Drum Loops

Hi!!

I wanted to talk a little bit about using drum loops in song writing. Sometimes i like to use drum loops in my songs because it can gain quite interesting results… sometimes by layering different loops, sometimes by cutting, combining them together etc (The loops are commonly made by myself in “fruity loops” or something…) But what i wanted to ask is… although using loops can sometimes gain interesting results it makes mastering a little bit difficult… cause u don’t have then every instrument separated etc… what do u guys think about that? how it’s done? i know that loop manipulating is used in commertial production also…
how is the best way to do this?

i know that if the loops are selfmade then i can make corrections in loop source file and “master” loops separately etc, but this is kinda like pain in ass…

I think you have to live with this pain in the ass because there is no other option. You already said, that this is difficult, because the loop itself contains different instruments.

Another option might be to render instrument-by-instrument in FL and then use the different WAVS in different renoise channels, but then you have to have a lot of memory :)

Sorry 4 my bad english.

mix/master the loop (as much as possible) when creating it

whats so hard about mixing drumloops ? make the basedrum fat, the snare kicking and the hihats sizzling … honestly, I mix my loops in renoise, with baxxpander or something similar for the base, then I use a EQ10 in renoise to mix the snare (600, 1200, 2000 hz sliders) and the hihats (the other sliders), then a compressor at the end and thats it … its not that hard. you should not make rocketscience out of everything, really, especially if you create your own loops.
if something really goes wrong it might help to adjust the volume of the loop acording the snare (means, the snare is the part that matches the rest of the music first), and if you remain with a wacky basedrum or very soft hihats, use the above mentioned and thats it.
maybe also look for some of the other 2 page-posts I made in the past about those aspects. I am too lazy to search for them atm.

Read my suggestion #3 in this thread:

http://www.renoise.com/board/index.php?act…1211a6c0d3b0a8d

I think that would be a nice way to work with loops…

Of course, with Renoises’ 900 offset command you can do a pretty damn fine job of remixing loops yourself…

What I’ll often do, with a breakbeat for example, is trigger individual beats with the 900 offset - 940 will usually be the snare - 900 the bass drum - And the rest largely top-end…

So whenever you’ve triggered a snare (40) put it in another column and EQ/mix it however you want… Likewise bassdrum (00)… And just mix the rest how you want…

c-400 0900-OFF------------------------
---------------c-400 0910---------------
---------------c-400 0920---------------
---------------c-400 0930---------------
---------------OFF----------c-400 0940
---------------c-400 0950-OFF---------

etc… :yeah:

EDIT:

Oh, and it’s more a “mixing” issue than a mastering one.

I notice a few ppl are using the term “mastering” like this round these 'ere parts… :blink:

(pre)Mastering would be me sat in a perfectly treated room with some great speakers/monitors (i.e. NOT near-field studio monitors! And certainly not the studio monitors or room you mix-down in!) with my finished stereo mix, maybe in 24-bit digital format, adjusting the dynamics and tone of the finished mix, then dithering/waveshaping down to 16-bit 44.1khz ready for actually pressing onto CD (/vinyl/DVD - different sample rates, etc…).

You may master in software like Nuendo, Wavelab, etc… Or, if you’ve got the money(!), with 2" tape, Apogee convertors and Manley/Prism outboard! :yeah: