Using Loops From Others: Is It Cheating or Inspiration?

Tutorial | Feb 28, 2022

In this video, I demonstrate how I use Arcade by Output to help me get in the right mood to make music. I show how to search for different genres, download samples, and use my keyboard to play loops. I explain how I build upon the samples, adding my own sounds, drum sounds, and synthesis to the track. I explain how I use the plugin to add color and texture to my music and to make it more unique.

You can watch the Video on Youtube - support me on Patreon

Questions & Answers #

Maybe you dont watch the video, here are some important takeaways:

Can using loops from someone else be considered cheating? #

No, it is not considered cheating when you use someone else’s loops. Using loops from other producers is a great way to get inspired and to add your own creative energy to the track.

What is Arcade from Output? #

Arcade from Output is a plugin that can be used to help producers find the right sounds and instruments to create music. It provides access to different genres and sampler kits, as well as an array of macro controls to add reverb, looping effects, and more.

How can Arcade from Output be used to make music? #

Arcade from Output can be used to make music by downloading sampler kits and using the keyboard to trigger loops. The plugin also provides macro controls to add effects and alter the sound of the loops.

What is the purpose of using Arcade from Output? #

The purpose of using Arcade from Output is to help producers get in the right mood and find the right sounds and instruments for their tracks. It provides access to a variety of genres and sampler kits, as well as macro controls to add

Transcription #

This is what im talking about in this video. The text is transcribed by AI, so it might not be perfect. If you find any mistakes, please let me know.
You can also click on the timestamps to jump to the right part of the video, which should be helpful.

[00:00.000] Hey folks, welcome back to another video.
[00:02.880] Is using loops from someone else actually cheating?
[00:07.240] I don't think so.
[00:09.120] I think when you use someone else's loops, it's actually making music.
[00:15.800] I mean you have to add something to it from yourself, bring in your own sounds, your
[00:19.760] own drum sounds, synthesize those melody lines, something like this, right?
[00:23.920] You have to alter it in a certain way to bring your creative energy to the track or to
[00:29.760] the sounds you downloaded or you use from someone else.
[00:34.000] So in this video, I want to show you that I use from time to time.
[00:38.080] It's a plugin called Arcade from Output.
[00:41.040] This video is not sponsored, I actually really use it.
[00:45.200] Maybe once a week or something like this, to get inspired, to get in the right mood.
[00:51.160] For me, it's more important than downloading, I don't know, 3000 drum loops from Splice
[00:59.240] or kick drums or bass sounds or something like this.
[01:03.680] This is something I want to do for myself, but what I'm searching in samples most of the
[01:09.920] time is getting in the right feel to the right mood, right?
[01:14.640] I maybe start a track in a genre I don't do every day, for instance, flowfi, hip hop
[01:20.960] or something like this, and I need the right instruments and the right chords, the right
[01:25.320] chord progression, the right feel for it.
[01:28.440] So I'm going most of the times for this to Arcade from Output and I can browse through
[01:35.720] different genres, select something, add it to my track and then build upon it.
[01:42.000] I want to show you how I do this in this video with some examples, of course.
[01:48.520] So this is how it looks like here, it's basically just a browser.
[01:52.160] And on the start page, you have your feet, what's new, and you see new added kits, your
[01:56.480] new sampler kits, and all these small little thumbnails here you can download.
[02:01.680] I mean you download it here, you can see there's a small keyboard and it makes it playable.
[02:08.880] And then you click on it and then you land basically on the sampler view and you can use
[02:13.880] the keyboard and trigger all these loops here.
[02:24.200] You can change the pitch, of course, different scales here, you have some macro controls to
[02:30.280] add some reverb here, some special things and it changes from sampler kit to sampler
[02:36.640] kit.
[02:37.800] It's not always the same effect here.
[02:42.640] And then you have the black keys on your keyboard where you can use it for some kind of repeating
[02:48.040] effects, looping differently or maybe play it backwards or stutter effects here.
[02:55.120] So all kinds of different effects get you started with something.
[02:59.400] And usually when I use these kits here, I don't use all the samples in there.
[03:04.600] I just use maybe a pad sound or maybe a chord progression in there.
[03:10.640] Maybe let's search for something different, you can preview this here with the play button.
[03:20.480] Oh these are note kits here, these are actually just like real instruments in the sizes.
[03:26.320] But we also have here different lines, maybe you can go here to lines.
[03:35.120] All we search for a different genre here, maybe go for low phi hip hop here and then you
[03:43.480] get all the kits with different low phi hip hop sounds in it.
[04:11.920] Some of you like this, you click on download here, you can see it's good, then you get
[04:15.400] the download and you can click the link here and then you are in the sampler instrument.
[04:21.640] And then we can use here of course our keyboard to make some of these sounds, I have to switch
[04:28.840] my keyboard on here, you can make all kinds of different changes, but I really don't
[04:41.320] use all of that here, I just want to have some kind of loops again, one shot with my keyboard.
[04:58.040] So let's use some of this here, maybe add a clip, maybe get the right speed here, 90
[05:06.800] p.m. should be fine, then loop that like this.
[05:20.400] That's a re-bub.
[05:45.880] And it does too much, maybe look more like this.
[06:13.840] And let's see, we are here an eb major, maybe we switch to C major, okay, then maybe we
[06:36.640] use some beats maybe first, it's all, so maybe let's search here for it, like this.
[07:05.160] I don't know, let's start with this first.
[07:31.920] This is some hi-hats here, one like a figure.
[07:58.680] Back at this here, over here.
[08:25.440] Yeah.
[08:32.680] Yeah.
[08:40.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[08:47.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[08:54.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[09:00.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[09:20.540] You need the bass sound here.
[09:40.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[09:50.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[10:10.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[10:30.540] I'm going to play something like this.
[10:50.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[11:06.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[11:22.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[11:42.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[12:02.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[12:22.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[12:42.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[12:58.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[13:06.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[13:26.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[13:46.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[14:06.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[14:26.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[14:46.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.
[15:06.540] I'm going to add a little bit of the color.