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Looper's Delight
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Dear Infinite Repeaters,
Yes Kim! I agree, gear is not
always fab. As a matter
of fact their are only two kinds of gear: the kind you aready have, and
the kind
you can't afford. Decisions are made for fiscal not musical reasons by
the
manfacturer and musician alike. In the beginning ,a 32 second Jamman
with a
2nd footswitch could be got for about 500$, while the Echoplex DP (52
sec+ per
Malcomb at Oberheim) was 949$ . If you didn't have 949$ or had already
purchased a Jamman it was quite a stretch to rationalize the means to
obtain
20 more seconds and yet unrealized (by you) aspects of function. Every
box
that qualifies as a "looper" has a unique collection of electronic
parameters
that constitute it's construction, function, and interface reality. The
difference
between twisting a knob on a stompbox to modulate your captured "second'
of sound and deciding where to insert a phrase in the midst of your 198
sec.
orchestral wash, can be as radically different as the living
circumstances of the
box owners themseves. This "duality of the loop reality" coupled with
the fun
of looping as an international, but somehow secret, society make this
list as
viable as it is. The learned comments and future spyings of the industry
folks
who contribute to this list are important to honestly appreciate where
the state
of the art is in reationship to our "loop" desires. Every loop, from
fractions of a
second long on up, is unique, some even beautiful. Many are pieces of
music
that could not be easily ,if at all, replicated through an ensemble
performance
of like instruments, even given a compositional reference. The LD
Webpage
profiles suggest a 40 year range of ages in loopers and just as many
styles of
music being loopified. People with sizeable setups and studios, or folks
with
a box or two, trying to verify sightings from loopland and share stories
of a
musical reinvention. Sure sometimes it's alot of technical blahblah
especially
if you don't own the specific device in mention, but without the boxes
we're at
the point of playing music that may be constructed to resemble looping
but
will never equal it. Even multi-tracking, while strongly related, offers
a truly
different process and result than looping( I believe looping is good
preparation
for muti-tracking, and vica-versa). Popular music of all kinds is
utiizing loop
based sound production techniques on an increasing level, with arguably
good
and bad results musically , but as was the case with the synthesizer,
slowly
but surely introducing a sound texture to the point of acceptance by the
pop
audience, which learns to love every sampled "sound circle" with the
same
reverance once reserved for a Strat through a Marshall stack or any of
the
countless combinations of instrument and audio processing/recording
tech-
niques that have become this or that artists signature sound. There
coudn't
possibly be a more self-aware group of players musically in the world
than
loopers. Will a market driven interest for more advanced and affordable
loop
devices develop as with synths once?... will current manufactrers be
able to
improve their product line regardless of future sales prospects?....will
the
upgrades around the corner, fufill our exectations?....will loopers
unite to
organize regional performances,recordings or a global gathering?....will
industry be interested enough to join such a gig?...the answer to these
and
other issues of loopness are likely to be found in only one place. As
far as a
new thread goes...here goes. I understand that David Singleton has taken
some of R. Fripp's loops and transcribed them for choir. I know little
else of
his method, nor have I heard the result, but I'm curious if anyone else
is
evolving like projects, privately or otherwise. Me myself...I'm messing
with
acoustic piano loops and learning to Vortex a go-go in the midst of
summer
vacation with the wife and kids. Anyway........
Bryan Helm
Still...Techno-Primitive
Tantrum Boy