like this. And I'm not referring to the haircut.... though give me a few minutes, and I can come up with a few zingers around that.

But anyway, back to making music (Missings Persons superfans, you can direct your hate mail to me here). In this video below, Jamey displays how to pull an entire orchestra's worth of sounds out of a single kanjira... and then a hadjira. Yes, Jamey is such a badass, he has a drum named after him.

Enjoy the video... and next time you find yourself setting up that 16th china cymbal on your kit, please ask yourself, "is this really going to help me make better music". If you answer "yes", then I recommend you contact Terry for his hair stylist.

Polynesian Nightmare - Deconstructed

2011-07-14T13:38:26-04:00

In today's post, in what is unintentionally turning out to be a lunchtime video lesson series, I'd like to share a clip from an instructional video that changed my life, Jens Hannemann's Complicated Drumming Technique. If you own a set of rototoms, a mounted gong drum(s) or more than one Steve Vai album, then you'll find this video to be chocked full of useful tips that you can then share with your customers at Guitar Center.

Enough of me talking... it's time for Jens to breakdown the rhythmic masterpiece that is "Polynesian Nightmare". And don't forget:

"It's a little more of a groove than it is a rock beat."

Getting It Done, Without Sleeves

2011-07-12T12:11:32-04:00

This video features four things that I'm a big fan of:

- Odd Meters

- Strobe Lights

- Josh Freese

- Sleeveless Button Down Shirts

This is how you play in 7/8 and not sound like a total wanker.

3 Tricks For Dirty Drum Loops

2011-06-02T12:33:04-04:00

In today's post, I'm going to give you 3 quick and easy methods for dirtying up your drum loops. As you'll see, these are some old skool, analogue tricks that can now be easily done inside of the box. You don't even need to spend a night with Christina Aguilera to make things dirty... all you need is a DAW. For this example, I'm using Logic Pro 9, but these same effects and amp simulators can be found in most other recording software. So, let's get started....

For today's demonstration, I'm using a drum loop from our popular Bundle of Brushes collection. I wanted to use a very clean and natural sounding loop for my source track, and this one definitely fits the bill. It's a straight ahead, funk/folk groove with brushes on the snare drum with no processing in the mix other than a hint of compression:

103 BrushGroove Clean by thelooploft

Trick #1 - Reamping The Loop

This is probably my favorite method for "dirtying" things up, probably due to the amount of options that are available between utilizing different amps and cabinets. Back in the day (before amp simulation plugins), this reamping effect was achieved by literally running your drum mix through a guitar or bass amp, mic'ing up the speakers, tweaking the knobs and capturing the distorted result on a new track in your session. Now, all of this can easily be done with a few clicks of the mouse.

For this example, I used the Amp Designer in Logic and selected the "Blues Blaster Amp" (apparently they never signed that partnership with Fender...) along with a Tweed 1x10 cabinet. I find that the smaller speakers (well, virtual speakers) keep the sound and bottom end a bit more focused when using the "crunchier" amp settings. In the screenshot below, you can see the exact settings used in the mix.

The result? Some crazy bass in your face and plenty of warm grit in the midrange. We're definitely not at a Simon and Garfunkel gig anymore. Preview below:

103 BrushGroove AmpDistortion by thelooploft

Trick #2 - Using Effect Pedals

Again, this is another technique that used to be done by using (stealing?) the actual effects pedals from your guitarist and running your drum tracks through them. Since the introduction of Logic 9, these pedals are all available inside of the box. But don't worry, you can still steal your guitarist's girlfriend.

The effect pedals are a great way to really roll up your sleeves and experiment with some serious knob twisting. They are also great for getting cool sounds.

In this example, I'm running the loop through a chain of pedal effects consisting of "The Happy Face Fuzz", "The Phaze 2" and a tape delay simulator (synched to 1/8th notes).

The result? Tripped out, cosmic, space grooves... man. The fuzz pedal does just as the name suggest and the phase and delay pedals sound like they can cure glaucoma. Preview below:

103 BrushGroove PedalBoard by thelooploft

Trick #3 - Bitcrushing

Bitcrushing works exactly like it sounds.... it lowers the digital resolution of the audio, resulting in a more low-fi, even heavily distorted sound. This original drum loop was recorded at a resolution of 24bit, and as you can see below, I squashed the track down to a mere 4bits, along with downsampling it 31x. In technical speak, I bitcrushed the shit out of it.

The result? It sounds like this is being played back on an Atari 2600 and the game cartridge needs to be taken out and blown on. Trent Reznor circa 1981? Something like that. Preview below:

103 BrushGroove Bitcrushed by thelooploft

Download And Share Your Techniques

So, those are just a few of my tricks for dirtying things up and mutating a rather "normal" sounding drum loop into something completely different. Now, I'd love to hear some of your techniques. Click here to download the same drum loop (in WAV, REX2 and AIFF formats) and trash it up in your studio. Share your ideas and tricks in the comment section along with a link to the end result. Let's see (and hear) what ya got!

Download the loop & subscribe to this blog!

Boom Boom Katy

2011-05-24T17:05:34-04:00

Greetings, drum loop enthusiasts of the internets! Welcome to my first official post under my brand-spankin' new blog, Ryan's Corner. Some of you may have followed my past musings over at ryangruss.com, a website that has gone somewhat stagnant over the past year as I've been busy with all things Loop Loft... but I'm finally getting back to my roots and ramblings. I'll be using this blog to give you a behind the scenes look into everything we do at The Loop Loft, as well as give you some (free) samplings of productions currently in process. So please, sit back, crack open a beer, subscribe to this RSS feed and please, try not to be too offended by me.

This week I've ramped up the recording process for The Loop Loft's next drum loop collection, "Hip Hop Beats". And these aren't the typical 808-style drums you'll find in most hip hop drum collections. These grooves are recorded on a live kit (think Questlove-style drums)

So, when recording hip hop (as with any other genre), I try to find certain musical tracks to draw inspiration from. I load an iTunes playlist with artists like Jay-Z, The Roots, J Dilla and even a little Digital Underground for fun. But the artist used for today's session was a little unexpected.... Katy Perry.

Trust me, I hadn't intended on this... it happened first while driving to Starbucks for my 5th iced coffee of the day and flipping through the radio stations (this is actually kind of hard when you have caffeine-induced shakes). I stumbled on a track I hadn't heard before and recognized Kanye West rapping over a slow, halftime groove with some cool doubletime hihat work on the top. I assumed this was his song but then I heard Katy Perry's highly processed and autotuned yet, annoyingly-catchy vocals over the chorus. Confused and intrigued at the same time, I fired up Shazam to get to the bottom of this.

And sure enough, my iPhone told me it was a track called "E.T. feat Kanye". A song I'm sure I'll be hearing over and over and over in subsequent coffee runs. So, before I totally got burned out on this song, I decided to set up a session at The Loop Loft and get my interpretation of the groove on tape.

Consisting of a "boom boom clap", We Will Rock You-esque cadence and some 32nd note hi hat action (if you're feeling this at 75 bpm), it's part crunk, anthemic rock and bubble gum pop, all at the same time. I didn't go with the over-the-top, thunderous drum sound, but chose to keep it pretty natural, with a dirtied up, reamped snare and a touch of sub-bass on the kick.

So, there you have it. A behind the scenes look into why and how I do things at The Loop Loft, along with the first outtake from an upcoming loop collection and some insight to my caffeine addiction. It's definitely not straight hip hop, but with Kanye's name on the source track, I figured it was close enough. Check out the audio preview below, grab the free download, and click here to subscribe to upcoming blog posts!

150 BoomBoomKaty by thelooploft

Click here to download the loop in WAV, REX2 and AIFF formats.