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Dig if u will my research paper Chapter 8



Chapter 8
Digital Loopers
Digital looping has seen the emergence of many individual voices who have
each contributed something unique to the movement. Digital technology has
also allowed Live-Looping to make its way into many differing musical 
genres
from popular music and film music to contemporary classical music. Within
this chapter I intend to discuss the work of Pauline Oliveros and David
Torn. This is because more than anyone else these two artists have 
pioneered
the use of digital Live-Looping in new and important ways.
Pauline Oliveros
In 1983 Pauline Oliveros acquired a pair of Lexicon PCM42s and began to use
them in her work. Oliveros became interested in the new possibilities for
control that the Lexicon offered her. It was possible to change the delay
time, mix, feedback and capture parameters all via a foot pedal something
previously not possible with tape-delay systems. Oliveros would go on to
push the limits of human control even further with her EIS (Expanded
Instrument System). EIS was the name Oliveros gave to the collection of
technology (multiple delay processors, microphones, mixer, and controllers)
she used to process her accordion (and additional performersı instruments)
with. Using the EIS Oliveros sought to increase the performative
possibilities for interaction within Live-Looping. In early configurations
Oliveros would be accompanied by an assistant who would control the signal
routing and parameters of the looping devices that could not be accessed by
foot pedals. This would progress later with Oliveros in collaboration with
others looking at the possibilities of multi-speaker diffusion. This work
resulted in two compact discs: The Roots of the Movement (1987) and Crone
Music (1988). The EIS system later went on to explore the possibilities of
computer control using the Max programming language.
 Oliverosıs work with the EIS, looking at intelligent computer systems and
new ideas for performance interaction, has shown definite foresight. With
the EIS she has pre-empted many of the ideas that are now commonplace in 
the
work of programmers using Max/Msp for Live-Looping. It is therefore 
entirely
logical that Oliveros herself now performs with specially programmed 
Max/Msp
based Live-Looping patches on a Macintosh powerbook.
David Torn
David Torn began experimenting with looping in the summer of 1975 with
synthesist Andrew Schlessinger. These early experiments were described by
Torn as ³Very ambient, very spacious² and were influenced by Tornıs 
fondness
of Terry Rileyıs work and Fripp and Enoıs No Pussyfooting Around . Once 
Torn
had taken these early steps in looping he saw the creative potential and
felt there was no turning back. Throughout the eighties Torn established
himself as a prominent artist with an original voice in the looping world
(through the jazz-fusion arena). In 1981 Torn acquired a Lexicon PCM42 that
would become the foundation of his looping set-up. Torn combined masterful
integration of looping and signal processing technology in performance with
incredible guitar technique to form his trademark sound. I believe it would
be wrong to think of Torn primarily as a guitarist who carries out
Live-Looping, Live-Looping is an integral part of Tornıs musical aesthetic
and allows him to transcend the boundaries of his instrument. Probably his
most significant record was the 1987 recording Clouds About Mercury. This
record represents one of the most fully realised visions of looping in a
band context. Torn has evoked different textures and sound-worlds via his
skilled guitar technique and highly processed guitar sound. The beautiful
introduction of the piece Suyafhu Skin shows how Torn has successfully
created a style of guitar playing that takes advantage of the possibilities
of looping, using it to heighten the listenerıs awareness of the new
textural sounds he is able to coax from his instrument. The album contains
almost no overdubs, instead it uses looping and harmonization to create
multi-layered instrument effects. Torn not only uses looping to create huge
washes of sound but is able to use it with rhythmic material within a more
conventional structural relationship on the track Network Of Sparks. On the
record Clouds About Mercury Torn clearly redefines the capabilities of
Live-looping within an ensemble environment.
Perhaps Tornıs greatest contribution to Live-Looping has been his ability
(through his highly developed use of the guitar as a sound source) to take
the use of Live-Looping into so many musical contexts. Tornıs
guitar/technology style of sonic mayhem has seen him become in demand from
many differing musical areas. His trademark textures have been used on
numerous feature film soundtracks including Traffic, A Knightıs Tale, Three
Kings and Heist. He has also appeared on the albums of many popular music
artists such as K.D.Lang and MeıShell Ndegeocello and on adverts and sample
CDs. Whether people realise it or not most western people will have heard
Tornıs looping work. Through this work Torn has brought the music of
Live-Looping to the ears of millions. In fact so popular has Tornıs sound
become that he has become one of the most sampled musicians of our time.
Tornıs incredible sonic versatility raises questions about where
Live-Looping may be headed. Tornıs Live-Looping approach has become so
advanced in terms of digital processing that in some sense it is now almost
impossible to distinguish its use from that of other studio activities. 
This
is a crucial point, that once the medium of Live-Looping ceases to have an
identity i.e. ceases to be recognisable as a process then in a sense the
uniqueness of it as a compositional aid ceases and it becomes a device that
can be used to emulate other forms of composition. This I believe has been
one of the developing trends of Live-Looping, the amalgamation and
advancement of the technology to allow the performer to access the sound
worlds of other forms of studio composition. With the advancement of 
digital
technology, making looping achievable in most musical contexts, so the
character and individuality of looping has been absorbed into a bigger
picture. Digital Loopers can now do structures like verse, chorus, verse,
chorus and repeat in a way that would be problematic with analogue
tape-delay equipment. The removal of limitations from Live-Looping devices
has seen a loss of the individuality of the sound of Live-Looping replacing
it with the flexibility to allow much greater integration into other 
musical
forms.