too focused on loops?

So lately I've been feeling pretty uninspired about making beats in general. My usual process is:

(MPC 1000)
.Listen to a record (vinyl only)
.Find something to rip
.Sequence/Loop
.Add drums (usually start with a break - then move onto subtle layering)
.Find other samples to blend in
.Record sequence into Pro Tools for editing/noise reduction/mixing
.Add scratches or vocal samples

The problem I have is I make these loops - and 90% of the time they are just loops - then I get bored with it, and move onto the next track. I honestly don't know how long an album like Paul's Boutique would have taken to record, considering the vast amount of samples dumped into any one track alone. The most I normally pop into a track is 2-3 (not including drums). My beats are inspired by raw 90s sequences, stripped back to blended loops and minor drum layering (PB Wolf, Madlib, Pharcyde, Show & A.G to name a few).

Anyway, should I take a different approach to my sequences and get more involved with the chops instead of just loops?

You know it the best yourself.

Oh yeah, do both. If you're definitely sample based like you described your method and sound why not get in the habit of chopping everything down?

I won't lie it can get tedious, one for the extra time it takes to break all the loops up, two the extra time offline or in the session to make kits/PGM's. I think it's all worth it. I've used Recycle for years and I save an extra folder of all my loops with the individual hits or notes if it's not drums, and I make a folder for ever bunch of hits.

I don't mind chopping on the MPC's at all, but I can get it done 50 times faster on a computer. But just in general it's great to have archives of chops. I feel you on the Paul's Boutique mention, only a PE record could ever have more samples. I won't lie some of my beats get to point of having samples from like 15 records. But that's including a drum layout that might be jacks from 8 different records. With musical chops I tend to use one or two out of a loop sometimes and run through delays and other FX and 100% get a new sound with no clearance issues.

So yeah more work but I think totally worth the time.

So here's like my musical thesis... If it works, then don't try to fix it. I've been messing around with loops ever since I've gotten in music production, but not your vinyl sample loops, creating these loops from scratch is what I have BEEN doing. To me, the whole process lies in what it is that you think works best.

What I'm saying here is, if you've got 20 loops that you just want to hear again and again, than that should be more than 5 songs. The real problem I think with most producers like myself is that when it comes to loops, some people don't understand why we loop sounds or keys.

Essentially, if someone tells you that you're wrong in music, than they're just that stupid IMO. Music is heard, so there is no real opinions. The fact that loops make you feel uninspired probably means that you don't feel that what you're doing is right.

In all honesty, I have to create loops not only to be original, but just to get the sound that I want a track to have. Most songs have messages but some don't. I guess the bigger picture is what is it trying to be accomplished, because there is not any right or wrong way to make a track.

I'm mostly focused on loops too(around 2/3 of my beats are based around loops), that's what works the best for me, my loop based beats are better most of the time, than my chopped based beats. But when working with a loop i love to add synths, even if it's just a few notes or sometimes i create a totally other melody that goes well with the loop, for the hook for exemple.
You can also low pass filter your loop for a few bars, change your drum patterns...

not sure i get the question.. but..

its just human to get bored after hearing the same thing over and over..

here's how i got out of just making loops..

make it into a habit of working faster, even force yourself into making those loops into something bigger.. go on your own timing and feeling and double up the loops and add and remove elements until you have something longer... for example, you can build that loop as a start, and when you have something nice and solid running.. you make an intro where you have most tracks muted.. maybe just the bassline loop, then let it run for as long as you feel it, then drop in some hihats, let those run together with the bass for a while.. then drop the kick+snare.. etc etc.. and suddenly you may have a minute or two.. you can easily make variations by muting tracks and record new patterns and create new grooves within the same theme.. maybe re-record a new kick+snare pattern, and you have that to switch between

that will get boring too after having worked for hours on the same thing.. the trick is to work fast as to not go so far that you no longer feel it

i used to do the same, work on loops and try to perfect them and suddenly i was bored and moved on to the next thing... but it doesnt lead you anywhere, and some people even start to think they suck because of it.. they consider their own boredom a sign of the music not being good enough... but no music, no matter how good, is not going to bore your ears off if you listen to it for long enough

then one day, after a long time of just fiddling and making loops, i decided to just force myself into making something longer, something that was more full, more a whole track.. and i hated it at first, because i saw things that needed to bie fixed, and ideas i wanted to try out.. but doing so would mean not gettign anywhere with those loops, so i needed to stick to it

the way i work is usually to start by selecting drumhits, program a pattern and then make bass out of single hits or use a synth, and then add melody.. but the same principles should apply if you work with finished breaks/basslines and drumloops too... make variations and then quickly record or arrange to something more complete before you get so bored, lose touch with it and and stop feeling it.. thats why working fast can get you further.. you end up with a result that may be raw, nut atleast its there and available to be continued on whenever you feel it again.. compared to starting over and over everytime you get bored and find inspiration and get exited again after that

and another good thing about working fast is that you fine tune your sense for findign and sorting out what ideas are worthy of being completed.. its easy to get stuck and work on the same loops, with ideas in the back of your head that is yet not done but that keeps you stuck and lingerin.. but when working fast and you get your ideas out of you, and when you have done it for a while you start to see how some projects are better than others and those are the ones you should focus on.. you kinda end up with more good stuff because of it, and you cant see that when stuck with one project or a bunch of loops.. you cant see the "full picture" that way.. and so you keep on working on stuff that you later see that you should not have wasted time on

not sure how well i've explained what i mean, but gotta go to work, lol

astral_Signal wrote:Anyway, should I take a different approach to my sequences and get more involved with the chops instead of just loops?

Never don't stop ! Make a progress ! Don't ask "Shoud I ?" just do it

Personally I have been feeling this crazy chop vibe. What I'm talking about is I've noticed people who have used the older generation samplers and keeping in mind that they have only around 14 seconds of sampling time. I know people think this is a step backwards, but when you utilize the samples correctly, it can create a VERY nice sound...

Technically I wouldn't say that you should change your workflow. Unless you're also not satisfied with the way your beats sound like.

Just for the fun of it I would say try something different. Keeps it intresting trying other techniques.

Thanks for the advice. To be honest I have great results with beats if I follow this structure:

1. Start with drums
2. Beat match potential samples with drum tempo (i.e as you would cueing a track while DJn)
3. Preview potential sample whilst in record mode over drums

This method is helpful for me when adding secondary samples over primary - like a horn loop or stab. Anyway, il keep experimenting.

...I would add more here but I've just finished a 14 hr shift and I don't have the energy to type...

I'd highly recommend jumping in a round of Stone's Throw Beat Battles. When you know 70 other people are flipping the same sample as you, it can trigger creativity and outside-the-box thinking that may not have occurred otherwise. Also, listening to everyone's beats can be really enjoyable, inspiring and educational. I was really in a rut as far as having a formulaic approach to beatmaking a couple months ago, and STBB really did the trick for me.

Well if it makes you feel any better a lot of great rap songs are loops.

I still like to listen to Warren G's Regulators...... California Love, nothing but a g thang & the list goes on & on.

i honestly HATE working with loops. i feel constricted with loops. if i find something i always play it back differently, chop it, etc.

or if something i find is a loop and its repetitive and i cant seem to put anything with it to make sound listen-able for 3-4 minutes, i'll just play something off my synth/proteus that gives me the same feeling as the original loop i found, but now im able to make the new sound last as long/short as i want and then sequence it all on the mpc.

even with drum breaks...i chop them and play them back differently every time.

i very rarely use just a loop. i always chop it up

i just feel like i've cheated

Don't think if something is cheating or not... do exactly what the track requires and you feel is taking it to the right direction.

If loop works as is, don't touch it. if it need variation, chop it.