The Most Expensive Loops In The World
Flutes of Fire from The Loop Loft on Vimeo.
For a mere $9,999.95, they can be yours!
Loops That Go Well With Popcorn
The tyrants over at The Loop Loft have been leaving threatening messages on my voicemail, promising I’ll soon awake to a horse head in my bed if I don’t promote their latest release, Cinematic Drums. So, rather than ruin my 500 count Egyptian cotton sheets, I decided to give in and provide the following shout out:
“Produced specifically with the big screen in mind, Cinematic Drums contains loops and samples that will quickly conjure up specific moods and imagery in your tracks. From thunderous walls of pounding toms, to angst-ridden, heart pulsing beats, this collection is a must-have for anyone who composes for the moving picture. We also meticulously sampled every individual drum, cymbal and yes, pot and pan, allowing you to quickly program your own grooves using the exact same sounds from the live loop sessions.
But don’t let the name of this collection fool you, Cinematic Drums can also add an extra sonic dimension to your pop, rock, dance and jazz tracks. Slide in some Civil War era field drums under a traditional drum set groove or layer timpani-esque toms on top of your 808 loops, and you’ll quickly have the extra depth in your productions that standard loop sets simply can’t provide.”
Click below to preview Cinematic Drums:
Cinematic Drums Vol 1 by thelooploft
Developing A Theme
Here’s a great example of taking a melodic theme on the drums and developing it throughout the entire course of a solo. Also, I love the sound of Joey’s bass drum. Totally wide open and ringy… it almost sounds like a timpani.
Beat It – The Isolated Drum Tracks
I just stumbled on a YouTube gem. Check out this isolated drum track (well, live drums along with a drum machine) from Beat It, performed by the late, great Jeff Porcaro.
New ReFill for Reason 5 – The Art of Brushes
You’re probably asking yourself, why doesn’t Ryan post on this blog as much as he used to? What happened to all of the Dave Weckl jokes? Where are all of the references to 80’s hair metal? Well, things have been absolutely nuts for me lately. Nuts in a good way.. but nuts, nonetheless. A major, contributing factor to this nuttiness has been my recent involvement in the production of Reason 5 ReFills for Propellerhead and The Loop Loft. In an effort to make these the best ReFills in the world, I’ve been locked up in my studio for the past three months, only coming out for my weekly shower and to watch Tosh.0
With that said, I’m happy to present to you my latest ReFill for Reason 5 and Record 1.5, The Art of Brushes.:
The Art of Brushes is a collection of customized Dr Octo Rex, Kong and ReDrum patches for Reason 5. Combining the warmth and timbre of vintage drums and hand-hammered cymbals, this collection explores the sonic landscapes and grooves that are unique to fine brush performances. NOTE – No sticks were harmed (or even used) during the recording of this ReFill.
With 238 REX2 loops and 26 customized Dr Octo Rex patches consisting of grooves ranging from jazz ballads, folky rock, linear funk, spacey hip hop and uptempo bebop, this ReFill supplies users with a massive library of organic beats and fills And to give you full control over your production, four Kong and five ReDrum patches are included, allowing you to program and design your own grooves with an arsenal of high quality samples recorded during the loop sessions. These custom patches give you the ability to utilize the loops for one portion of your track, while programming your own grooves and fills for other parts of the composition, without any sonic variances between any of the parts.
The Art of Brushes – Providing seamless live drum production inside of one ReFill.
ReFill Specs:
– 238 REX2 Loops
– 26 Dr Octo Rex Patches
– 4 Kong Patches
– 5 ReDrum Patches
– High Quality, 24-bit 48 khz Audio
– File size: 172 MB
Get The Art of Brushes ReFill here.
Smoldering With Smitty
Here’s a great video of Marvin “Smitty Smith showing us how to rock a flat top and a drum solo in 3/4 (at the same time).
Things Are Really Getting Odd
Between assembling baby furniture, raking leaves in the yard, and diligently working on a new ReFill for Propellerhead, I somehow managed to crank out another collection of beats and samples for The Loop Loft. I also managed to not update this blog in several weeks. So sorry.
Anyway, this particular collection consists entirely of odd meter grooves. And we’re not just talking geeky nü-metal stuff…. I’ve covered a gamut of genres with this one. Jazz, funk, rock, pop and folk… it’s all in this pack. Hot off the wires, here’s the official press release from The Loft:
The only thing odd about these loops are the time signatures. With a massive amount of loops, fills and samples recorded in everything BUT 4/4, The Loop Loft is happy to announce the release of Odd Meter Grooves Vol 2. Taking a natural and musical approach to live drum tracks ranging in time signatures like 3/4, 7/8, 5/4, and 9/8, this collection provides users with the articulate and fluid phrasing that programmed beats simply can’t provide.
Odd Meter Grooves Vol 2 by thelooploft
We’ve also expanded The Platinum Pack to include the recent releases of The Art of Brushes 2and the Odd Meter 2 pack, bringing the total size of the collection to over 1.4 GB. Now’s your opportunity to instantly download every drum loop we’ve ever recorded (1,702 loops), and save 40%!
A Free Loop in 30 Seconds
Friday Funk
When I was in high school, my friends and I were huge Rage Against The Machine fans. When I think back to my senior year, “Killing In The Name Of” is the soundtrack in my mind that accompanies the memories. Such sweet, innocent times.
This is why I was struck with a serious case of nostalgia when I finally heard (yes, I know this has been out for a year) Zack de la Rocha’s vocals on this video from One Day as a Lion, his new band. It’s good to hear him again, and this time he has former Mars Volta drummer, Jon Theodore, laying it down. Check it out.