On Wednesday, April 6, 1966, the Beatles walked into Abbey Road's Studio Three at 8:00 PM and began work on a tune they initially dubbed "Mark I", or, as we know it today (after the Ringo-ism that inspired the title), "Tomorrow Never Knows". It was their first recording for Revolver, and it firmly established their role as the rock equivalent of Chuck Yeager-cum-Superman: able to detect sonic barriers, and smash right through them in a single bound.
"Tomorrow Never Knows" was also the first pop song to make use of tape loops, which were once strictly the province of the avant garde. Tape loops are basically short snippets of sound, frequently designed to repeat infinitely (hence the word "loop").
In popular music, Brian Eno was perhaps the most visible user of tape loops in the 1970s. He eventually taught his techniques to guitarist Robert Fripp. As I wrote back in August:
In the mid-1970s, Brian Eno had introduced Fripp to the concept of tape looping, a forerunner to today's electronic sampling. Fripp uses loops in two ways on this album: first, as part of his famous "Frippertronics" technique of layering guitar parts, which gives his Gibson Les Paul Custom an almost synthesizer-like tone...Throughout the album, Fripp also uses tape loops of "music concrete": found sounds, and snippets of dialogue to overlay on top of his playing,Eventually, when rap and hip-hop took advantage of the sampling technology of the 1980s, loops (typically stored electronically, rather than on magnetic tape) began to play more and more of a role in commercial music. Even hard rockers like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant used loops of percussion on their 1994 "Unledded" MTV special.
The Electric Computer Acid Test
In the mid-1990s, Sonic Foundry's Acid Program brought loops to home recordists: Sonic Foundry developed a technology that allowed conventional Microsoft Windows Audio files (or .WAV files) to have their tempos and pitches controlled. So a loop of a drummer playing a one or two bar pattern could be adjusted to play at any tempo, or a loop of a soloist playing a flute or keyboard could be adjusted to play at any tempo-and in any key.
The popularity of Acid coincided with the rapid growth of techno music, to the point where many people think of Acid, loops, and techno as synonymous. And there's no doubt, Acid loops can be a great first step towards creating techno music (unfortunately, Sonic Foundry wasn't able to capitalize on the growth of techno and PC-based home recording, and were purchased earlier this year by Sony). There are lots of CD-ROMs available from Sony of techno-oriented bass, drum and synthesizer loops, which can be mixed, mashed, and combined in all sorts of ways to make techno tunes galore.
It's also possible to use them with live instruments and vocals. I created this tune using a variety of Acid loops, as well as electric guitars run through Roger Linn's AdrenaLinn box, and an acoustic guitar, which I simply miked and recorded into my PC. This tune also shows another benefit of Acid loops: they can be imported into many programs, not just those produced by Sony. In this case, I used Cakewalk's Sonar, which comes with a plug-in called Cyclone, perfect for slicing, dicing and manipulating pre-recorded loops into entirely new ones.
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Article comments
1 - Jacob
I want to get started in creating techno. What learning resources would you suggest for a good beginning foundation?
2 - Ed Driscoll
Jacob,
With the exception of the Sonar book (Sonar is probably too complex a program for a beginner to start on), the books I linked to above are all good resources. I'd probably start with "Burning Down The House" and/or "Home Recording for Musicians for Dummies" and proceed from there.
Also, check out some of my other posts, which frequently discuss home recording.
3 - Al
Also check out Fruity Loops. (Now called FL Studios). This is an old sequencing and music production program that's easy to use and great for messing about.
4 - Bob A. Booey
I DJ, but I hate computers and I wouldn't know how to produce any music using technology.
The programs I hear about others using are Fruity Loops and Pro Tools to make their own music at home -- there are a couple of others, but I forget the names.
I think all the REALLLY good dance music is made by people who know how to play keyboards/piano, however, especially if you're interested in more melodic stuff like trance and deep house.
But if you're just doing banging, monotonous techno, you can probably figure out the bleeps and bloops within the program.
That is all.
5 - grapeshine
The "I hate computers" comment above is rather telling. If you have no experience with computers, you have no concept of what they can do exactly. While there is a lot of bad "computer made" music, there's also a lot of bad "instrument made" music.
As far as the creation of music goes, there really aren't rules as to how to best be creative. Certainly learning how to use instruments (keyboards/piano, in the case of electronic music) or software helps, but so does listening to a lot of music. The only thing that restricts one's ability to make techno ("banging" or otherwise) is one's creativity. You can be just as creative with a computer as you can be with proper instruments.
I'd encourage anyone who wants to make music to learn as much as they can about the music they want to make. From there, learn how to use music making tools. Mess around. Have fun. Slowly things will start to come together, and before you know it you'll be proud of the sounds you're making.
6 - jus playin
Great article!
I recommend newbies to download a free version of ACID, LIVE, Project 5, or any of the other mainstream loop programs and watch the tutorial videos online. They're pretty easy to get started with. If that doesn't work find a friend with some experience to help with the initial orientation to the program, that's the easiest way to get started. The forums for the products are also a great source for getting going information. Here's an address to some answers to some common questions about acid loops