Soundtrack Pro comes with a large collection of loops that you can use in your audio productions. You can also use other Apple Loops, such as those in Apple Jam Packs or from third-party vendors. If you want to use loops in your Soundtrack Pro projects, read on to learn where the loop content is installed, and how to access and use them in Soundtrack Pro.
Locating loops
When you install Soundtrack Pro, all the loop content gets installed here:
/Library/Audio/Apple Loops/Apple Loops for Soundtrack Pro
If you've installed GarageBand or Jam Pack loops click here for information about using them in Soundtrack. You can always move loops to another drive if you need additional space. After the move, you would need to re-index the loops in Soundtrack Pro using the Setup button in the Search tab.
If you want to use these loops in your Soundtrack Pro projects, you can access them from the Media and Effects Manager window in several ways.
By Browser
If you want to locate loops using a familiar Finder-like window, click the Browser tab in the Media and Effects Manager window.
You can use the Browser window to navigate to any loop that's accessible to your system on local or network volumes. Just double-click the icons that represent volumes or folders to navigate to your desired location. If you want to see the precise path to your currently displayed location, click the Path pop-up menu at the top of the window.
By Search
Click the Search tab and you'll be able to locate loops by tags, bits of categorical attributes that are saved as part of any Apple Loop. For example, you can search by instrument type, by tempo, by key, and other tags.
The Search window offers two basic views. Click the columns view button (the left button right below the Browser tab) to search loops by category, in the form of a list:
Click the button view button (the right button directly below the Browser tab) to search loops using a matrix of category buttons:
In either view, you can search for loops based on the categories you select in the window. You can further refine the search criteria by choosing attributes from the pop-up menus below the columns list or button matrix. You can choose to only see loops that use a particular time signature (the Time Signature pop-up menu), display only looping or non-looping files (the File Type pop-up menu), show files that are major, minor, good for both (the Scale Type pop-up menu), and more.
For example, say you're looking for looping beat files that are in 4/4 time and don't have a tone associated with them. Just select Beats as the instrument, choose 4/4 as the time signature, choose Looping as the file type, and choose Neither in the Scale Type pop-up menu (indicates that loops should be neither major nor minor), as shown here:
By Favorites
If you use certain loops frequently, you can define them as "favorites" by Control-clicking (or right-clicking, if you have a two-button mouse) a loop and choosing Add to Favorites from the shortcut menu that appears. To access your favorite loops, just click the Favorites tab to display them.
By Bin
If you want to see all the loops that you're currently using in your active project, click the Bin tab. The Bin window displays all loops that appear in the timeline. You can also add files to the Bin if you think you might want to use them in the current project.
Using loops
To preview a loop or audio file, select it in any of the windows mentioned above (Browser, Search, Favorites, or Bin), then click the speaker button at the bottom-left part of the window (in the Media & Effects Manager you just need to click the file). To use the file in a multitrack project, simply drag it into the desired track in the timeline. Soundtrack Pro also offers other editing options in a shortcut menu; just Control-click (or right-click) a loop in a window to display the shortcut menu.
For more information on using the Media and Effects Manager window, see the Soundtrack Pro User's Guide.