DAW Assignment

Using Loops in Pro Tools

Is it music?

https://replay.dropbox.com/share/0WyM4diNyZefOVwA

I have used Pro Tools a fair amount, but only to record and mix live musicians. I have not attempted to create music using loops or other pre-made sounds.  I found the process to be a bit frustrating because of my lack of experience using these tools.  

I began by watching several tutorials on YouTube.  I began by attempting to create MIDI drum sounds one note at-a-time. Because I am not a drummer, and because I am unfamiliar with using MIDI and virtual instruments, I was not able to come up with anything that sounded like music.  I think the guys building a new roof on the house next door sounded more musical than what I came up with.  I went back to the drawing board and watched some more YouTube tutorials. 

I had heard the term “loops” and knew that loops could be connected together to create longer passages, and stacked to build up layers of sounds.  I also knew that much modern music is composed this way, but I assumed that one had to compose their own loops.  Once I discovered that there are libraries of pre-recorded short clips of a variety of instruments within the DAW, and that these clips are stored as miniature audio (wav) files, the task quickly became much easier.  I was able to use the workspace and tools that I am familiar with in the Pro Tools DAW.  It was quite simple to place the clips on tracks, extend them, and add effects. The tempo of the loops automatically matched the tempo of the song when the clip was added.  I’m not sure, but I think the melodic clips also matched the key of the song. I added drums, bass, and several guitar parts.  I added some fades and reverbs.  I put a compressor/limiter on the master bus to keep it from clipping. With all of this,  I’m still not sure that what I have come up with sounds like music, but it definitely sounds more like music than a construction site.  

I am certainly in no position to say whether creating music this way is legitimate or not, however, it is not something that I would be interested in pursuing.  For me, recording is about capturing musicians playing instruments and singing, and attempting to reproduce the sound of the ensemble as closely as possible.  This is a course in commercial music, and this exercise makes me wonder whether creating music like this has the potential to put musicians who play instruments out of work. I also wonder whether the development of artificial intelligence (AI) will further cut into the work of the traditional musician.