> Step by step

Creative track-building with this issue’s Loopmasters 1GB Pack

1 Let’s open our DAW (Bitwig Studio 2.4 in our case), set the tempo to 124bpm and dive into this issue’s free Loopmasters sample pack. Starting a track with some kind of voice element will instantly inject a human feel into proceedings, so we isolate a small audio snippet of male reggae vocal, then coat it in dub delay.

2 Next, we find a deep synth chord, which could work nicely under our delayed vocal. Pitching the chord down an octave gives us a cooler melodic bed to work with. We then take the first bar of this chord hit, duplicate it to the second bar, and reverse the second section for a warping effect.

3 Layering two or more timbres allows you to build up textural density in the mix, and stacking multiple sounds from sample packs will also help you craft your own signature sound. Here, we’ve placed a ‘deep texture’ loop on the timeline, pitching it up by two semitones to tune it against the first chord.

4 Here’s a great way to make fresh, bespoke percussion grooves from ready-rolled loops: simply chop out a small portion of a dense loop, then fire up a delay plugin and set up the repeats to rhythmically flutter over the track. That’s exactly what we’ve done with this jangling section of tambourine.

5 We have enough characterful parts laid down for now, so let’s drop in a kick and snare on separate channels. This dull, woody-sounding kick suits a laidback, sparse pattern, while the snare – chopped out of a thicker loop and placed on beats 2 and 4 of each bar – matches up with the kick. Our track is beginning to take shape…

6 When producing loop-based electronic music, experience will tell you when it’s time to extend your loop out into a longer arrangement. It feels like we need to expand our two-bar idea to four bars, allowing us to drop in a spacey ‘bleep’ stab. We also throw in a shuffling, garage-style hi-hat loop, which further fits our vibe.

7 To stay in the creative flow and make your track sound full and complete in as little time as possible, aim to get all essential elements down quickly, even if they only end up being ‘placeholders’. We’re missing a bassline, so we throw this sub note on the timeline, duplicate it, then transpose each note differently.

8 A reverbed ‘crystal bell’ loop from the pack contains an interesting note, which we isolate and place near the end of the four bars. This then inspires us to take one of our bass notes, reverse it into the end of the four-bar section, and transpose it to a note that works in sympathy with that bell sound. Nice!

9 To finish off the four-bar sketch, we throw in a lo-fi ghost snare, placed later in time on the grid for a groovy, UKGstyle ‘skip’. A rough, open hi-hat also emphasises the final offbeat of every other bar. And for a final touch of pump, we sidechain-compress the pads gently around the kick, which adds dynamics and groove.