Re: Help with me Loops! (and plugs..)

[lindsay@pavestone.com]

> stretching or compressing the file to fit a measure

ACID definitely is the easiest to manage, though with using your own loops,
pay special attention to the "Properties" section as you import them: some
screwed up things can happen if you make a four-beat loop stretch to 32.
Fiddle with the loop-type setting, too.  I've found that sometimes pasting
a "One Shot" loop over and over again sounds much better than the same wave
file set as a Loop.  Try turning off the Transposition function.  If the
original loop is in the key of the project you're working on, there's no
reason to have it on--you'll often hear a significant difference.  Also,
mess around with the stretch points.  Often ACID will do a good job, but
sometimes that live loop you plugged in--especially if you're as
rhythmically inconsistent as I am--feels a lot better with fewer stretch
points.  Try forcing the stretch at eighth, quarter or whole notes, rather
than sixteenth or higher as is usual.  Plus, if you really need to, you can
drag around the beat markers to better fit the individual loop.

And then, after you've tried everything (doesn't Cakewalk have a Quantize
Audio function?  I think it does.  Have you tried that?) and the loop still
will not stretch without phasing or other digital artifacts (which are
sometimes outright cool), dump it into your favorite audio editor (I use
Sound Forge) and work on it on a waveform by waveform basis.  As you zoom
in, you should be able to discern where one waveform stops and another
begins: the shape changes.  Need to shorten your loop?  Find a set of three
or four cycles of the waveform that look the same ("cycle" being a full
trip, from crossing the zero-line or x-axis, playing through a pattern and
then repeating).  Highlight one or two--making sure you capture the start
and stop of your highlighted section right at the zero-crossing--and hit
delete.  Need it longer?  Highlight the same section (try to use a series
of wave cycles, three or four in a row--I've found you lose timber by using
just one) copy and then paste.  Magic.  Takes a while, but it's the most
natural sounding compression/expansion you'll ever hear.