Loop divide

What this lesson teaches

A basic demonstration with one idea in it worth taking.

The setup

He shows the mixer before anything else: crossfader in the middle, both channel faders up around two-thirds. Not because it has to be that way, but so you can see what is producing what.

Worth copying the habit when you practise. A lot of confusion in learning comes from not knowing which control caused the change you just heard.

And his caveat: this needs the two tracks properly beatmatched to work, and he is not wearing headphones, so this is a demonstration rather than a performance.

Looping from the start

Hit beat loop as the track begins and it loops from the first beat.

That is more useful than it sounds, because it turns an intro into whatever length you want. A record with eight bars of drums before the bassline now has as many bars as you need - sixteen, thirty-two, however long it takes to get the mix where you want it.

So the loop is not only an emergency measure for the end of a track. It is also a way of giving yourself room at the start of one, which is particularly useful with modern records that get to the point quickly.

Taking it further

He then builds on it, and the general shape of what loops are for is:

Extend. Make a short section longer - an intro to mix over, an outro to hold.

Hold. Freeze the track where it is, to buy time or to sit on a moment.

Repeat. Use the loop rhythmically, halving it down into a stutter.

All three come from the same button, and which one you are doing depends only on how long the loop is and how long you leave it running.