Unlocking LoopMagic’s Potential with 3 Essential DAW Tricks

For music producers, working efficiently in a DAW (digital audio workstation) is crucial. LoopMagic is already a powerful tool, but with a few simple tricks, you can take your workflow to the next level. In this post, I’ll walk you through three essential tips to help you make the most of LoopMagic in any DAW and boost your creativity in the process.

Taking LoopMagic further

Trick 1: Keyboard Shortcuts for Quick Auditioning

When you’re deep in a session, speed is everything. Keyboard shortcuts can be a game-changer when it comes to auditioning loops quickly. With LoopMagic, these two shortcuts will streamline your workflow:

- [_] Spacebar: Quickly play and pause loops.

- [←] Back Arrow Key: Instantly rewind the playback, so you can restart the loop exactly where you want.

As an example, say you’re auditioning a bass loop with a drum track — you can manually trigger the loop to sync it with the beat by pressing the back arrow key. This way, you can see how the loop feels without messing up your flow. Very similar to hitting a pad on an MPC.

Trick 2: Stacking Mono Instruments for Depth

One of the best things about LoopMagic is how perfectly the loops match your session’s BPM and key. This makes it easy to layer or “stack” loops to create a fuller, richer sound.

- Create Stacks: Look for loops that have the same BPM and key using LoopMagic’s custom tags. By layering loops (like a saxophone loop with a synth), you can create a deep, textured sound that fills out your track.

- Editing: If a loop doesn’t perfectly match the length of your measure, no problem! You can easily duplicate or adjust sections to make sure everything fits neatly into your bars.

Trick 3: Isolating Loop Sections with a Sampler

This trick is all about getting more flexibility with your loops. Using a sampler, you can break up a loop and assign different sections to different keys. This gives you more creative control over how you use the loop in your track. Here’s how you do it:

- Tag and Download: Find and tag the loops you want in LoopMagic.

- Assign to Zones: Break the loop into sections and assign them to different keys or octaves in your sampler.

- Customize Start/End Points: Adjust the start and end points of each segment, so you can map them across your sampler for easy use throughout your track.

By using these three essential tricks — keyboard shortcuts, stacking mono instruments, and isolating loop sections with a sampler — you can make the most out of LoopMagic in your DAW. Whether you’re working in Logic Pro, Ableton, or any other platform, these techniques will help you work faster and get more creative with your music production.