It really is a very personal choice but to me loops are an absolute joke and IMO is 100% cheating.
As far as one shot samples I feel like it’s okay with drums only if you’ve sculpted/mangled/layered or other wise edited it into something completely different than the source material. As far as sampled synths and/or presets that’s also a huge no for me. I don’t feel like the work is genuine unless I’ve made everything myself. I wouldn’t go around dunking on people for using one shots and presets (though I might if they were using loops 
) but it’s just my take on it. Also it’s like dude we have all these amazing sound sculpting machines that are made to create it’s insane to me that someone with access to synthesizers and drum machines and very deep soft synths would even want to use premade sounds…why not just go buy a ROMpler at that point, why own a real synth i feel like if someone is using loops and presets and saying they made a track then they’d be better off just being a DJ.
But anyways yea I don’t know man that’s just my opinion I’m told I can be pretty judgmental but I see it as I’m passionate about actually creating music and when I hear an artists work when they’ve hand crafted everything it always sounds authentically better than when I hear someone using over used drums and/or loops and/or presets even if they’ve tweaked them a little.
I would add though that there are some exceptions to my rules: sampling as I’m taking a sample from a record or whatever and flipping it is 100% okay and using samples that are necessary to define the genre you’re working in (IE the Amen break) then that’s 100% okay too. Obviously some genres require specific sets of sound of a specific palette of sounds/samples in order to remain within the definition of that genre or to give a nod to the genres that inspire the track all those cases are okay to use straight up samples as well for obvious reasons. BUT other than those few exceptions it’s all hand crafted or gtfo to me
agree 100%
Here is a recent article.
The Orb’s first two albums used an insane amount of samples from Tape Beatles. and thank god they did
This is so awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting to come back to a topic from a while back. I saw the Fred Again story and it did supririse me slightly, mainly because he built his reputation on sampling. That said, I’m not sure one song that uses some Splice loops completely takes away from all the other cool sampling stuff he’s done - which is pretty much everything else.
There’s are lots of options out there, to be honest though, if you read too much into the ideals of others you’d never make anything for fear of not having the artistic integrity mentioned in OP.
I’m always happy to use drum and synths one shots to play - since that’s not a whole load different to using a preset. I do make use of percussion loops and extra little layering elements to make a groove more interesting. As much as I’d love to programme my own MIDI for these things, I’m a hobbyist and there’s only so many hours in the day. I like writing melodies and leads so I don’t typically use pre-done melody loops since that’s an important part of the song.
For me the key point is how substansive is my contribution? If I’ve essentially composed the track in general, then layering a couple perc loops here and there is important seasoning, but isn’t substansive to the track. Imo this are fair territory for using samples and loops. (Otherwise that would be like saying a chef adding salt to a dish is cheating.) If I was a pro, I’d probably want to do literally everything myself, but I’m not so holding myself to that standard is a bit ridiculous, especially when this is supposed to be a hobby/fun. I lose no satisfaction from using a loop to finish a song - because I still wrote the song.
Splice and Loopcloud are obviously good sources of one-shots and any loops you want to use. Given the complaints about those platforms, I’m really surprised more artists don’t use Tracklib. It’s cheaper than Splice and comparable pricing with Loopcloud. The difference is you’re using real music rather than pre-made loops, you have to dig for a sample that suits your track (eg: no quick search for deep house/techno etc) and It covers off any legal worries by having sample clearing baked in. It seems about as close to digging for samples in a modern context. Seems like the classic thing where you have a new version of an old idea. I suspect quite a lot of musicians do use this but don’t declare it since the big issue with Splice etc is how known/accessible the sources are to other musicians.
I’m subscribed and i’ve really been enjoying this channel talking about production and he makes some interesting points about sample packs (around the 5 or 6 minute mark), but his entire videos are really interesting and I recommend watching the whole thing. He used to produce with Rick Beato.
Thanks for the video. Personally I don’t think using sample packs/presets is an issue or questions an artists integrity. However, as stated in the video above, unless the producer is very creative, using pre-made loops and sounds likely won’t result in interesting music.
Samples are like any other instrument… a grand piano can sound uninteresting until someone who knows what theyare doing gets on the keys… same with samples… Im not saying I know what im doing, but I know what can be had with samples…
Fred Again lost credibility with the splice sample… just because of his whole savant-esque brian eno connection… if he was just a regular old producer, than its what you do…
in terms of samples…
(Without reading all of the responses above…) I would say that if the idea of using sample pack loops bothers you at all, then the answer is not to use them, create your own loops/samples. You’ll be much more satisfied.
If you have no problem using them, and you find them useful or inspiring, ignore what others might tell you and go for it.
Ahhh… so become the enemy.
It’s nowhere near as bad as producers who just hold down a key and record the Nexus seq/arp presets without any tweaking and call it their own. I personally have nothing against sample packs. They’ve been around and used by great producers forever. I actually get giddy when listening to old school packs because I hear so many samples that were used on some legendary tracks. Difference is, they added their own mojo instead of just slapping a bunch of loops/recorded presets together without any personal touches.