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RE: Critique of Critique of Feedback at Max



Afternoon, Stig!

** yo (as they say in hollywood)

Agree completely.  The EDP recordings of mine I feel proudest of, both
musically and technically, don't use feedback at all (except for one
fade-out at the end of a 43-minute improv).  

** damn ;-)


>I gotcha.  For me, it's analagous to this: if someone's already making
good music with major and minor chords/scales, then why should they
learn about seventh chords or modes?  Or, if someone's digging 4/4, then
why should they learn odd meter?  If someone likes swing, why should
they check out be-bop? 

In all cases (including the looping angle), the issue I'm concerned with
is for a musician to have a good sense of the current (and potential)
scope of the tools they're using.  And to have a sense of what they can
potentially explore, if they're so inclined, and how these different
possibilities could potentially steer their music making in different 
directions.<


** well maybe . . .  i mean, some people just have voices and don't need 
any of this stuff. i guess i'm thinking of someone like john lee hooker. i 
don't know if he knew a major chord from a minor, or 3/4 from 4/4 . . . 
and i don't think it matters. in general, though, i agree with the 
sentiment . . . with the caveat that sometimes the impulse to "educate" 
strikes me as a manifest destiny sort of thing. (and, being a "true 
believer," i do *more* than my share of evangelical work, if you get my 
drift.) 

>If someone really likes harmony, and is curious about moving beyond
major and minor triads, then I'd recommend that they play around with
some seventh chords, get a sense of how those types of chords are
sometimes employed in a functional sense, and then let them decide
whether or not this new technique is something they want to implement
into their own music.

Likewise, if somebody really likes rhythm, but is looking for different
kinds of grooves and feels beyond 4/4, I'd suggest that they try playing
in 7 or 5, get comfortable with the way those meters feel, and see if
they're inspired to make those sorts of areas a regular part of their 
work.<

** that (BIG) "if" is what leads you on your own path. for me those things 
may matter, for others they may not . . . i think what rick was saying 
(and i really shouldn't put words in his mouth - - rick?) was that, using 
your analogy, "feedback" was being taught to us, but may it not have been 
necessary to do so. 


>Particularly for those folks who are interested in smooth, rounded
sounds, and the idea of gradually morphing a texture into something else
within the same basic loop, it's a very powerful tool. < 

** probably so. i can kinda do the morphing thing between two loopers . . 
. 

>For me, it's looping as a real-time performative approach - something
people can engage, sculpt, steer, shape, etc.  I'm not speaking of it as
an "art form" in the sense of a distinct style, but in the sense of a
particular form of performative musical technique - a la the "art form"
of playing the bass, or painting with watercolors, or what have you.<

** okay, "art form" seems less generic tha all that to me, but i get your 
drift here. the semantics of it threw me off. 

>It's sort of like how I'd recommend a guitarist to try a hollow-body
"jazz box," as well as a telecaster, as well as a seven-string, Floyd
Rose-equipped, two-humbucker Ibanex.  All three of them are designed
from different points of view.  An aspiring jazz player probably won't
need the Ibanez shred machine... but what if the "aspiring jazzer"
really wants to do those humbucker-driven whammy-bar dive-bombs, and
just hasn't been properly exposed to the right tools?<

** 7-string george van eps with a whammy bar . . . 

stig


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