Not really, while I don't use ARP presets, I use arpreggiator FX for modularity and shortcuts.

When making covers of a song, there can be some particularly tricky arps to recreate, so I use arps to greatly speed up the process. Got a note wrong or something else off? No problem. If you used an arp FX, it's very easy to correct. Change one note/turn one knob - fix the whole sequence.

 

I'm sorry, but using drum samples is much different then using drum loops... It's like paying someone to come up with your drum lines for you. You didn't write it, and you'll end up sounding like everything else. Sometimes it works well chopping and being creative with it, but a lot of stuff people come out with SOUNDS like it was looped. Like, if your drums sound tight as hell, but you didn't mix your synths right, it sounds completely uneven and people can tell. Using pre-compressed drum samples seems fine, as long as you don't call yourself an engineer in the end... Just call yourself a producer. Using arpeggios is fine if you want a relatively flat sound. If you use the same arp the whole time, it will sound dull and repetitive. If you use a second arp in the song, e.g. an arp for the chorus, an arp for the verse, it will probably sound disjunct... Point being, if you just go on YouTube and check out some videos about using the arpeggiator in the software you are using, you will get waaay more mileage out of your song /vision and be able to create much much much better tracks. Fine to use patches, if they honestly blend with your song the way you want, but you will ultimately fall into a rut not knowing how to use your instrument.

 

;)

 

Ive always followed a simple rule, can you play it LIVE? if you can play it live it aint cheating, even just on a piano have it sound relatively the same. Ive seen and worked with too many bands that lost power/ or playback and were screwed, Arps are nice carpeting but are not the meat of a song, back in the day i use to use a roland MSQ 100 ( i hated it ) cause it never worked right live and i always looked like the chump on stage trying to fix my gear so the gig could go on. then i taught myself how to play really fast so when the MSQ would take a dive the show could go on. I eventually smashed it on stage one night ( that went over big) and i played on. today i use them more as a gate then anything if a have a baseline thats really fast and i wanna fatten up a track ill use the built in arp in my CX1 and trigger ( in the case of a track im working on now retrolog 2) and then play bass along with that so its 2 live bass tracks and one analog synth track. i don't have much respect for people that just cut and paste a bunch of loops and throw some Arp in and Virus or Nexus notes. but hey some people like that when their on drugs, me personally if i hear that on drugs id proxy kill the person in charge of that racket.
I will say this , anyone willing to go on stage in front of how ever many people with a laptop and a USB stick and perform has got balls of steel. "girl you know its true oh oh oh girl .... girl..... girl...girl .... girl..... girl...girl .... girl..... girl...girl .... girl..... girl..." click ...boom

 

making music is cheating to , people using the same kicks / bass/ hi hat /....etc
people who dance really don't care who create that kick
but if you really care you can record the arp notes then change it one note up one down and basically recreate it or put effects .
here i love to cheat

 

Point Blank. If you use ALL loops, you are cheating in a sense. Did you write it? NO. Move on and stop making excuses for laziness and a lack of creativity.

 

Last edited: Jan 9, 2016

Loops can occasionally work, sure. But, a rule of thumb is that if you use more than one loop during a given section of a song, it immediately becomes too cohesive of a piece on it's own to be original. For example, using a bass loop...If you create everything around it from your own fingers, I think it's okay. It's like you are riffing on a bassline. If you put a bass loop and a drum loop together, then BAM, it isn't your song...You just created the backbone of most tracks, and you had no hand in making it your own. Now, chopping up some loops to sound drastically different than the original part? THAT takes some time and effort and shows merit in someone's tenacity. Does it sound like the original song or songs from a loop pack you downloaded? Then you have failed.

 

Seems to me an ARP is like an integrated circuit. Easier to toss into the project than using resistors, capacitors , & transistors.

If you:
1- thought of it
2- found something which expresses that which you thought
then all you did was save some time.

I do something similar when I lay down a rhythm track with a guitar then play over it. You know, record a couple of bars & repeat it.

But if you didn't hear it in your head first then it isn't really you, is it?

But then, who am I to judge? Besides, how do we ever really know if our thoughts are as original as we think they are?

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

I guess he means using the arp function in a software synth or midiplugin which have premade arpeggios just load a preset and of you go a kid with no musical ear whatsoever can make it sound awesome if he/she just know how to load a preset in a DAW exactly like many people get away with making music using loops only in a DAW just copy paste and some cutting no instruments is used

 

If you ONLY use loops samples its cheating its like i would be able to make a painting like Mona Lisa on a computer without any pre knowledge of how to paint at all.
If can fiddle around in a computer software and make good loooking pics out of PRE MADE presets doesnt make me a painting artist give me a brush and i would be lost..

 

I don't think there are any rules that cant be broken when making music. Arps, loops, samples, instruments or whatever can be used but the more creative and original you are with the them the better. It is the creativity that is key........what tools you use to achieve your 'masterpiece' are secondary.

 

Dude, there's top producers who make top 10 Beatport tracks using whole Vengeance construction kits and presets: beats/bass/synths/fx drops from sample packs and somehow that's not considered cheating, as in 50k people at big festivals don't care.
Ever heard of ghost producing? Yeah, that means someone else is producing the track, you pay the guy, you put your name on the track and you release it. Yey! There are well-known ghost producers in the EDM world. Why are people doing this nowadays, when there's an abundance of information and education platforms, is beyond me.
And you feel like you're cheating? Relax, you're good

 

Only if your ARP 2600 plugin finds out.

 

If that's what you aspire to be, then sure...But what about those ghost producers? Ever wonder how shit actually gets made?

 

Arps aren't NEARLY as close to cheating as using a shitload of pre-made loops. They don't have the melodies layed down, just the "pulse". Also, "cheating" is a subjective word...It's more accurate to say " I can't come up with things myself". It just makes you a "paste master" not really an artist. If that's what you want to be, then that is your prerogative. I'll tell ya though, out of my friends who do this for fun or for a living, the ones that actually know how to do the things for themselves get much further with what they do and it catches the ear a hell of a lot better with a freshness deviating from what is usually expected.

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2016

Definitely not cheating. I made a few of the available 3rd party soundbanks for Spire. They include plenty of arps. I intended for people to use them.

 

Rolling your own is definitely more fun. And yes. In my experience, those who roll their own are able to go further--and in more areas.

 

You can only cheat if something has rules. Since there are NO RULES in music there is no such thing as cheating.

 

We have already established what "cheating" really is...