@Ikonik Yes. And using computers is definitely cheating as well. And making music with instruments your didn't make yourself from scratch is definitely cheating, too.
@SP.@johnebaker im simply asking because ive seen various comments, vids, etc. that using loops isnt as "real" as sampling, own instrumentals, etc. even though i only use loops at the moment as a new user of Magix Music Maker. what are your thoughts?
. . . . using loops isnt as "real" as sampling, own instrumentals, etc . . . .
In a nutshell, there is no hard and fast rule on how or what is 'real' music and how it shpuld should be created and from what.
The end result is to make music that is enjoyable to yourself and others who like the genre, style etc.
The 'TL;DR' answer is a huge debate, in short this requires definition of what are 'real instruments' - eg Samples are not the original instrument, they are digital recordings just like loops which brings us to the original 'loop' instrument - the original Mellotron which used analog (tape) loops of audio recordings