do you feel guilty using loops you didnt make?

[cacti]

even if they are royalty free? ha i do sometimes i try not to use them but sometimes the right loops spurs creativity.

[solacerodgers]

i use them and have no problem with it, i dont ever use a loop straight up though always either chop or do something to make it my own but yeah its a good way to get out of composers block to just play with loops, thats why i love stylus rmx so much.

[kb420]

I don't normally use someone else's breaks, but if I did, I would feel no guilt whatsoever!!!!!

Rhianna's song "Umberella" has a drum loop from Apple's Garage Band, and they made millions on it.


If they don't feel any guilt, and they're makin' tons of money, then I shouldn't allow myself to feel any guilt either.

http://www.futuremusic.co.uk/page/futuremusic/20080226

[myxomat0515]

I see your point, but I don't think you should feel guilty for using royalty-free loops. Personally, I never do, but thats only because I love process of programming my own.

You could look at it like this...

If stealing someone else's loops is plagiarism, then using royalty free loops is like using the answers in the back of your math book. You're not wrong for using them (they are there for a reason) but you are taking a short-cut.

[beats me]

Do you ask because on the news this morning they reported that some guy killed his wife, 2 kids, and then himself because he used loops?

[Nick the Zombie]

Do you ask because on the news this morning they reported that some guy killed his wife, 2 kids, and then himself because he used loops?

Man, that's hilariously dark

Royalty-free loops can be great for kick-starting your inspiration and giving you some really great sampling fodder as well. During a dry spell, I find it inspiring to go through a loop and chop the hits out of it, capturing the room ambience or effects trails in each slice as well as the timing of each hit and just processing all of it to within an inch of its digital life. That's the great thing about all these tools that we have access to: Any sound can be a source of limitless creativity. Just do whatever it takes to get started writing tracks!

[Android Bishop]

even if they are royalty free? ha i do sometimes i try not to use them but sometimes the right loops spurs creativity.

no because I dont do that. ever

if I use a loop for anything its for massive chopping and re-synthesizing

[LoopStationZebra]

Do you ask because on the news this morning they reported that some guy killed his wife, 2 kids, and then himself because he used fruityloops?

fxd

[SubFunk]

The same loop can be used in thousand ways...

Do you feel guilty cooking with potatoes, because others use them too?

[Android Bishop]

The same loop can be used in thousand ways...

Do you feel guilty cooking with potatoes, because others use them too?

that metaphor doesnt really hold up when you're talking about just pasting loops into your arrangement.

It would be like presenting a meal that you claim is your own but you actually used boxed stovetop stuffing and instant mashed potatoes.

Taking a loop and dicing it up, resynthesis, and all around fucking it up beyond recognition is a different story.

[SubFunk]

The same loop can be used in thousand ways...

Do you feel guilty cooking with potatoes, because others use them too?

that metaphor doesnt really hold up when you're talking about just pasting loops into your arrangement.

It would be like presenting a meal that you claim is your own but you actually used boxed stovetop stuffing and instant mashed potatoes.

Taking a loop and dicing it up, resynthesis, and all around fucking it up beyond recognition is a different story.

Yes.

Shoul'd have mentioned that i was talking about cooking, not just warming up cans

[timwright]

Not at all. I think I'd feel guilty if I just used a load of loops from some construction kit, added a beat and then said it was mine. But like others have said, it's how you use them.

I did a remix for a German label a couple of years ago, and I used a bassline and guitar riff from some R&B sample CD. The sample was 95bpm and I timestretched it to 125(ish). One top of it I added my own keys, synths, and Gary Hudge of the Basement Boys kindly provided me with a long synth solo. The samples were still recognisable, but I dont think anyone thought "Ooh, I've heard those before on a sample CD."

[pieter]

it depends... when it's my own music i don't use loops that often. and if i do i cut them up and mangle them completely.
when it's a commercial job i feel less guilty. i still tweek it though.

[nepotist]

The same loop can be used in thousand ways..
Taking a loop and dicing it up, resynthesis, and all around fucking it up beyond recognition is a different story.

In this age of slice to midi and stylus rmx there's really no excuse to NOT do this...it takes like 10 seconds and then you have a new loop. Anything else is just lazy.

[juncmodule]

A while back I was watching TV and this Honda commercial came on. The music that was playing was just a little bit too familiar. I dug through a few of my tracks and found one with the same loop. Then I went digging around the web looking to find out who made the Honda song. I came across some kids MySpace page where all of the comments were pretty much all "grats on the Honda commercial dude!"

Turns out the sample was from a Sony Sample CD I had bought. Looks like MySpace dude and Honda bought the disc too. Since then I have stopped using other people's loops, royalty free or not. But, I don't have a problem with others doing it. I just felt...cheap...not guilty.

later,
-junc