Rihanna’s “Umbrella” Uses Garageband Loop

Old news, but new to me. I just found this out today.
Rihanna’s song, “Umbrella” – yeah, you know it’s a hit with many a fella, ella, ella, eh – uses a *free*, Apple-made loop named “Vintage Funk Kit 03”, included in Apple’s Garageband software. Even Wikipedia says so.
So I guess nobody has to feel bad about using the stock loops that come with these types of software programs any more.

One Reason Why I Love the Guitar

Yesterday I spent about 45 minutes working on a song I never finished from 2007. Well, back then, I thought the song was done, but when I played through it again yesterday, I knew it was incomplete. What struck me the most was this new outro section that I wrote: simple acoustic guitar, slowly building with drums, steady, rhythmic, then in comes a chorus, singing in unison, music fades out, voices stay strong, then slowly fade. (Photo at left by: Ashley Hodges.)

But again, what got me was the guitar part. The guitar is the most honest instrument in the world. When played skillfully – and usually on an acoustic, no sonic reverberation can say as much as the guitar can in so few notes. Just one chord – or one note – played just the right way, can convey precise emotions which are not nearly as easy to express with words.

I’ll try to record the part and post it here sometime for you all to hear just exactly what I’m talking about.