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Looper's Delight
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>>Using that multi-dimensional gift of expression we call music to communicate to the soul mind and spirit. Some stuff like...late 70's vangelis for instance... though all non-lyrical pretty much, seems to communicate very powerfully. Does anyone else hear that when they listen to like "China" for instance? I mean we're talking about more than a guy playing 'chinesey sounding' sounds on his synthesizer :-). The're an order to it that expresses so many aspects of china's history and emergence into the world economy and so on. Brilliant piece of work really.
(As some may not know, Vangelis is kind of a looping pioneer in a way and highly recommend studying what he did with the tools he had at the time...ie...all of them that were available at the time.. :-) )<<
I've been a big fan of mr papathannassiou since first hearing aphrodite's child back in 1974. their classic last album was already four or five years old by then, & he'd moved on to solo projects- movie soundtracks & so forth, while his colleague (demis roussos) was becoming an easy-listening star. vangelis preferred to work alone, only using other musicians for vocals (famously, jon anderson of yes, & the aforementioned mr roussos, whose voice can clearly be heard on the "blade runner" soundtrack.)
I have a large amount of vangelis' output from 1968 to about 1985.... it's probably no coincidence that this is the non-midi period, before it became easy for anyone with enough money to make symphonies on their own.
I guess what vangelis was doing went to the limits of what one person could achieve both technically & creatively- he manages to sound instantly recognisable, in the way that marks a great composer, no matter what instrument he is playing. he also manages to create a world into which the listener is immersed, effortlessly. I hsve an album here, for deutsche gramophon (a label normally associated with academic readings of the classics, by big-name conductors & famous soloists) on which mr P appears to be throwing items around in his studio, in the general vicinity of his drums & percussion. it's /still/ an absorbing work, & he still conveys something even with this unconventional approach.
I believe he "channels", in the way composers often do...
I don't know how much looping he did though- I have a live-set from the 70s, a bootleg of one of his rare live appearances. he's obviously trying to do everything on his own, & uses a simple step-sequencer (possibly an arp 16xx) which transposes occasionally in response to a bass synth line, while he bangs around on a steinway grand with the other hand. not for him the pre-loaded revoxes of klaus schulze et al.
there are a few variations on the "blade runner" ST in circulation- one I have here is a double CD & seems to be sketches, out-takes & bits of sound-design he may or may not have recorded/intended for the movie. it is like taking a vacation in the LA of 2017, as seen in the movie, but without the plot getting in the way. fabulous.
duncan.