Orinj Getting started - Part 2 - Build a drum loop

Orinj version 7.0.0

You will open a simple drum loop. In the next part of this tutorial, this loop will be used to create a drum track. The drum track will also serve as your metronome or "click track" when recording.

Switch to the loop building view of Orinj

1. Click on the loop building view button () in the view toolbar at the bottom of Orinj.

Explanation: The Orinj loop building view is where you can build short wave files by simply pulling in existing samples (wave files, instruments from a Downloadable Sounds (DLS) file, or presets from a SoundFont (SF2) file.

You will not be recording in this view. Rather, you will be synthesizing sound. (Recording is described in Part 4 of this tutorial).

Open an existing drum loop

1. Click on File and then on Open in the menu at the top of Orinj.
2. Browse to the "loops" folder in your installation of Orinj. If, for example, you installed Orinj in "c:\Temp", the "loops" folder will be "c:\Temp\orinj\loops". (If this is the first time you are opening a loop file, the Open dialog should default to that folder.)
3. Double-click on the "blues simple 01.klp" file to open it. You should see hits added to the first few tracks of the loop building view.

tracks with samples. The rest of the tracks are empty.

The first track uses the wave sample "ki ya 24x18 04.wav". This is one of the samples distributed with Orinj. It is a Yamaha 24x18 inch kick drum (see Orinj Installation files). In the loop, the kick is hit twice, once at the beginning and once in the middle.

The second track is the Yamaha 14x10 inch snare. The snare also happens twice in the loop, on beats two and four of the four-beat loop (the kick is on one and three).

The third track is the Zildjan 13-inch high hat. It plays ten times in the loop.

Hear the loop

1. Click on the Play Loop button () in the player toolbar at the bottom of Orinj.
2. When you are done listening to the playback, click on the Stop button () in the player toolbar at the bottom of Orinj.

Explanation: If you need to select an output device (soundcard), click on Loop and then on Output Device in the menu.

Save this loop

1. Click on File and then on Save as in the menu.
2. Choose a folder. Since you will be making a whole song, it is a good idea to start in a new, empty folder, wherever you want your whole session to be.
3. Choose a name for the loop and click on Save.

Explanation: Since you are using a file from the Orinj installation, it is a good idea to save a copy of it. First, this will preserve the original copy, in case you want to use it for something else later. More importantly, any temporary files created for this loop file will not be in your Orinj installation folders.

One of the heaviest jobs in recording is managing your session and its files. This is the first file for your new session. You will create that new session in the next part of this tutorial. Put this loop file wherever you plan to put your whole session and its sound files.

Check the tempo and rhythm of the loop

1. Click on Loop and then on Tempo / Time Signature in the menu.
2. Review the Tempo / Time Signature settings for this loop.

3. Click on Cancel.

Explanation: This is a 4/4 loop, with ticks shown for every 8th note. The tempo is 40 quarter notes per minute (quite slow) with each quarter note equal to 1.5 seconds (1500000 microseconds). The total length of the loop is 6 seconds (6000000 microseconds). 10 loops fit into one minute.

This is where you can speed up or slow down your loop. You should not do so for this tutorial though, as the session that you will create later in this tutorial depends on this tempo.

You have choices when creating loop. For example, note how the high hats are staggered in between ticks. This loop can be set up as a 6/4 loop with ticks at every 16th note to make sure high hats fall on ticks, making it easier to create them.

Play with this loop

Here are some things you can do.

1. Double-click on one of the hits (for example, the second kick). The hit will disappear.
2. Double-click anywhere on one of the tracks with instruments (but not on one of the hits) to see a new hit appear.
3. Drag one of the hits left or right. Notice how it snaps to the tick marks.
4. Expand the tree to the left, choose another instrument and drag it to the fourth track. You can now add hits to that track too.

Explanation: These are the usual things you will do when creating loops, including when starting with a blank loop with no instruments or hits.

If you made any changes to this loop and you want to save those changes, save it.

1. Click on File and then on Save.

Choose whether to mix this loop or keep as is

Explanation: In Orinj, you can mix loops to wave files or import loops in your session as they are. The latter is preferred. If you import a loop file as it is in your session, you can still change it. Any changes you make to it will automatically be reflected in your session.

If you mix the loop into a wave, you will not be able to change it. If you use the mix in the session and you want to change it, you will have to remove it, and then create and import another mix.

If you do not want to mix the loop into a wave file (preferred), skip to the next part of this tutorial.

If you do want to mix the loop into a wave file (not preferred), follow these steps.

1. Click on Loop and then on Mix in the Orinj menu.
2. You will get the Loop Mix Properties dialog.

3. Leave the sampling rate at 44.1 KHz and the sampling resolution at 16-bit. These are the sampling rate and resolution that you will use in your session later, in this tutorial. You want the loop wave file that you create to have the same sampling rate and resolution.
4. By default, you should also see the "Wrap remainder" option chosen. Leave that option as it is as well. This loop will be repeated over and over in your song and you will want any sound that extends over the end of the loop to be wrapped around over its beginning. This way, the end of the first loop will sound over the beginning of the second loop and so on. This option is especially important for loops that contain open hi hats, crashes, rides, or toms, all of which have longer sounds and may extend over the end of the loop.
5. Click OK in the Loop Mix Properties dialog. You should see a quick a progress bar after which Orinj will switch to its single wave view. The mixed wave file will be displayed in this view.
6. Save the mixed wave file. Click on File and then on Save As in the Orinj menu. Browse to where you want to save the file, give it a name (for example, "basic drum.wav"), and click Save.

See also

This completes the second part of the Orinj tutorial – building a drum loop. The remaining parts of this tutorial are as follows.

Orinj Getting started - Part 1 - Set basic Orinj preferences
Orinj Getting started - Part 3 - Create drum and bass tracks
Orinj Getting started - Part 4 - Record guitar and vocals
Orinj Getting started - Part 5 - Mix your song