Using a sound only once, rather than looping it, makes a track a sequence of one-off surprises

A production approach: instead of building a track from repeated loops, deploy many sounds and effects exactly once as ‘sonic singularities’ meant to ambush the listener. Reynolds contrasts earlier loop-based drum ‘n’ bass with neurofunk, where you ‘increasingly hear noises and effects that are used just once’. The trade-off is labour for surprise — non-repeating material must be individually crafted (Source Direct’s ‘Two Masks’ took two months), producing a through-composed, non-hypnotic listen that rewards close attention but resists the memorability of a strong loop.

Examples

Source Direct’s ‘Two Masks’ — ‘riddled with sonic singularities and one-off surprises, designed to ambush the listener,’ as opposed to a track constructed ‘entirely out of loops’.

Assessment

Contrast one-off (through-composed) sound placement with loop-based production: what does each buy the listener, and what does each cost the producer?