Loops for Beginners

By Jon Nicol

I've began a journey with my own team towards using loops about 9 months ago. At the time, they didn't even realize it (and most still don't.) They just notice that, "hmm, Jon and a few of the other musicians keep bringing a metronome to rehearsal..."

And then, "holy crud, we actually have to play along with that thing?!"

The first attempts lasted only about 8 bars. If that. But we've been slowly improving.

Last week, I brought the first loop I downloaded from Loop Community into rehearsal. I explained the guide track side and enhancement side. And told the team this was "just a practice thing."

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about, here's a video from Loop Community's Matt McCoy showing the basics of how to use a loop in worship...

Our first attempt practicing with a loop went OK. But I did have one player just sit there staring at his music with a half disgusted, half confused look on his face. Not bad for a first run.

So we've got a ways to go. But like I said in the beginning, it's a journey. I'm going to continue to post about moving towards using loops in worship every few weeks. It might be a great story. Or it could the journeling of a long, slow car wreck.

Either way, here's where we're at right now:

1. We're a portable campus in a high school auditorium using the school's sound system. We do a little bit of wireless in-ears, but not enough to run a guide track for the band.

2. We'll be moving into a renovated warehouse building sometime withing the next year (Lord willing and the creek don't rise...literally, because it's just above a flood plain...). I plan to immediately incorporate a personal mixing system like Aviom or (better yet, as I'm reading the reviews) the Elite Core PM-16 into our new sound system.

3. I'm going to use this time before we get into our building to practice with loops at least three times a month at rehearsals. By the time we're in the building, my hope (read: scheme) is that the team will be comfortable with loops and actually enjoy playing with them.

In the upcoming posts about loops, I'll talk about why I'm moving towards loops, and how I've migrated from tracks-suck-because-it's-all-got-to-be-live-and-real to where I'm at now.

In the meantime, check out the great guys over at Loop Community. They can do a much better job of teaching you about loops than I ever could.