Hello fellow lofi punkers. Currently trying to get into recording ..currently using a MAUDIO interface with the inbuild ProTools Essentials software. I've had a play around trying to get a small rythm guitar section to loop but it seems damn hard to get it to sound like a perfect in time progression...despite how fine I manage to play it. Is looping a prefered method of recording or is it pretty common to record one track all in one take ? I need all the help I can get so any friendly pointers or tips are greatly appreciated. thanks.

just treat protools like a tape recorder..if you start doing loops, time correction and all that stuff, it will be an incredibly frustrating process and will end up sounding generic, which I don't think you want. I agree with everyone else who says play it all the way through!

I agree with the guys above, it is better to record one single shot. But if you want to loop it through, just zoom in the wave and cut on the exact spot and you'll have a perfect loop, it's a matter of practice!

I wouldn't waste time with looping, just try to get the whole track in one take man.

Hi.  I hven't used Pro Tools, but I now tried to use a Tempo Matching function on my Studio One for the first time after watchinf this video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjmXLYM2kcw

and it was very easy, so I guess (hope) it will give you any tip.  (Sorry, I actually don't even understand what he's taliking.:()

yeah i wouldnt waste time on loops. Its probably more time consuming to cut it to exactly the right point so that when you connect it to the next one it syncs perfectly(which it has to) than it is to just play the track over again, at least for me it would be. Then theres punch-ins. I think in any decent recording program you should be able to select the part you screwed up, punch it in and then hit record again and only the part you want to redo is recorded over again. Try to make sure your volume levels havent changed.

From an asthetic standpoint loops will always sound sort of fake because the little imperfections dont change throughout the song.

Agree with Doc. I did an entire album in Audacity, and I'm pretty darn proud of it. I programmed the drums with all the fills and everything to try and make it as realistic as possible. So some of the drumming was "looped", but I spent a lot of time on it. The rest (guitar, bass and organ) was all done in whole takes on separate channels.

Hi Gonzo!

 

I wouldn't use loops (unless for some electro stuff), for I don't even know how to loop. I'd just record the rhythm track in whole, because I think you'll always hear that a loop is a loop.

 

The way I record is to take what I got (in my case just Audacity, or some friends with some machines I don't understand) and record on it. The simpler, the better.

 

Cheers, Doc