How To Make Quality Loops And Samples To Upload And Share On Looperman

We thought it would make sense to create an article to fully explain how to make loops ready to upload and share on looperman. There are plenty of common mistakes that people make when submitting loops and the majority of them are simple errors.

If you are planning on sharing loops here make sure you read and understand the as well as everything written here before uploading so that your loops dont get rejected or removed.

Some of the things we say here might seem obvious, overly fussy or pointless but you would be surprised at the types of things people upload or the things they get confused with.

Please remember to follow these guidelines at all times. If, once you are granted access you choose to ignore the guidelines your access will be removed.

How do I upload loops, Im not allowed

Before you can upload loops your account needs to be updated to give you uploading privileges. By default we block everyone from uploading to ensure the quality of uploads is maintained and we dont end up with a load of junk.

Before you get in touch you will need to have done a few things .....

• You need to upload an avatar to your profile
• You must add some information about yourself to your profile
• You must read and agree to the terms & conditions
• You need to read, understand and agree to the contents of this post.

Once that's all done you'll find info on what to do next at the bottom of this post.

Note: If you don't do everything required you wont get access and your message will be ignored. We have so many requests we dont have time to look at any that dont follow the guides.

Copyright, is this 100 % your own work ?

The whole idea of uploading loops to looperman.com is that other people can use them royalty free. We are not interested in loops taken from commercially released tracks, samples from youtube, clips from films or files from loop packs either from online loop sites or loops that come bundled with your software.

The basic rule here is - If you did not create the loop 100% yourself and you are not happy to share it royalty free ... dont upload it !

Taking a sample or vocal and running it through some filters, chopping it up and rearranging it does NOT make it your own work. Recording yourself playing the guitar, keyboards, drums etc is your own work and so is good.

Taking a file you think is free from somewhere else and then uploading it here is not allowed. You are not the owner or creator of that sound and so you are potentially in breach of copyright. Just because you think its free does not mean it actually is. There are hundreds of thousands of users who will see your uploads and if its not your own work you WILL be found out, reported and could be banned from the site.

Uploading anything that haspotential copyright problems may see your account suspended from the site and could even land you in legal trouble with the copyright owner. Its essential for you to understand the terms and conditions you agree to when using looperman.com. If you are unsure dont upload.

If you're unsure dont upload.

Loops must be seamless, with no gaps at the start or end

One of the most common reasons for loops being rejected is the fact that the files do not even loop. Yes it may sound crazy but it happens every day. Just because something sounds good in FLStudio or whatever DAW you are using does not mean it loops properly as a file on its own.

The main reasons that loops end up with gaps at the start or the end is that you did not select the correct settings when exporting from your DAW and so the output file includes a tail containing the delay or reverb. Search Google for how to export seamless loops in your particular DAW.

Loops must be seamless, with no clicks or pops at the start or end

Another common problem is loops that have not been edited so that the loop without any clicks or pops. This happens when you the end and the start of the loop have different levels etc. Its easy to fix by simply fading the very last and first moment of the loop to zero. An example of where this would cause an obvious problem is a pad loop where the sound is constant throughout. Play your file in a Wav editor and you ll know if there is a problem.

Dont mix or layer different sounds / instruments

Another common mistake is that someone will upload for example a piano loop that has drums in the background. By merging sounds you have just made your loop far less useful to others. What happens if someone loves the piano sound but does not need the drums ? Your loop is no longer of any use to them. Another example might be, someone loves your loop but want a section in my track with just the piano. Again, its impossible to remove the drums so your loop is no good for them.

We all write loops that are meant to work together and this is the point but just dont save them out together. If you create a loop that has drums, bass, piano and guitar save each instrument out on their own and upload them separately.

Dont join two or more loops into one file

A loop must contain a single phrase. Dont add a bass, counter melody or some other layer half way through or join multiple loops into a single file. Upload the parts separately. Pre joined or layered loops will be rejected.

Save your loops as 16bit 44hz WAV files

At the moment we only accept loops that are saved as 44Hz 16 bit Wav files. We check these settings during upload and if they are not correct your upload will be blocked.

How many bars should the loop be ?

Loops must be a set number of bars. By that we mean dont upload a file that is 3 bars when it should be 4. Loops are meant as building blocks and so they should all be of an equal or relative number of bars. Your 3 bar loop will not work with everyone elses 4 bar loops and so will be rejected. If you dont understand the concept or bars and measures in music then you should research this before trying to make loops as its essential for this to be done right.

If your file repeats after 4 bars then stick with 4 bars. To be fair always try and keep to 4 bars as the loops are easier for other to work with that way.

What tempo should I use ?

The tempo of your loop is up to you but there are a few things you should take into account when setting the tempo. Firstly keep loops to whole digit tempos. Dont use something like 122.56 bpm but instead record the loop at 120bpm. The other thing to think about is if your loop works at 100bpm dont upload it as 200bpm.

You could also consider what common tempos are used for certain genres and what people would be searching for. The following list shows typical tempos for common genres.

• Dub: 60-90 bpm
• Hip-hop: 60-100 bpm
• House: 115-130 bpm
• Techno/trance: 120-140 bpm
• Dubstep: 135-145 bpm
• Drum and bass: 160-180 bpm

Pay attention to volume level or gain

Make sure you keep an eye on the overall volume level of your loops. Loops that are too quiet or too loud are not much use to people and tend to loose overall quality. You dont need to master loops as you would a track but at least make sure your loops volume levels are balanced.

Give your loops a good name

we know its hard to come up with names for every loop you create so just try and be descriptive when choosing a name. We reject any that are called loop1, loop2 etc . Loops with titles containing swearing will also be rejected. Remember people will find your loops by searching for things and our search is based on your title and description.

Post titles and description only in English

We know that for some of you English is not your first language but please only use english in titles and descriptions. We ask this so its clear to all what is being said. In the past some users have posted in other languages and tried, for example, to set their own terms of use. If You have problems posting in English use an online translation tool or keep text to a minimum.

Give your loops a good description

The same applies here. It might be tedious to describe each of your loops but it means they get used more and make it easier for people to find them. In your description you could mentioned what you used to create the loop, the feel of it, the speed, is it fast, slow, mellow, crazy, happy, sad.

Use standard formatting in title and description

By this we mean dont post everything in CAPS, create unnecessary line breaks or use non standard characters etc. Just use plain English and make it easy for everyone to read.

Dont spam the description with unrelated keywords / tags

While you may think its a great idea to post every popular tag / keyword in the description to get your files found it becomes worthless if everyone does it. Its also wont make you popular with people trying to find certain loops when your unrelated file shows up. We'll reject uploads that post spam tags so make sure the description is relevant to your file and post no more than 5 keywords or tags.

Dont post links or promotion in the description

Dont use the description area to post links to your soundcloud, facebook page, twitter, instagram account etc, try and sell things or post anything other than a description of the loop. Any files that do this are blocked and you no longer have access to upload.

Dont use the description to try and sell things / do business

Again, using the description as a means to try and do business, sell things is seen as spam and will see the file rejected. If you want to advertise contact google and pay for an ad.

Dont use bad language in title or description

This site is used by a broad range of people of all ages and in a multitude of settings. Loops with descriptions or titles that contain swearing or offensive text will be rejected and your account may be suspended.

No politics, region or hate speech etc in title or description

Dont use the title or description as a platform to push or promote your own religious or political viewpoints or to attack someone elses. This is a music community and not the arena for stuff like this.

We dont allow the promotion of hatred toward groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, or sexual orientation/gender identity.

Dont ask people to 'credit' you in any way for using your loops

When you upload a loop please dont expect or demand anything in return. The terms of the site are clear and you can not choose to set your own. It might sound harsh but it is meant as a way to keep things clear for anyone downloading files.

People often have loops rejected as they use the description area to request that people add a name to the title of their track if a loop is used. Apart from making people think there are some type of strings attached to using a file it makes no sense at all. Imagine someone who makes a track uses 10 different loops. The title of the track would be longer then the song.

What is acceptable though is to maybe ask that people leave a comment or a link to any tracks they make using your loop. For the most part this is how things already work and its a win win. You both get feedback and everyone is happy.

Dont delete loops just to reupload them

If you find a problem with one of your uploads you can simply choose edit and re upload the file, replacing the original. This keeps the file in the same location and makes it easy for anyone who already downloaded the file to find it again. It also preserves your downloads count and any comments.

Should an account be seen to be rotating / deleting loops just to give them exposure by putting them back to the top of the list your access to upload will be removed as this is seen as trying to spam the system and goes against the spirit of sharing loops with others.

Choose the correct genre and category

Again this should be a simple thing but so many get uploaded to the wrong place. Think about people searching for your loop and not what you created it for. Just because you love Hip Hop does not mean the loop you created is best placed in that genre. The same goes for the category, have a look at the options and choose the best one.

When a bass guitar loop is NOT a bass guitar loop

This might sound an odd one but think of this as the person who is searching for the loop. Random sounds made with Massive or similar plugins are not bass guitar loops. A bass guitar loop is made by a bass guitar and would form the bass melody of a tune.

The same goes for bass synths, wobble bass etc. Since genres such as dubstep have arrived we have been overwhelmed with loops to the bass guitar category that should not be there. These days we have separate categories for bass synth, bass guitar, wobble bass etc. Please save us the bother of moving them every day and choose the correct category.

Keyboards are not guitars

By this we mean that just because you have a patch on your synth called guitar it does not mean that you have made a guitar loop. Where possible avoid uploading loops like this. Obviously these days you can create any sound using VSTis so use your judgement. Its far better to have a guitar loop played on a guitar then it is to have a synthesised version.

Is it worth uploading ? Do we have plenty already

Its also worth asking the question is the loop Im about to upload needed or worth uploading. Try and create loops that are a little different. Loops that are played with real instruments are always popular as apposed to holding down one key on a synth and recording the output.

For example, there are only so many versions of a four to the floor style kick drum loop or a basic kick kick snare hip hop loop. Another example these days would be a dubstep wobble bass loop. Its getting to the stage where anyone with the right VST can create a completely random sound and then upload them. We really dont need 1000s of ultra random noises just for the sake of it. Make sounds that are interesting and useful.

Check your loops before uploading

The majority of loops that get rejected are due to users not following the above guidelines or simply not checking their loops before they upload. You could open them in a wav editor, play them in your media player or simply reload them into your DAW to make sure everything is ok.

OK, I've read it all and I'm ready to upload

Good stuff, hopefully that has just saved us both some time by avoiding all the problems people have when submitting loops.

How to request access

When you contact us make sure to do the following

1. set the message title as "Request Loop Upload Access"
2. confirm that you have read and agree with the these pages
   
   1. looperman.com/blog/detail/62/how-to-make-quality-loops-and-samples-to-upload-and-share-on-looperman
   2. looperman.com/forum/thread/182212/simple-ways-to-check-if-your-loops-will-be-rejected
   3. looperman.com/help/terms
3. confirm that you have filed out your profile and uploaded an avatar
4. confirm that you dont have more than one account
   (if you do have, dont delete them, let us know the urls and we can merge them)