Loops – Hosanna by Paul Baloche

Posted on October 8th, 2008 in Music by Fred McKinnon

Hey Everybody,

I spent the entire day (well, except for a couple of hours around lunch time for worship and prayer) in my studio today creating my “first official loop” for use in corporate worship.

The loop is to “Hosanna” by Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown.  I’ve loved this song since I first heard it a couple of years ago but have yet to incorporate it into personal worship.  I haven’t even owned it until I bought the CD yesterday.

I’d like to introduce this to our congregation on Sunday but thought the added loops and synth would give it a bigger sound.  So, here’s my first stab at making loops.

A couple of program notes:

  1. I couldn’t lock into the tempo on the album (A Greater Song) for anything – it was somewhere between 112-114 bpm.  I wanted it a little bit faster so created my loop at 118 bpm.
  2. There is a 4-bar countoff, then a 4-bar intro where the acoustic guitar should come in.
  3. I cut the electric guitar solo in the middle of the song in half.  Instead of a full pass through the Chorus, I only did a half chorus (8 bars) plus the sustained 9th bar.  Don’t shoot me electric players – I’d love to have the full solo, but I’m trying to balance the solo time so that my congregation stays with us.

There are two three versions.  Click is in the Right Side, but the Voice version adds vocal instructions in the South Georgia Redneck accent that only I could bring.  Download links are now available – if you download, all I ask is that you leave a comment below, letting me know.

Hosanna – 118 bpm with click and voice instructions:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(download with click and voice instructions)

Hosanna – 118 bpm with click

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

(download with click only)

Hosanna – 118 bpm with no click or voice instructions

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(download – no click or voice)

abletonNow Available – Ableton Live Set

Download (267 MB – .zip format)

Updates since first published:
1.  added third version with no click or voice instructions
2.  re-bounced click and click with voice – I realized that by stopping the song right after the last note (so avoid hearing extra clicks) I’d chopped off the delayed synth which is on a 188 bpm delay, matching the tempo, which should sustain for about 3 counts.

Bar/Measure Map:
m. 5:  4 bar intro (bring in acoustic, drummer’s HH)
m. 9:  Verse 1 (Praise is rising …)
m. 33:  Chorus a
m. 41:  Chorus b
m. 50:  Verse 2 (Hear the sound of …)
m. 74:  Chorus a
m. 82:  Chorus b
m. 91: Instrumental Solo (only 8 bars, plus 1)
m. 100:  Pre-Chorus (when we see You …) – instruments out
m. 108:  Pre-Chorus (when we see You …)
m. 117:  Chorus a
m. 125:  Chorus b
m. 133:  Repeat Chorus a
m. 141:  Repeat Chorus b
m. 150:  4-bar Instrumental Vamp
m. 154 – Hosanna (4x) to end

Ok all you loopsters … suggestions, comments, feedback?

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  • http://blendingworship.wordpress.com mandythompson

    FUN!

    I’d get a better feel without the BEEP beep beep beep in it, though.

    I’m sure y’all will rock out on this. Seriously. I’m jealous!

    mandythompsons last blog post..Responsive Reading Requests

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Thanks, Mandy -
    Maybe I should also post a version w/ no click at all, huh?

  • http://snowjunkie.wordpress.com Alastair

    What did you use to create the loop?

    Alastairs last blog post..NHC Set List – 4/5 Oct 2008

  • http://manofdepravity.com Tyler

    I wonder if the voice commands will throw any of the vocalists or musicians off. We used some loops this past weekend. The hardest part of to make sure that each musician (not just the drummer) sticks with the tempo. They have to have it up loud in their ears for sure.

    Tylers last blog post..Do You Dress Up For Church?

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com fred

    alastair, I used ProTools. The main loop is the Stylus RMX plugin.

    tyler – only the drummer will get the instructions and maybe acoustic. Everyone else will just follow along . . . hopefully!

  • http://thejonmorris.com Jon Morris

    the loop sounded pretty balanced cranked in my office…
    what key is it in A or G?
    can you post it with just the voice click in, no directions? bc if you do we’ll use it here in the Fort. Our church loves this song.

  • http://www.ourrisingsound.com Kyle

    Great job Fred. I’m glad you’re joining us loopsters. I like the mood of the keys a lot and the percussion loop was cool as well. I like to introduce something different on a repeated chorus or instrumental so maybe you have some room there, but that’s just a style choice so, no wrong or right to that. Your vocal instructions are nice I’ve gone back and forth on whether to implement that. Have chosen not to so far, may change though because I liked hearing your sweet voice ;-)

    Will you be using Ableton to run it live? You triggering or drummer?

    Kyles last blog post..10 Commandments of Blogging: How many do you break?

  • http://www.thetoneguru.com Jay Sellers

    Sounds great, Fred, assuming the BEEP is only panned into the IEMs. I’m excited about playing along with it.

    Jay Sellerss last blog post..Elevate Set for September 30, 2008

  • http://jimdrake.blogspot.com Jim Drake

    great job….good to hear old fred again

    Jim Drakes last blog post..Glory Be—I’m In Glorieta!

  • http://mattw23.wordpress.com Matt Walton

    I think it sounds great and I love that song as well!

    Matt Waltons last blog post..We Need Each Other

  • http://mandoron.wordpress.com Ronnie (MandoRon)

    Very helpful. Thanks Fred.

  • http://www.travispaulding.com Travis Paulding

    @Tyler – You don’t have to have all the musicians stay with the click. Most won’t hear it. The idea is that the drummer & leader stay with the click and everyone else stays with the drummer.

    Travis Pauldings last blog post..Get In The Game Intro Video

  • http://odnalor.org rhoy pamparo

    wouldn’t a click track like this limit you in changing something on the fly during worship? i’m just asking as i’ve never used a click track like this. it sounds very professional though ;)

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    @jonmorris – it’s in G. “A” would hit high E’s throughout on the Chorus, a stretch for many in the congregation. I’m not sure what you were asking for – you said “just a voice click with no instructions”? I have a click-only track, and a track with click and voice instructions? I’ve also just posted an update (third version, see above) with no click OR voice instructions, but a measure map.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Kyle,
    Thanks for stopping by – I’d hoped you would, as I know you’ve done some loops. I am a firm believer in adding a layer everytime you repeat something. The reason I didn’t in this loop is because it’s a basic loop – I will have a full band on stage, including drums, myself on keyboards (piano sound or rhodes), bass, two guitars, etc. So, I felt that by adding ANYTHING else in the loop, it would get too busy – especially with the extra guitar riffs Jay will throw in.

    If I continue to develop it as a full “backing track” for Ableton Live (which I feel certain I will), I’ll definitely add those extra things as we progress into the arrangement!

    Thanks,
    Fred

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    @jaysellers – yeah, the loop with no click or instructions is going out of the left channel and will be heard in the house. the RIGHT channel will have click and vocal instructions (unless Rick decides he doesn’t want vocal instructions) and will go to my ears, Ricks’, Kims, and maybe yours and bass if you want it – though, I don’t know that you’d require the click or voice instructions at all – you could just hear the regular loop and follow Rick and myself!

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    @rhoy – definitely, that’s why the click and/or vocal instructions will only go to a select few people. The rest of the singers, band, etc., will simply follow along.

    I’ll do a follow-up blog today on implementation.

    Fred

  • http://blendingworship.wordpress.com mandythompson

    MUCH better without that annoying click. :)

    I like it! I think a few run-throughs and the team will be set – you’ve got serious pros up there anyway!

    mandythompsons last blog post..Responsive Reading Requests

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Thanks, Mandy – if you were in the band, I’d make sure you didn’t get the annoying click in your IEM!

    I do have some pros! Only Gary called last night, and he’s in the hospital, so pray for him. Mason can’t play bass either. Chris can’t fill in on bass – he’s got Rush Hour. So, I’m hurting for a bassist. Kimbo and Rick are gonna pull one of their guys from their bands to come fill in, I think – so we’ll be OK. But it just made rehearsal that more interesting … I’m attempting:
    1 – new bassist
    2 – new singer
    3 – two new songs
    4 – one of which has a click track/loop.
    5 – on top of that, I don’t feel so well, and went to bed w/ fever last night. (100, which to men is on the verge of death, as you know … Joy just laughed at me when I said my temp was 99.9, as if to say … “that’s all”?

    urrrgggh. It’s gonna be a late night!
    For the Kingdom,
    Fred McKinnon
    http://www.fredmckinnon.com
    http://www.theworshipcommunity.com

  • http://www.graceeveryday.blogspot.com beth

    Fred – sounds good…I’m just beginning to experiment with creating loops and haven’t yet implemented. I’m wondering if maybe sometime next week I could talk to you a bit more specifically about what I’m trying to do…

    Sounds really, really good. We love this song….

    beths last blog post..Wednesdays Are Long Days

  • http://thejonmorris.com Jon Morris

    i was talking about just a voice count in, so that everyone know’s where the beginning is. our guys prefer not to have instructions through the song. just a reference on where the song starts….if that makes since. and yeah we do it in the key of G as well.

  • http://jasonmayfield.com/blog Jason Mayfield

    I like it.

    What I do differently…? I use a different click – wood block/cowbell-ish. Also my “helper track” just counts into sections… no measure counts. “Verse 2 3 4″ “Bridge 2 3 4″

    Shoot me an email if you”d like one of my tracks…

    I think its great… much better than my first one… maybe better than my last one! :-) lol

    Jason Mayfields last blog post..ClickTracks

  • http://billychia.com Billy Chia

    Fred,
    I LOVE it man! Seriously, very cool. There’s just a certain vibe that comes with having an electronic drum loop that I’m such a fan of.

    I also like your logic behind leaving the loop simple to leave room for the on-stage musicians.

    LOVE the southern voice cues.

    Billy Chias last blog post..Keeping it Cool and Collected

  • Darren

    Hi Fred,

    You did a great job with the loop. Question…are you willing to make this available for others, or do you just want to post it to tease those who don’t know how to make the loops? Seriously though…I think the loops sound really good, and I’d love to be able to incorporate some of them into our worship service. Do you know of sites that actually make loops available?

    Thanks!

  • http://www.ourrisingsound.com Kyle

    Darren, I make my loops available in mp3, aif and rns (Reason) formats. You can check them out here.

    Kyles last blog post..Sunday morning vocal warmups without an iPod

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Darren,
    They are right there for ya – just download away.

  • Darren

    How do I download them??

  • SM

    Yeah, same here. I can only hear them – can’t download.

  • Kevin

    Yeah, at least in my browser(s) I can play them (very cool) but no download option.

  • http://www.myspace.com/rionshippy Rion

    Yeah I would love to download it as well.

  • http://www.jeremyverhines.com Jeremy Verhines

    Hey Fred
    I am unable to download your hosanna (paul baloche) link as it is set to flash when right clicking on the file. Can you email it to me? I noticed you answered one mate and told him it is available and to download away.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Hey Everybody,
    The download links are finally active, and the Ableton Live file is available. If you download, please just leave a comment and let me know how it works for ya!

  • http://www.jeremyverhines.com Jeremy Verhines

    awesome man. thanks so much for the hosanna loop!

  • Pingback: fmckinnon

  • OSISI

    thanks for the loops… the arrangment was inspirational

  • http://billhorn.wordpress.com Bill Horn

    For everyone trying to download: just right-click and select “Download Linked File As” or “Save File As” or something of that nature, depending on your browser. Then you can title it how you want and save it where you want on your computer. Hope that helps.

  • http://www.brewsterchurch.com Mckelvie Wilder

    Good stuff!!!

    I’ve been looking for this. And as a country boy that moved to New York, I appreciate the twang. Ha!

    Thanks for the resource. We’ll use it this week. Have a great one!

    mck

  • http://www.brewsterchurch.com Mckelvie Wilder

    Hey tried to download the Live file and it keeps saying source file is not available or something. Help? :)

    mck

  • http://www.ccstpete.com Bob

    PraiseCharts.com is producing all of their click tracks with the click on the left side. Is there an industry standard?

    • Travis

      I think standard would be click left, tracks right. That is how we typically do it. If you are going to investigate deep into the industry though you will find its more complicated than that. I’ve seen some tracks that are 9 channels with one mono click and 4 stereo sends. It is all really up to how you will need to use it.

  • Melissa Bethel

    I’ve never used loops, but after listening & downloading the ones you have posted here, I’m getting interested! I’d love tips on how to use them. What do you use to run them…a computer/laptop? And I’m guessing you would need in-ears for best use.

    Reminds me of how I used to use the iWorship DVDs back in the day…I’d listen to the count off on headphones then start the count off on my drums on the keyboard. Then we’d have to always use the keyboard fake drums to keep us in sync with the video (we didn’t use any sound off the of the DVDs).

    Thanks!

  • Brndn0515

    Loop sounds awesome man!  Thanks so much for making this available!!

  • Pipemore5

    Good job! keep the good work brother! I am going to use this on Friday .. you just saved me lots of hours already :)

    • http://www.fredmckinnon.com fmckinnon

      Awesome!

      Sent from my iPad

  • Glenn

    Trying for a tighter band and new sound…thanks for the freebie to test with our band.

    • http://www.fredmckinnon.com fmckinnon

      Glenn
      My pleasure – let me know how it goes, ok?

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