10 Minutes to Make a Loop

The Wheel of Destiny is putting random to the test by serving up C# Minor on Episode 14 of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop.’ After a quick monologue about his desire to put his most authentic self and music out there and about choosing fun over perfection in the studio, Oliver is ready for a tempo consultation. The Balls of Fate select 111 beats per minute for this episode, and immediately begs the question “is three ones a good sign?” Eager to find the answer, Oliver dives straight into the jam session. He starts by exploring around on the piano, using an Akai MPK249 controller. After a minute of fumbling around, nothing quite inspires anything to start the loop so Oliver decides to lay down the tempo first. He uses a couple of percussion shakers to establish 111 BPM. Hearing the percussive layer starts the creative juices flowing, so Oliver cycles through some synthesizer and pad sounds to see if anything sparks an idea. A Mellotron strings sound triggers some interest, but because of the uncertainty of the random key, he keeps moving to find a different synth sound until a soothing, calming ambient pad synth sound emerges. Once a simple chord progression comes together using that sound, the live loop is alive and off. Immediately Oliver hops over to the bass synth to add a driving, energetic bassline using an Akai MPK mini. This driving bass part inspires a simple kick and snare/clap pattern on the electronic drum kit using a Korg nanoPAD2. Unsure of the tightness of the rhythm section with the drum pattern added, Oliver adds emphasis to the snare by adding another percussion instrument; a collection of shells tied as a shaker. He then grabs the guitar before realising   the drums could in fact be tighter; a quick redo of tracking them and he proves that to be true. It’s then over to the guitar for an atmospheric, hypnotic guitar solo that intertwines simple lead melody lines and loose solo sections. A few guitar loops are pieced together, taking us on an epic journey through different dynamics coloured in reverb, tape delay, shimmer delay and a touch of distortion and gain. Oliver envelops us in meditative, soothing, mellow, sound bath type atmospheric music to get lost in, music to sleep to, music to meditate to. Warm guitar tones and stream of consciousness, improvised playing. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► https://www.stereoreverie.com ABOUT 10 MINUTES TO MAKE A LOOP: 10 Minutes to Make a Loop is a music making podcast. Join Stereo Reverie as he makes an original, improvised loop in 10 minutes using a random key and tempo without samples or prerecorded material. Then hang out while he jams with it. By going with the flow and trusting intuition, the magic of the creative process unfolds for a completely unique result each episode. ABOUT STEREO REVERIE: Oliver is a live looping multi-instrumentalist whose music moves from moments influenced by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to those of Sigur Rós, Radiohead and Pretty Lights, evolving through elements of rock and jazz to hip hop and EDM with a distinct feeling as much as a sound. ABOUT STEREO REVERIE'S SETUP: Oliver uses Ableton, a Behringer FCB1010 and a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 interface, along with a Shure SM57 percussion microphone. He uses a Mackie HM-4 headphone amplifier with Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones. On his pedalboard, he has a Vox V847A Wah-Wah, Dunlop JH0C1 Octavio, EHX Nano Big Muff Pi, Drybell Vibe Machine V-2, EHX Canyon, Empress Tape Delay, Earthquaker Afterneath and TC Electronic Ditto X2. Atmospheric, progressive guitar music & guitar looping ideas, inspiration for how to arrange loops. An exploration in how to make guitar loops, guitar melody loops, creating your own guitar loops samples, how to write your own music and have fun doing so.

Fate has a slow, ambient loop in store on Episode 13 of ‘10 Minutes to Make a Loop’ as The Balls of Fate choose 69 beats per minute. There’s a slight race against time and catching the sunset so Oliver jumps right in following The Wheel of Destiny’s request of D# Major. He starts with a piano sound using the Akai MPK249 and eventually figures out roughly where the notes in the key all are. After cycling through a few different keyboard sounds, from synthesizers and pads to atmospheric sounds, Oliver lands on a warm, ambient synth. A nice bit of ambiance, one might say! When laying down the loop, a happy little accident happens where the wrong - but oh so right - chord is played, and we’re just going to roll with it! It’s then over to the bass synth where there’s some resistance. With nothing solid emerging, an ‘abort layer’ is called - will Oliver regret not working on the bass a little more towards the end of time? We’ll have to find out… *foreshadowing* Success returns in the stacking of a few separate drum loops and addition of a soft, calming, ambient guitar loop with reverb, tape delay and shimmer before the bass rears its head again as the time runs out. To close the looping performance out, Oliver plays a series of guitar parts at times seemingly channeling a version of early Modest Mouse energy. The loop resonates a meditative, soothing, sound bath atmosphere; music to get lost in, music to sleep to, music to meditate to. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► https://www.stereoreverie.com ABOUT 10 MINUTES TO MAKE A LOOP: 10 Minutes to Make a Loop is a music making podcast. Join Stereo Reverie as he makes an original, improvised loop in 10 minutes using a random key and tempo without samples or prerecorded material. Then hang out while he jams with it. By going with the flow and trusting intuition, the magic of the creative process unfolds for a completely unique result each episode. ABOUT STEREO REVERIE: Oliver is a live looping multi-instrumentalist whose music moves from moments influenced by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to those of Sigur Rós, Radiohead and Pretty Lights, evolving through elements of rock and jazz to hip hop and EDM with a distinct feeling as much as a sound. Atmospheric, progressive, ambient guitar music & guitar looping ideas, inspiration for how to arrange loops.

The Balls of Fate are ready to get the energy amped up with a whopping 128 BPM tempo on Episode 12 of ‘10 Minutes to Make a Loop.’ Oliver starts with a synth sound in F# Major (although probably more accurately, in D# Minor) that has an ambient, atmospheric side and an arpeggiator side. By using the tone wheel he plays a simple melody on the Akai MPK249 that alternates between both sides. It’s then over to the bass synth to lay down a basic, rough pattern to fill out the low end before Oliver records a quick drum loop using an electronic kick drum and rim shot, coated with a touch of reverb. He then hops back over to fix the bassline before adding a secondary layer of warm bass synthesiser. Once the loop is put together, Oliver tries a few different keyboard sounds; alternating between Rhodes sounds and pianos with varying ages and effects before finding the perfect one to sprinkle some light, twinkling notes over the top. He decides to use this layer as a way to change things up and add another level of dynamics to the music later while he jams over the loop. A minute before the timer is up, Oliver grabs the guitar to add some lead lines and brings the loop jam to a close by travelling through Aeolian, Lydian and Mixolydian modes coloured with wah, distortion, reverb and tape delay.  There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► https://www.stereoreverie.com

It’s a cloudy day at the studio and Oliver’s ready to get mellow on Episode 11 of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop.’ The Balls of Fate are apparently aligned with the weather, too, and queue up 72 beats per minute for this loop. Oliver starts the jam off with what he claims is “the worst percussioning he’s ever percussioned” before quickly redeeming himself at the keyboard in D# Minor. After shouting out his glitches, he lays down a warm synth pad with percussive, melodic glitch effect and quickly adds some twinkling piano notes into it for a bit of a Moby inspired sound. It’s then over to the drums and bass to fill out the rhythm section and low end. A traditional 4 string electric bass sound starts off the bass layers and a simple warm bass synth fills it out. It’s just a simple kick and snare pattern on the drums today with subtle hi-hats for the beat, enhanced with a bit of reverb and delay to make it sound bigger and more epic. The loop comes together right at 10 minutes and allows Oliver finish it out by drifting away with some gentle guitar layers. Subtle, simple notes ringing out from chords coloured with tape delay, reverb and distortion ring out until the end; resulting in a warm, cosy loop that perfectly suits the cloudy day. Calming, relaxing, meditative music. Before everything ends, Oliver gets an answer to the question that was burning in his mind throughout… “was the percussion really that bad?” There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► https://www.stereoreverie.com

Double digits! Another ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop’ milestone and Oliver is ready to get heavy. He starts things off by noodling around on the piano to figure his way around B Major before laying down a foundation of percussion at 114 BPM. After figuring out a soothing, ambient synth chord progression he decides to change the mood up and switches to a Rhodes sound. Suddenly things take a jazzy turn, it feels as though the lights come down and the atmosphere gets a little smoother. Oliver then adds a hypnotic bass line that compliments the feeling before adding a minimalistic jazz drum beat, too. He explores some possible piano layers and then switches to the guitar instead. From there we go on a journey seemingly through space and time. Oliver displays his full range in a solo that highlights all manner of extremes. Stopping along the way to capture and build upon the moment, resulting in a progression from mellow, spacey jazz to heavy rock. Guitar screams and a stomping, driving backing charge onward for several minutes after time until we’re delicately let off back into the present moment. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com

On Episode 9, we’re amazingly back in D Major and somehow only a single BPM off from the last jam at 77 BPM. Rather than veering into the relative minor, though, Oliver aims to stay in major this time. He starts off playing some chords with a warm pad sound before adding a drum part. As per usual, recording a huge bass synth sound really ties the room together. After experimenting with a few higher frequency sounds, Oliver decides a guitar riff is needed and quickly finds one. Although the loop ends on a rise, it’s still slightly minor focused - so he ends the jam with some positive vocal stabs. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com

We’re back in the studio for Episode 8 of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop’ and the universe has D Major at 78 BPM in store for us. Oliver fumbles over some percussion in the beginning but eventually lays down a rhythmic foundation. He then attempts to lay down an acoustic drum beat, but quickly abandons ship and switches to an electronic beat instead. Things start to come to life with a walking bass line and a dipping 808 adds even more movement. With the groove laid down, Oliver switches to the keys to lay down a simple synth part coupled with a Rhodes riff. With a couple of minutes left, it’s time to grab the guitar and go for a spacey jam journey. He displays delicate subtleties as he explores the range of dynamics within the loop, bringing things down to light and airy before building back up to a bigger moment than before. Oliver enhances the rhythm section in the midst of the jam, bringing in some toms and cymbals to continue the build while the solo travels on before a soft landing. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com

It’s time to get weird! On this episode of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop’, we’re in A Major at 74 BPM. Oliver has a little bit a struggle finding a melody to start things off with, so he lays down a drone to establish the feeling of the key first. Then it’s time to piece together a drum part with a slight swing. The loop comes to life with the addition of a synth sound gently glitching throughout. Battling through a few more technical difficulties, Oliver emerges on the other side with the guitar is his hands. A simple reverberated melody is laid down first before a droning eBow part is recorded on top to drive home the original layer. He then ends it the only fitting way for such an odd loop; to dramatically adjust the tempo and drop you off at the end of a wormhole. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com

Will the guitar work? It better had, it was tested before recording started! Back with Episode 6, Oliver is ready to test the guitar out in the new ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop’ studio. The Wheel of Destiny chooses G Major so seemingly the Guitar Gods are on side since the relative minor, E Minor, is so favourable among guitarists. After consulting The Balls of Fate, Oliver lays down a couple of percussion parts to establish the 92 BPM tempo. Once the tempo is set, it’s quickly over to the guitar to get a riff going before figuring out a bass and drum parts. Everything falls together well before the timer is up, so he makes use of the working guitar and takes us on a melodic journey through highs and lows. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com

Welcome to the studio - to the new studio! The first episode of ’10 Minutes to Make a Loop’ in the new space, what a momentous occasion. Though faced with technical difficulties from the move, Oliver still manages to cook up a heaping serving of jam in F# Major at 94 BPM. After the debut of The Wheel of Destiny and The Balls of Fate to pick our random key and tempo, he starts the jam off with some warm organ chords. He experiments with drum sounds before settling on an acoustic kit for the beat. After the drums are set, Oliver finds a swelling bass melody to match before attempting to add some guitar. Technical difficulties scupper those plans and force a quick jump over to the piano to sprinkle some simple, twinkling melodies on top to finish it out. There’s more to Stereo Reverie ► ⁠https://www.stereoreverie.com