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Songwriter’s block is usually associated with challenges around writing lyrics, but it also often comes in the forms of not being able to finish a melody, feeling that a rhythm’s too repetitive, or getting stuck on a chord progression that’s too predictable.
While some common solutions are writing songs on a new instrument or changing your location, if these aren’t possible or don’t do the trick, new creative tools and techniques today can spark inspiration in other unexpected ways. One approach I’ve found particularly helpful is to change your approach to making music by thinking in terms of loops instead of timelines—instead of building songs linearly from intro to outro, focus on a single section and explore it in cycles.
How loops unlock creativity
When composing and producing music, many of us default to working horizontally, e.g. along a timeline view in a DAW. If this creates blocks, then it might be time to try out a different approach.
Making music via loops creates a gamification-like effect for the brain, where we start thinking more in terms of cycles instead of timelines or grids. With each repetition, a new layer gets added: first the drums, then bass, then piano / guitar, then vocals, etc. In this way, looping isn’t only a way of producing songs, but it’s also a way of composing.
For example, you can loop a specific groove or chord progression to write a melody and lyrics over (a process known as “toplining”). Or, you could use the loop as a base for improvisation and soloing on an instrument.
Broadly speaking, looping also enforces scarcity, which can help promote creativity. With so many sounds and plugins available today, abundance can lead to paralysis—but limiting our options by focusing on just a few loops gives our brains a problem to solve, which can spark new ideas.
New ways to make music with loops
If you’re not sure where to start, tools like Create make the most out of Splice’s expansive sample library by matching loops across various styles and instruments to create new ideas, arrangements, and starting points.
First, you can either select a genre, use a specific loop from the Splice Sounds library, or upload your own audio. From there, Splice’s AI will find complementary loops from its catalog, forming a Stack of four total loops. Think drums, bass, chords, and percussion, for example. You can regenerate the Stack, swap instruments, change the key or tempo, or mix and match until you find a combination you like—you can even add up to eight layers.
You also have the options to solo, mute, and control the volume of each layer. All of this can be done on your browser without needing a DAW. That said, if you wish to move to one, you can just download the loops and go from there.
These sorts of loops can be used in an incredibly wide array of ways. Some people make entire songs out of them, while others use them to introduce a specific detail or flair to their production, or manipulate them until they’re no longer recognizable.
And if you want to take things a step further, you can also create your own loops from scratch to build additional ideas off of—learn more about this process below:
Lean into happy accidents
One of my favorite aspects of producing music is the “happy accidents” that arise when unexpected combinations lead to sections that I couldn’t have imagined otherwise—and working with loops is great for this.
Whether you’re using Create, digging through a sample library, or making your own loops from scratch, they’re a wonderful tool for you to explore new sounds, experiment with new ideas, push your songwriting in new directions, and most importantly, to have fun!
Find inspiration with Create:
December 3, 2025
