This is NOT meant to be a criticism to Craig whatsoever... but I miss the days when writing/producing a song meant more than looping something someone else created.
 
I think I'll buy my cat some loops and see what he creates as he walks across the keyboard ;-)
 
All in good fun of course :-)

PilotGav
This is NOT meant to be a criticism to Craig whatsoever... but I miss the days when writing/producing a song meant more than looping something someone else created.
 
I think I'll buy my cat some loops and see what he creates as he walks across the keyboard ;-)
 
All in good fun of course :-)

True, we should be spending more time on our 'natural talent" as the base for our music, but yet I find these loops to be very helpful in putting some additional creativity into a song bed. Sometimes, just a little clip/sound can trigger the build up of a song idea......or just looping a clip to jam with can be fun. I used some guitar, keyboard, and bass loops in this song https://soundcloud.com/user278850197/one-chord .....although it's nothing fancy, it just started out as jamming loop. 
 
It all depends on how you look at it......keeping an open mind can lead to something very creative. I sometimes get drum ideas from just listening to the rhythm of an office printer.....a bit odd, but I always look for music in day to day life/sounds.......i.e. Pink Floyds (cash register) intro to Money.    

Caveat. This is not a slam on the OP, it's just my opinion on this whole looping thing.
 
I've played bass with some fantastic musicians in my life (some even went on to be famous). What that has taught me is that I'm not even a beginner drummer, only a passable rhythm guitarist and a novice keyboard player. But, I'm pretty sure I know what I want good drums, guitar, keyboard etc. to sound like.
 
Every band member has almost always learned that the band is only as good as its weakest member.
 
So what am I supposed to do if I want to compose a song but my skills are not up snuff? I could collaborate, and I have. 
 
But sometimes I just want compose a song and not wait on collaborators. Now what?
 
Enter EZKeys, MIDI drums patterns, guitar loop libraries and (gasp) the high end Band In A Box with Real Band (i.e. real players). These tools are heaven sent (IMO) for the composer who is not skilled enough to play what is heard in the head. And as my man Mesh says, sometimes these tools are nothing more than a gateway to the completion of a song by collaborators.
 
So for those purists who can do it all, I salute you. Feel free to look down on anyone who chooses to use such tools. Most of us won't even feel the **** you're attempting to put in our armor.
 
 

No offense taken. I was being a bit tongue in cheek.

I admit it!  I'm a sub-par cowbell player and, since we all know we need more cowbell, I've had to resort to sampled loops... *Sigh...* 

bapu
 
I've played bass with some fantastic musicians in my life (some even went on to be famous).  

Awwwww, thanks baps!

Loops are there to be mangled as far as I'm concerned. Some artists go to the scrapyard, fill a shopping cart with junk, take it home and forge it into a masterpiece. I'm not saying loops are junk, just raw material to be used creatively.

Let's say you're a songwriter in a band and your guitar player contributes a part. Are you any less of a songwriter for not having written that part?

sharke
Let's say you're a songwriter in a band and your guitar player contributes a part. Are you any less of a songwriter for not having written that part?

^^^this too^^^

I used to use loops for ideas then, if I really liked the loop, I would re-record it slightly different so it became mine.

I also used to make my own loops.  Almost all of my older songs (rock and trance) were lost because they were stored on a Panasonic CD/PD - supposedly safe backup for 30 years, it wasn't...  I only have one loop left (which I just found and uploaded!).  Here it is: http://www.nwdreamer.com/download/140%20-%20Song%20002%20section.wav
 
It reminded me of all the stuff I've lost...
 
Yay.