In a song, the actual number of bars can vary quite a bit. Usually, the length of the song determines the bar length, but there are exceptions with drum samples, especially in songs with a warped timeline grid. If you’re making loops, it doesn’t really have to be that complicated.
If you’re composing a standard loop and want to portray a general outline of your song in a fairly straightforward manner, using four bars should be enough. The theme of the song can be condensed into these four musical bars, and the sample should be able to stand on its own; that is, you should not need surrounding music to really give the sample context. You should also add some variance in the drum samples or instruments, and a popular method is to do this toward the end of the forth bar. Keeping the listener comfortable and yet not sure what comes next is the aim of the game here, so remember that variance is key, even in a measly 4-bar loop.
Sixteen bars is another common loop number, usually because in hip hop, 16 bars is a typical vocal verse length. So if you can develop the 16 bar loop, complete with pre-chorus introduction and an 8 bar switch-up (just an example), you can give a good example of the way the song would be structured. Using drum samples over these 16 bars will give see you test your creative limits, especially if you make a few beats every day. Introducing the hi-hats starting at bar 8, for instance, gives the song a great motion factor.
When considering changes to the music, you can easily look beyond drum samples and even instrument patches and notes. The more advanced composers will start some new harmonic progressions or expand the note selection in current form. If you change multiple things at once, this is a very powerful message to your listener that things are not at rest; movement is in the air!
If you really are serious about sequencing and arranging the next smash hit, think outside the box as well. Combine some methods, and utilize the vocals more, don’t just focus on the drum samples and instrument patches. Your singer could suddenly go from boring and predictable to wild and energetic in a matter of just a single bar. Keep your listener guessing ’til the end!
Drum samples are one of the easiest ways to introduce variance, as it requires no extra input on the vocalist’s part and can accentuate vocal parts and instruments without anything being different in those departments.
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