Loops are uploaded to tons of websites online by other music creatives, but you’ll want to make sure you’re getting the most out of them once you’ve downloaded them and put them into FL Studio.
What Are Loops, and Why Should You Use Them?
Loops are pieces of audio that repeat in a way that feels natural and not choppy. Loops can be made from any instrument, even vocals, and can serve as the backbone to a track or as a new element in a specific section of a track.
Many producers, both amateur and professional, use loops. You should definitely do the same. Loops can be particularly helpful if you’re a beginner in music production or are suffering from beat block.
Essentially, loops are a shortcut to including an aspect of music you’re not confident in doing yourself. For example, if you’re confident in your ability to sequence rhythm-based instruments, you can program the rhythm aspect of a track and find a melodic loop to build it with.
How to Add Loops in FL Studio
Adding loops into FL Studio is really simple and can be done in a few steps.
To add a loop into FL Studio:
Download the loop from the site you are using to your PC/laptop. Open FL Studio, then open File Explorer so that it’s on top of the FL Studio window. Locate your downloaded loop, and drag and drop it into the DAW.
Job done! You should now have your loop on FL Studio and be able to start making music with it. FL Studio makes it easy to add in third-party sounds, plugins, and more; adding sample packs into FL Studio is extremely simple just like adding loops.
How to Tidy Up Your Loops
Loops are created by other musical creatives, meaning human errors and mistakes can happen. Occasionally, you may find that a loop is not quite smooth enough when you download it and put it into FL Studio.
If your loop isn’t quite looping correctly, or there’s too much dead sound at the end or beginning of the loop that doesn’t add anything to it, you’ll want to tidy it up, and FL Studio makes this easy to do. There are two easy ways to tidy up loops that might be a bit tedious, but relatively simple.
You could cut an 8-bar loop at around the 7th bar, then move the 8th bar section of the loop either backward or forwards until it loops properly with the next 8-bar loop. You can use the Time Stretch feature to make sure that the loop matches with the rest of the project.
Alternatively, you can put two of the same loop on a track, one after the other, and then use the Trim and Cross Fade features to improve the transition of the loop.
Whenever you’re tidying up a loop, copy that specific loop and paste it into any other sections you want to use it in. This means you avoid having to repeat the same steps constantly with each loop and simply have to do it once, speeding up your workflow and allowing you to focus on other aspects of the track.
If FL Studio isn’t working out for you, check out some of the other best music production software for audiophiles.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Loops
You should work toward getting the most out of the loops you use so that it actually complements your track rather than making it fall flat.
Getting the most out of loops depends on many factors, what works for improving one loop may not work for another. As with many things in music production, getting the most out of loops is about trial and error, experimentation, and your own judgment.
Firstly, you want to ensure that the loop complements the other elements of the track it’s in. Using advanced search filters on sample and loop sites is a great way to narrow down your search and find loops with more information about them; such as the BPM, key, and genre.
Once you’ve found a loop, you want to match its BPM to your FL Studio project’s BPM. You’ll also want to use sounds and instruments that complement the key of the loop. For instance, if you’re using a loop in C major, using instruments and sounds in A minor would complement the loop while providing enough variation to prevent the track from sounding dull.
Secondly, creating a counter-melody to a loop you’ve found is a great way to ensure your track has some variation, preventing the loop from getting stale to the listener. There are lots of resources online to help you create a counter-melody.
Lastly, manipulating the loop at certain points in the song can help keep it feeling “fresh” in different sections of the track and improve how it sounds to the listener. Things like adding effects, time-stretching, or even changing the pitch of the loop, can all help you get the most out of a loop and keep your track sounding varied.
Since music production is a complex endeavor with near-infinite possibilities, this is barely scratching the surface of ways you can get the most out of your loops. There are some great YouTube channels for learning FL Studio where you’ll find many videos about loops.
Improve Your Tracks With Loops in FL Studio
Loops are a great resource for new sounds and can help you to make some great tracks in FL Studio. There are tons of places you can find them online, and it’s very simple to add them to FL Studio.
If you’re a beginner producer or are more experienced but experiencing a beat block, you’ll definitely benefit from using loops as a shortcut or creativity jump-starter to get you back to producing tracks that you’re proud of.
