When I'm making a new track, I often do a thing I call "loop stacking".

I have no idea how many other producers use this technique. But it works for me, and it never ceases to amaze me how well.

It works really well for making loops - but can also be used when making full songs / pieces.

I'll set Cubase to loop on a 16 or 32 bar loop... and then I'll start adding content.

Drum sounds, instrument riffs, soft synths... whatever I'm in the mood for.

The aim here is not necessarily to create one bass part, one lead part, etc... as you would do if you were making a song or track pack. The aim is to keep stacking up parts.

Important note: I mute much of the stuff as I go. I just jam on a motif or play around with sounds until I make something I am pleased with, and then I'll move on, like making pancakes, adding another layer to the stack - and then forgetting about it while I create another layer.

Pretty soon I'll have a great big stack of sounds and loops, maybe 15 or 20 parts in a stack.

And then the fun begins.

The point is, that in the course of doing this, I will have created a bunch of motifs that are all in the same key and tempo.

So I'll begin experimenting with muting most of the tracks and then bringing in other tracks, seeing which combinations work well together. It's a bit like DJing! And often I'll find "magic combinations" of parts that blend in ways I would never have thought of.

In the course of doing this I'll be cutting stuff up, moving things around. Sometimes for example I've made great basslines from the elements of two completely different basslines with completely different sounds.

Well there it is. Oh, one final tip. If you are going to make a song out of your stack, it's a good thing to make a copy of it first - because it's great to be able to revisit the original loop stack at remix time.

Alex
PXR8