Quote:

(...)
Remember that RealDrums is really just a real sophisticated loop player.(...)



And that is what I don't like about it. With a loop player you are stuck with the loop someone else played and it cannot be extensively edited.

Besides for kicks and shots, what if you want to eliminate the tambourine, or change the hi-hat to the bell of a ride cymbal, or change the snare to a piccolo snare or brushed snare, or change the picked bass to a fretless bass, or play that grand piano on a soft Rhodes, or add sustain to a choppy rhythm comp, etc., etc,. etc.?

What if you want to slightly change a part in the loop. Say change the sax part just a little? You would need the same sax/mouthpiece/reed combination, the same microphone, the same acoustic room, and the same gear used to record the original, and even then it would take a lot of messing around with the eq and fx settings to make it sound the same.

To me using loops to make a song is like a visual artist doing a collage. While using editable MIDI parts is like a visual artist doing an oil painting. With the collage you are simply pasting what others have done. With the oil painting you have complete control, even if you are working from life (for example, doing a portrait you can get rid of zits, fix the disturbing things in the background, enhance desirable features and minimize undesirable ones, etc.).

I want complete control of the end product. If I can imagine a way to improve it, and if I have the skills to do so, I'll spend the extra time on a song to do so. Some of the backing tracks I write for my duo The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com take 16-24 hours to complete, but it is worth it. I may take a couple of days to make the backing track, but I'll play that backing track thousands of times. And if there is anything I can do to make it sound better for the audience or make it more fun to play on stage, the initial time is well worth it.

I do the same for the styles I write. And as I have progressed in my style writing skills, and as the features in the BiaB stylemaker have improved, my styles have gotten better.

I use an array of sound modules, taking the best sounds from about a half dozen synths and samplers. The result is we are the highest paid duo in the area and we have consistent work. Music is all I do for a living (gigging and my part-time moonlighting job doing BiaB sttyles). If I didn't work so hard on my product, I don't think I could make a living playing music.

In summary, I have nothing against collages, but I don't want to be limited by what somebody else has done in their loop. I want to express my own ideas, and modify other people's ideas to make them my own.

Insights and incites by Notes

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com

100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
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