> Step by step

2. First steps with Loopcloud CM (continued)

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You can also select samples by key or BPM, by pressing the Key and BPM icon at the top right of the UI, which brings us neatly to the heart of Loopcloud: its filter system. With the Pack and the other two free packs you’ll get, that is a lot of samples, not to mention Loopmasters’ 4 million(!). Fortunately, you can filter these down with a huge range of options at the top of the screen. 12

You can audition any sample to play along with your tune and once you’ve found one you like, simply click on the State icon which will show how many points the sample costs. In this case we have bought two, reducing our overall points from 50 to 46, although you should have 300 free points as part of Loopcloud CM. With the Free plan you get five free sounds a day to download too. 15

Finally you can export any loops that you have worked on into your DAW for further processing. There are a couple of ways to do this. In Logic, for example, hit the folder icon above the Play button and you will be able to copy and paste the sample from Loopcloud into your DAW. 10

These include filtering by instrument and genre or, later, by time signature and file format. There’s a huge range of instruments and genres to choose from but to play along with us, select Synth Bass from the Instruments menu. 13

There are many other features within Loopcloud CM that you can explore and which can change your chosen samples dramatically. First up there’s a comprehensive set of effects, ranging from delays to reverse and vinyl effects. Press the FX Edit button to open the Effects panel and the + icon to open a drop-down menu with the effects. 16

And here we are showing how to do the same process in Ableton Live (from the Loopcloud video available from filesilo.co.uk). Hit Alt and click and drag on the Process icon and all the audio files – complete with edits – can be dragged into your DAW. 11

Loopcloud quickly filters all of the Synth Bass samples from its entire collection, that’s including the Sample Pack you own and the Loopmasters samples you don’t. These are listed in the main screen and you can identify where they come from. Here you will see the Collection listed first. As you scroll down you will start to see samples from other collections you don’t own. 14

Choose an effect and it will appear in the Effects panel and you can easily chain different effects together here. You won’t be able to edit parameters in the free version of Loopcloud but the effects will work and sync with your tempo anyway, and you can dramatically alter your core sound.