loops
Latest
Splice CoSo enlists AI to help you create music quickly with samples
Splice, the popular music production service with millions of samples, has just unveiled a new way to find inspiration from those sounds.
LANDR’s Chromatic lets you make music with artist-generated loops
Sample and mastering site LANDR has unveiled a new DAW app called Chromatic that makes it easy to piece together artist-created loops into all-new creations.
Vine's new feature lets you remix audio on top of existing clips
Sometimes you come across a Vine that you'd like to put your own spin on. To help make that process a little easier, the app now sports a remix tool that allows you to create new audio for the looping footage. To replace the sound on any Vine, simply hit the menu icon under a video (the three dots) and select "Make an audio remix." From there, you can use your phone's camera to capture your audio or select a video from your Camera Roll to pull sounds from. When browsing videos in your timeline, a music note will indicate which ones are remixes. That icon will let you view the source material, too. This is the latest in Vine's new features that help you get the perfect sound for those looping videos, following "Snap to Beat" and access to popular song clips. What's more, there's a new search that allows you to search for a clip based on the song it uses. The remix tool is available on iOS starting today and the revamped search is inside both iOS and Android versions of the app.
Raspberry Pi transforms upright piano into a retro loop player
Upright piano's don't exactly scream "high-tech," since everyone's weird aunt has one. A pair of hackers from a company called MajorMega may change your mind, however as they've modified one to give you and your friends a fun way to create multi-part compositions. The "Quaver" upright piano is equipped with a Raspberry pie board that makes it act like a 4-track recorder and loop sampler. All you have to do is sit down, punch the big "record" button and bang out your part of the song. When you hit the button again, the piano will instantly play back your creation in a loop.
Mix beats and loop vocals with Propellerhead's Take for iOS
If you saw Reggie Watts' musical set at Engadget Expand (don't worry, there's video after the break), then you probably noticed the table full of gear he needs to construct his loops. Propellerhead -- the Swedish software company behind Reason, not the electronica duo -- is hoping to lighten this load with Take, a creative vocal loop recorder that's being given away free to iPhone users. The interface is reasonably simple, offering you a wide variety of pre-made backing loops as well as three tracks that you can rap, sing or otherwise make noise on. It's tremendously easy to use, but it won't compensate for your lack of musical talent, which is why we won't be sharing our ham-fisted efforts with you.
Yahoo Sports for iOS adds Loops for capturing clutch catches, epic fails
Fancy making your own social media commentary during the big game? Yahoo Sports for iOS now lets you capture those monster dunks in animated GIF form. The company has officially labeled the creations Loops, and users can add their own commentary as captions on top of the moving picture. As you might expect, files can then be shared via Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. Not to be left out, the app was revamped for iOS 7 with speedier performance in its sneakers. For a look at some samples, click over to the source link and take a peek.
Pioneer launches rekordbox mobile app, prep your XDJ-AERO set ahead of time
If you were twiddling your thumbs waiting for Pioneer's XDJ-AERO to come out, you might want to head on over to iTunes or the Play store instead. Why? Because the mobile rekordbox companion app for iOS and Android has just been released. If you were thinking it'd just be a basic music management tool, then you'll be pleasantly surprised. Sure, you can import tracks, to then play on the XDJ-AERO (and other Pioneer DJ products that support WiFi), but you can also set up loop points, hot cues, analyze tracks, create playlists, and even experiment with ideas on the fly. This means you can get your tracks prepped up wherever you are, and turn up to the party good to go, be it on your own gear or a friends'. This is also what you'll need if you want to make use of the forthcoming controller's WiFi functionality, although it can also be used to connect with the desktop version of the program if you're already using it. The app is free, and available now, just head down to the source to line those beats up.
Daily iPhone App: Beats+
Beats+ is a niche app, but it's probably very useful for the kind of person who could use it. It's a simple but powerful drum machine app, featuring over 50 different drum loops (frequent updates keep the library fresh) to be used as accompaniment with whatever kind of music you want. In addition to playing with the drum loops (which run the gamut from pop and country to R&B and rock), you can adjust the beats per minute tempo of each, or just hit a button to randomize everything. The app's interface is clear and easy to use. It could have a few more options, like maybe the ability to time out different beats or somehow set up different changes in the rhythm, but what's there is very easy to navigate through and control. Unfortunately, I'm not much of a musician. I tried to strum along on my guitar to a few of the beats, and it sounded all right, but you'll need to really know how to play in a group to make the best use of this one. The app itself is only US$0.99, though, so if you have any inkling to use it, it's probably worth the buy. Extra track packs are 99 cents via in-app purchase. You get about 15 just with the basic buy, and that's enough to play around, unless you're really interested in playing a certain type of music. And of course the audio can go out via the iPhone's standard jack, or via AirPlay, so there's a few ways to get it where you need it to go. Beats+ is a solid tool for any practicing musicians, available on the App Store now.
Daily iPad App: Looptastic HD
Looptastic HD is a remixing application that lets you create new mixes using a catalog of 900 loops. The loops are broken down into individual track components including drums, bass, keys and effects. As with most mixing apps, Looptastic HD uses clips from music genres such as trance, hip hop, breakbeat, progressive house and more. The app itself has clean interface that lets you drag and drop loops to the mixer work area as you create your mix. The mixer area is broken into three zones and you can crossfade between zones using a convenient slider. You can adjust the tempo of the music and add effects on the fly as the music is playing. A touchpad are at the bottom lets you easily toggle the effects such as stutter loop and change the effect on the different zones of the track. Controls on music playback are familiar and include a play, pause and record button. The recording can be hit or miss as it is timed strangely and doesn't always start recording when the music starts playing. Once you get used to the timing, you can use it to save your creations as an AIff file. There's also a file save option so you can save a partially created mix and tweak it later. Looptastic HD is a great app for on-the-fly creation of beats and mixes. It's great for DJs and those who just enjoy mixing up loops to see what they can create. Looptastic HD is available from the App Store for US$14.99.
Gear4's Pocket Loops keyboard creates music with your iPhone or iPod touch
Gear4, maker of the Unity Remote we saw at CES last week, also designed the Pocket Loops keyboard, which represents something I think we'll see a lot more of: devices designed to work only when paired with a smartphone or tablet device. iPhones and iPads are leading the way into a new era of mobile devices, and many future toys and products will do what the Pocket Loops keyboard does: offload the heavy lifting of processing to a mobile device, and instead focus on bringing an interface into play. As you can see above, the keyboard has a dock that an iPhone or iPod touch can plug right into. From there, the device works with a free app that will be released in about three months, which is basically a MIDI recorder and sampler with up to 16 loops running from 29 different keyboard sounds. The app will also enable you to record, remix and even share tracks through the device's email system. Choosing a set of voices gives you various sounds to play on the keyboard; you can play and record loops as you wish, even editing in echo and chorus effects with the touchscreen interface. It works fairly well so far. There were a few software bugs while we demoed the device, but I was told those would be ironed out by release. The whole idea is interesting, because the keyboard doesn't have its own screen or even a battery. Instead, everything comes from the iPhone. Gear4's rep said the device would have been over US$200 if the iPhone hadn't been utilized to do most of the work. Instead, the Pocket Loops keyboard is due in a few months for a retail price of $69.99.
Count The Beats: IK Multimedia brings GrooveMaker to the iPad
On the heels of the popular GrooveMaker app for the iPhone / iPod touch, IK Multimedia (musicians first) has released GrooveMaker for the iPad. Perfect for that upcoming house party (DJ set) you've been planning. If you're into house, hip-hop and drum 'n bass style music (mixing loops and samples into endless differing arrangements and combinations) then GrooveMaker is definitely worth having a look at. IK Multimedia's press release says: GrooveMaker for the iPad offers the same smart features and streamlined workflow as the iPhone version, but also takes advantage of the new larger multi-touch surface to provide enhanced operation with an integrated, advanced controller. Users will find a convenient mixer-like environment with large slider controls for volume, pan and master volume of the 8 controllable loop tracks, plus instant access to tempo, solo and mute functions all on the same screen. Also, GrooveMaker for iPad adds even more control when working with loops, providing a new level of creative flexibility. Users can now switch "snapped" grooves with a single touch, plus control the number of loops that are automatically combined during a random mix. GrooveMaker iPad is the perfect addition to a DJ set, providing unlimited creative flexibility in live remixing and DJ applications. Although we've not had a chance to try out the app here in the UK yet (soon, my precious...), we're very excited about seeing this kind of music creation app on the iPad, especially from IK Multimedia. There are 4 GrooveMaker packs for the iPad available now on the iTunes Store. Video after the break.
A full list of Apple's World Music Jam Pack loops
At the Macworld Expo earlier this month, Apple released its latest Jam Pack for Garageband, called "World Music." Apple notes that the collection contains 3,000 loops and 40 virtual instruments, but don't you wonder precisely what is included in these packages? Don't worry about trying to comb through all of those loops and instruments yourself, for iCompositions has done it for you. Noting that the Jam Pack actually contains 3,235 Apple loops and 42 software instruments, they list them all, from the African Kalimba and the Irish Bouzouki to the Brazilian Sun Panderio and the Japanese Katana Flute. I'm just happy I'm not the one who had to compile this list.
Macjams releases 4th set of free loops
MacJams.com, the music community for amateur and aspiring musicians, has released the 4th batch of free loops in their 5-week set. I posted this over on DownloadSquad, but I thought it was too cool to not mention here on TUAW. The loops are in Apple Loops format for the likes of GarageBand and (I think) Final Cut/Soundtrack. I've been too busy with a new semester to crack them open, but apparently they're just regular AIFF files any audio editing program should be able to use. In fact, one DLS reader was using in Sony's ACID Express on *shudder* Windows. I've also heard the loops touch on a range of sounds like ambient, hip-hop and jazz, so they sound pretty handy. Go check the series out, especially since you have no excuse not to - they're free! They're also licensed for non-commercial use, and their site has more information on all that legalese. Enjoy!
