Looper's Delight Archive Top (Search)
Date Index
Thread Index
Author Index
Looper's Delight Home
Mailing List Info

[Date Prev][Date Next]   [Thread Prev][Thread Next]   [Date Index][Thread Index][Author Index]

Re: why do we loop?or why play live?



This is a very good topic,it is also the question why
play live.The obvious answer would probably be
recognition of our work,etc. but i agree on the stress
factor Mark.Last night i played a rock gig and
although it went quite well i felt sort of empty after
the gig.I felt like this because i couldnīt get a good
sound, the acoustic of the place was horrible and i
was constantly turning down and turning up,and telling
the bass player to turn it up because i couldnīt hear
him.The monitor sounds also sucked and i couldīt hear
the harmonies coming out of the other guys and asking
them why they werent singing although they said they
were which brought a bit of tension.I am also audience
sensitive because eventhough i think "fuck them we do
our thing and if they donīt like it they should go
home",they pay to see us and i have a guilty feeling
of "delivering".Not to mention having to be there at 5
oīclock to do a sound check and going home at 2 in the
morning and listening to drunks who want to keep
talking to you(which i actually donīt mind as long as
they donīt spit on your face).This are the factors
that i was thinking of as i was driving home asking
myself,why do i do this?
last year there was another situation where i asked
myself the same question,i did a loop show at an art
gallery and as i was bulding up some guitar loops as i
heard a guy commenting next to me "oh yeah,nice,sure
but thats no art playing through prerecorded stuff"
this agreviated me because i had already taken the
time to explain the audience briefly what i was doing
and that same guy was there!
Iīve come to terms that this is all like a circus and
that most audiences are a product of advertisement and
what they have been told to listen to.Then again there
is always somebody outhere listening who sort of knows
what you are trying to do and the work involved and
this is probably the only reason why i keep doing
this...
Luis


> 
> > Ah Morpheus, you ask an interesting question.  I
> > counter your question with this: Why do we
> perform? 
> > Are we looping only for some validation from
> others?
> > 
> > If we are not percieved my others do we cease to
> > exist?
> > 
> > This topic is near and dear to my heart, as I
> often
> > struggle with it.  I've found a few things in my
> > day.
> > 
> > I'm not a professional.  That means the number of
> > times I play out per any given increment of time
> is
> > pretty low.  Because I never quite get used to it
> > there's always a level of stress (non performance
> > related) that I hate.  From the break down to the
> > set
> > up to the "ooops, there's not enough
> > light/monitor/something else/ on the stage..." if
> > there is a stage.  Add that to performance related
> > stress (Am I going to fuck up?  Is my gear going
> to
> > fuck up?) and you have a night of general malease
> at
> > the very best.  Sure, a few moments of zen when
> > you're
> > groov'n and the audience is digg'n are nice, but
> man
> > there's a price to get that.
> > 
> > In my studio I AM GOD.  I control the audio,
> video,
> > light, temp.  I can stop what I'm doing if I
> choose
> > to
> > and reconfigure my system at my leisure.  I can
> > invite
> > a friend to jam with, or not.  My system remains
> the
> > way it was when I last used it.  Because of this I
> > can
> > get really intimate with it and get a lot out of
> it.
> > 
> > To counter some of the live issues I've tried to
> > play
> > with a stripped down easy to set up and configure
> > system.  Problem is it's not what I'm used to and
> > that
> > leads to issues.  Bringing everything makes it
> nice
> > and familar... but makes set up an hour long
> affair
> > with many points where mistakes can happen. 
> Nothing
> > like a gear failure to make a performance a
> > nightmare.
> > 
> > Then there's this: Perhaps the audience is the
> > destroyer of art.  When I'm home with only myself
> as
> > audience I can really be free to create something
> > that
> > I'm digging at the time.  If it's a horrific noise
> > fest I don't have to worry about emptying the club
> > because people came to drink and pick up girls.  I
> > don't have to answer questions like, "how much of
> > that
> > is prerecorded?" (answer: none)
> > 
> > So I'll say  (for now) that I feel the most real
> > loops
> > are the loops that exist alone in the woods.  Even
> > turning on your recorder will change how you play
> > something... knowing an audience is in the future.
> 
> > I
> > do find this a bit more agreeable to my way of
> > thinking and playing.  That and I do not need
> > affirmation of my art to benifit from it.  I loop
> > for
> > me.
> > 
> > Mark
> > 
> > --- Dennis Montgomery <morpheus@speakeasy.net>
> > wrote:
> > 
> > > it...in other words, why do we loop?  I guess
> this
> > > question applies to 
> > > any type of artistic or creative activity that
> > > doesn't have public 
> > > performance as it's primary purpose.  It's like
> if
> > a
> > > loop is running in 
> > > the forest and no one is there to hear it does
> it
> > > really make any sound? 
> > > 
> > > Dennis
> > > 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> > protection around 
> > http://mail.yahoo.com 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 


www.luis-angulo.com


                
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 
http://mail.yahoo.com