What are your thoughts on arpeggiators?

kim&jessie

kim&jessie

death to our friends
I've recently found myself using the arpeggiator in Logic to fuel ideas for songs, and sometimes create synth leads for songs as well, and a friend of mine who also dabbles in music production asked me if I felt like I was cheating? I guess I was a bit taken aback as I don't understand how using something within the program to manipulate synths and come up with cool sounds is cheating. I then googled this and found that a lot of people feel the same way as my friend. I guess it's kind of irritating because no one should be told that they're cheating if they're creating something that in the end sounds good. I've never used a loop but I know a lot of people who joke about how loops are just what people with no real producing talent/creativity use. I can see where they're coming from, but ultimately, if the end result is catchy and sounds intriguing, I don't see the real crime here. What do you guys think?
 
I don't think arpeggiators are any more cheating at heart than sequencers. Of course some modern arps can bellow out sequences so complex that it's basically "hold down a key to make a song" - but I don't think that invalidates the arpeggiator as a whole. It's the same with loops: you can make a loop out of anything and use it very creatively, or you can just take, say, a Deep House Construction Kit and make deep house out of readymade pieces with no effort to speak of. No pride in the latter approach, but it doesn't mean all loops are bad :)
 
Any rules or opinion is in fact creative block.

You can use anything you want and do whatever with it.
lot of people who joke about how loops are just what people with no real producing talent/creativity use
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They make jokes about people who use raw loops without any manipulation/effects

You can use loops and to avoid "Uncreativity" just change them in a creative way

That's my thoughts
 
i dont think its "cheating" at all

I think you cant cheat in music making... its just a way of making a track more interesting, more alive in my opinion

Use it however you want and you come up with great ideas and structures! Good luck and keep on using it

Greetz
MarcusQuarter
 
MarcusQuarter said:
i dont think its "cheating" at all

I think you cant cheat in music making... its just a way of making a track more interesting, more alive in my opinion

Use it however you want and you come up with great ideas and structures! Good luck and keep on using it

Greetz
MarcusQuarter
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Good points made.

Arpeggiators are great, love the ones in the Nord Lead keyboards, great in all kinds of situations.
 
If you use the 1 key sequence arps.. that play a whole melody, you might as well just throw samples together.... if you play the chords that arpeggiate, you still have creative control of the whole event... use whatever tools you have.. if you use loops and 1 key arps, people will know... that's probably the only thing.. who cares.. do what needs to be done...
 
I wouldn't call it cheating at all, I think arps can be great tools to get inspiration from. I personally dont really use many "melody" arps, I mainly like to stack or layer them as background sounds to give the track some movement.
 
TBH arpeggiators can be wonderfully executed, or obviously overused. I remember when I first started I thought I was soooo cool because I knew how to press a button.
 
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