Introduction to Music Loops in Worship
July 2, 2008
If you are part of the growing community of worship leaders, there is a good chance that you are at least mildly acquainted with loops. Loops have, to varying degrees, become an important tool to many modern worship leaders. From simple drum loops to full-song sequences, artists such as Steve Fee, Chris Tomlin and the David Crowder Band have integrated loops into their songs.
From the standpoint of a worship band, loops can be very useful as they can be used to compensate for a lack of musicians (a very real and prominent issue in many churches). This can mean recording in a real instrument (such as a lead guitar part) or sequencing out an instrument using any one of a number of virtual instruments (such as those found in Reason or Kontakt). Using these tools will also allow for the use of non-traditional instruments such as vintage synths, a glockenspiel or various types of percussive instruments.
Further, the use of loops allows a worship band to more accurately perform another artist’s song - some songs, like Steve Fee’s “We Shine” would likely sound lackluster without a loop behind it.
Many worship leaders avoid the use of loops for a number of reasons, one being the perception that running loops requires sophisticated know-how and equipment. The reality is, running loops is relatively simple and specialized equipment is not necessarily required. If need be, loops can easily be played from an iPod, for instance. While many loops must be set to a click track to be used (therefore requiring in-ear monitoring and a metronome), most percussive loops do not require a click track to be used, and can be monitored using a stage monitor.
Writing loops, however, requires a greater investment of both time and money. The worship music community has latched onto two particular programs to serve their loop writing needs: Ableton Live and Propellerheads’ Reason. Both are capable of loop-creation, but have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Ableton Live, as the name suggests, shines through in the live situation - it is stable and efficient in its ability to trigger loops, trigger the metronome and running softsynths live. Ableton Live 7 has a strong set of instruments and effects, giving the user a relatively large set of tools to write and perform with.
Reason, on the other hand, is more finely-tuned as a writing and sequencing environment. Not only does it have a large selection of instruments, but its advanced instrument and effect routing allows for the creation of very unique sounds. Reason, in contrast to Ableton Live, provides very few provisions to those wanting to run loops and sequences in a live situation.
As an emerging trend, we are beginning to see loops and sequences finding their way into modern worship. Not only are loops able to enhance the sound of most worship bands, but they are able to give smaller, struggling worship bands the kind of relief and assistance they are looking for.
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I’ve been using loops with the musicians at my church since February and it’s worked out amazing. I’ll try and get an introductory video explaining how we use our loops posted here.
[...] folks behind the site and hearing their passion for worship. I had the opportunity to write an article for the site regarding the use of loops in the worship setting - check it out if you have [...]
If I have a drummer whose tempo consistency is not that great, will the loops help our worship band as well as him? If so, what should I incoude in the loops. I don’t think there shoud be regular drum beats (bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat).
Hey Pianoman, that is a really good question. I’ll give you my opinion for what its worth, but I cannot stress enough that every situation is unique, and in a lot of ways, needs to be dealt with delicately. First of all, I think that it is important to talk to your drummer, and see if he would be open to running loops, and furthermore, if he would be willing to work on his timing. For rhythmic elements (such as a kick, or a shaker or tambourine), this is very important - if the drummer is not in sync with the loop, it runs the risk of sounding sloppy, in which case running loops would be doing more harm than good.
If the tempo consistency continues being a problem, you can always use loops that do not have much of a rhythmic structure with elements such as pads or other such ambient sounds.
One last thought — I know this is a hard sell (I have dealt with quite a few drummers who have resisted this), but I would suggest trying out the use of a metronome (such as the Dr. Beat, or Ableton’s built in metronome) in the live situation. This is always a delicate topic, as it is hard to get used to, especially for a drummer that struggles with timing. In the end, though, it brings tremendous benefits — it will tighten up the drummer and take a lot of stress off of the drummer (as he/she will no longer be responsible for creating and keeping the tempo), it will enable the use of all loops (regardless of the elements in the loop) and will open up the guitarists’ world (the use of tight rhythmic delays).
Those are my thoughts. Again, deal with it delicately! If I can be of any more help to you whatsoever, please feel free to email me (my address is at the bottom of the post)! I’d love to help you work through your situation in whatever way I can!
Thanks!
Matt Huber
Question for you. I’ve begun to use some pretty complex “loops” and I need to split the audio out for the click track so it’s on an isolated channel. Reason is unable to do this, I have Ableton Live Lite, do you know if the LE version is able to split audio out signals?
You can see my post about that here which also contains the track I used:
http://www.ourrisingsound.com/2008/07/07/new-reason-backtrack-for-our-god-reigns-delirious/
Hey Matt,
Thanks for good tips.
I tried the use of metronom for a drummer of previous church because his timing was horrable at the time. After several months of lock-in with metronom, his timing was improved. Then later I removed the metronom and he was fine (but not perfect). So I can tell you the metronom method works.
I just visited your website and listened to the loop, Grace Will Be My Song. I have a question on it.
How do you keep on time with the song since there are no continual subdivided beats?
Kyle - thanks for the comment. Yes, Ableton LE is able to do this. All you need to do is set the Cue Out to one out and the Master Out to the other out (for a built in output on a laptop, these will be outs 1 and 2).
Here is a screenshot: http://themonobox.com/Images/liveexample.png
Regarding other click track questions (especially within Live), take a look at a couple of posts that I did a while back:
http://themonobox.com/?p=88
http://themonobox.com/?p=27
The first is general information, the second link is a video tutorial.
Let me know if you need any more help, and as always, feel free to email me (the email address is at the end of the article).
Pianoman! Thanks again for the comment.
As far as the metronome goes, we’ve been running it for 2 years straight now, and wouldn’t even think about going back — it is good to keep it in use even when you feel rhythmically confident — it just helps keep the band so tight.
Anyway, I apologize if I’m obsessing over the metronome topic — I just really believe that it makes a huge difference.
Speaking of which, for Grace Will Be My Song, I always run a click with it, so that is how I stay on time. A lot of times, folks will run the loop out of their computer (or ipod) with the audio on one side, and the click track on another, then put the click track in their in-ear-monitors. Other than putting it to a click, I have no other suggestions as far as staying on time goes, seeing as there are no consistent rhythmic elements that go through the entire loop.
Huge DITTO on using a click to play live. We use a click with everything too! It not only keeps the band locked in to a VERY nice pocket, but it enables the use of other technologies beyond loops, as well. We play along to a lot of custom made video pieces that our media guys produce - without being able to lock into a click, we would be way out sequence with the video.
It is a delicate situation whenever you have to address areas of improvement with team members. We have made evaluation and healthy critique a part of our teams culture from the beginning - so it is expected that team members will always be getting pats on the back when the nail it and helpful suggestions when they miss it. Ultimately, anytime we receive criticism it points to heart issues. If the person receiving the criticism takes it as a personal attack, then it highlights an area of growth needed in that persons life. However, this doesn’t excuse the one giving the criticism to not do it in a constructive way.
Brad Loser
http://www.thinkworship.com
Hey Brad! Thanks for jumping in on the conversation. I completely agree with you - criticism does always bring up heart issues, and thus a good relationship with your team members is very important. For the youth, I have had the opportunity to work with the same group of musicians over the past 2 years, and not only have we really come to understand each other musically, but have great relationships that allow very healthy criticism. It’s a good place to be. Ultimately, a relationship has to be there before you start telling people how to change how they do things!
Love this thread! We love Ableton Live too and have lots of actual multi-masters and videos ready to go for this concept.
Check us out at http://www.interactiveworshiplive.com!
We strongly endorse Ableton Live and Interactive Worship Live as a resource to use with it. We will be doing some highlights on both platforms this year.
http://www.innovativeministryleader.wordpress.com
I have a few questions for this thread. I am a worship leader/Asst. Pastor for a non-denom. small church. In order to compensate for the lack of musicians, I have been using a Korg IX-300, that has a built in back up band, and 4 variations per musical style. I have used it for years now, and it is getting really redundant. The same lead ins, fills, and styles. I would love to try something new and fresh with good capabilities, but I am not a gear head anymore. Abelton live sounds like just what I need, but what kind of learning curve does it have? Is it supported good, with musician understandable manuals? I have never looped anything before that wasn’t an airplane, are they easy to create? Are there professionally created loops ready to be used available? Any help or insight would be really great, and appreciated!
Are in ear monitors possible without a sound man? could the sound be run by a laptop on stage that may be running the Abelton Live program, or would that be too hairy to set up? (don’t have a soundman either) Is Abelton a Mac or PC program? Thanks again for any ideas and help.
I Love the Lord and I really Love to Worship and Praise Him, and I want to build the Kingdom!