#Looping audio tracks (specifically guitar/bass)

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mortal pendant
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Im trying to copy and paste a guitar track so that I can loop it without having to record multiple measures in one take. The problem is that when I do so I have to cut off a bit of the audio to keep it aligned with the measure which can make it sound weird. If I dont cut it then it gets thrown off time.

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Should I just record full measures or do I need to play on time more?

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Or is there a way to do what im trying to do?

tidal spruce
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would say: git gud and record the whole god damn thing haha

but aside from that:

  1. first set your tempo correctly in your daw, and make sure the time signature correspond to the one of your song, so you can use the grid. You can enable the snap to the grid, but for the step two it's often more pain than anything, so leave the event placement floating.
  2. Then, fix the tempo inside the segment you want to repeat. For that cut before the note that is not aligned, then align it back or forward depending on what need to be fixed, extend the segment you have aligned to overlap the previous one, and make a cross fade between the two audio segment. Rinse and reapeat until the end of the segment. Use your ears to adapt the crossfade durations, and so on.
  3. Once you have a complete segment corrected, bounce it (or whatever in your daw so that it now behave as a single event), and use the same process as when you realigned part of the segment. So copy that segment, align it on the clic by helping yourself with the grid guides, and make a crossfade between the two. Rinse and repeat.

That being said, clinically correcting a take like this, and copy/pasting it, while preserving the human factor, is often more hassle than just making a good take with a few correction here and there.

mortal pendant
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So should you strive to record the whole song in one take for each track?

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Is that what a lot of artists did back in the 80's and 90's before DAW's existed

tidal spruce
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(but from my experience, a good take almost mixes itselves)

mortal pendant
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Ill try to not have too many seperate recordings because I do feel that it blends itself if you dont

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I can always use fading and such but it never replaces it

tidal spruce
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(also, in the 90's, daw already existed :p)

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might not understand what you're trying to do then, are you trying to overdub, or just record a few bars and then repeat them for the entire song ?

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or is it like a live looping thing that you're trying to do ?

mortal pendant
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I wish I could send pictures but

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Lets say I have a riff thats 2 measures long

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and I wanted the same riff to go on for about 8 measures

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but I didnt feel like recording 8 measures in one take so I decided to copy and paste tracks and blend them together to make it a whole lot easier

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Or if i record the intro in one take and then I do another take for the verse, how would I smoothly transition between those recordings

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since they are seperate tracks

tidal spruce
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as I said then, with more or less mixing work, what software are you working in ?

mortal pendant
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Reaper

tidal spruce
mortal pendant
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Thanks alot

tidal spruce
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this video will show you how to setup the grid and snap/quantize so it eases a bit the alignement work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXCbvjU9t6Q
(5years old, maybe a bit outdate, but look for a similar up to date then)

YouTube
Reaper Tutorials
Lock or Quantize Audio to Grid with Reaper

I've seen a lot of questions about how to get audio to fit to the grid on Reaper. It's an important step in the editing process, for sure, but here are two methods you can use to save yourself some time.

There's one more method that's a little more complicated (it's a good blend of these two), feel free to comment if you want to see that one, ...

▶ Play video