Day 10: Loop Song & Two Beats

Friday, August 14th, 2026

Objectives

I can build a short song in a new Soundtrap project using at least five different loops.
I can export a project as an MP3 and submit it on CTLS.
I can record a beat two ways — with a MIDI controller and with the on-screen/keyboard controls — and quantize both.

Warmup: Make a Loop Song

Start a new Soundtrap project and build a short song out of loops from the Sound library. This one is graded: export it as an MP3 and turn it in on CTLS.

You have 20 minutes total, and that includes exporting and uploading. Watch the clock — a song that never gets exported can’t be graded. Give yourself the last few minutes for the export.

Song Requirements

New project, named LastName_LoopSong
At least five different loops — five separate sounds, not five copies of the same one
More than one instrument family — drums plus at least one melodic or bass loop
8–16 measures long (roughly 30–60 seconds)
Loops line up on measure lines — nothing starting in the middle of a bar
Something changes — all five loops should not play from start to finish. Bring parts in and out.
Exported as an MP3 and submitted on CTLS

How to Build It

Start a new project. Name it LastName_LoopSong right away, so you can find it later.
Open the Sound library. Browse the loops the way we did on Monday. Preview before you commit — picking loops that fit together is most of the work.
Layer your loops. Put each loop on its own track, and line every loop up at the start of a measure. A loop that starts in the middle of a bar will sound off no matter how good it is.
Make something change. Don’t let all five loops run the whole time. Start with one or two, bring the others in, take something out near the end. That change is what makes it a song instead of a wall of sound.
Listen all the way through before you export. Check the length and turn down any loop that is drowning the others.

How to Export an MP3

Play your song one last time and listen to the whole thing.
Open the File menu in Soundtrap.
Choose Export, then choose MP3.
Save the file somewhere you can find it again.
Upload the MP3 file to the assignment on CTLS. Do not submit a share link — this assignment needs the file.

Checkpoint: Warmup

My song is in a new project named LastName_LoopSong.
I used at least five different loops, and not all of them are drums.
My song is 8–16 measures long and something changes in it.
I exported it as an MP3.
I uploaded the MP3 file to the assignment on CTLS.

Listen and Share

We’ll play several loop songs for the class. For each one, be ready to name one loop choice that worked and one thing you would change.

If you are still exporting, finish during this block — but the listening round is the deadline.

Work Session: Part 1 — Review Quantization

Quantization snaps every recorded note to the nearest point on a grid — it is rounding for musical timing. You play the beat by hand, and quantizing cleans up where your hits landed.

How to Quantize in Soundtrap

Select your recorded track, then click Piano Roll.
Select the notes you want to fix — click and drag, or click any note and press Cmd/Ctrl+A to select all of them.
Right-click and choose Quantize, then pick a subdivision.
Press spacebar and listen — it should sound tighter.

Choosing a Grid

Match the grid to what you actually played. Kick and snare on the beat need a 1/4 Note grid. A steady hi-hat plays eighth notes and needs a 1/8 Note grid — quantizing eighth notes to 1/4 collapses them onto the beat and erases half of them.

Work Session: Part 2 — Two Beats

You are recording two short drum beats today — one played on the MIDI controller, one played on the on-screen keyboard / assigned computer keys. Each beat is four measures, and both get quantized.

Partner Protocol

You and your table-mate share one MIDI controller, and each of you works in your own project on your own computer.

Round 1 — 6 minutes: One of you records on the MIDI controller, the other records with the assigned computer keys. Four measures. Quantize it before time is up.
Swap the controller at the 6-minute mark.
Round 2 — 6 minutes: Record a second beat using the other input method. Four measures, quantized.

Everyone finishes the period with two beats — one played on the controller, one played on the keys.

Six minutes is not long. Keep the pattern simple — kick and snare is plenty. The point is comparing the two ways of playing it in, not writing your best beat of the year.

Checkpoint: Work Session

I recorded one beat using the MIDI controller.
I recorded a second beat using the on-screen keys.
Each beat is four measures long.
I quantized both beats.

Closing: Cleanup

Save and name both projects.
Unplug the MIDI controller and return it to the cart. Coil the cable.
Headphones go back in the bin.

Closing Question

Think about this — you may be called on to share your answer out loud.

Which input method was easier to play in time — the controller or the keys? Did quantizing fix it either way?

Checkpoint: Closing

My loop song MP3 is submitted on CTLS.
Both of my beats are saved and named.
My controller, cable, and headphones are put away.

Standards

MSMTC8.CR.1 — Generate musical ideas for various purposes and contexts (building a short original song from loops).
MSMTC8.CR.2 — Select and develop musical ideas for defined purposes and contexts (selecting loops that work together, and choosing appropriate quantization grid values).