short delay, black tape

[Joe Miklojcik <jfm3@acm.org>]

I have just spent several sessions playing into an incredibly short delay 
(500
ms, 100% feedback).  I play synths, not guitars.  Obviously, a longer,
"playable" delay is on my wish list, but for the time being I'm having 
fun.  To
make up for the relatively short loop length, I find myself playing a 
longer
phrase over and over again by hand.

My favorite trick so far is to get a sound with a percussive click or spit
right at the beginning and play it in time with the loop over and over.  
The
click "smears" into something really interesting.  I read once that the 
human
ear perceptrons use the first 1/20th of a second of a sound to assess a new
sound; is it a predator?  Is the microwave dinner finished cooking?  Is my
girlfriend pounding on the doors?  I think that when this 1/20th of a 
second is
messed with, it has odd effects on people.

Also, the looping makes what the brain might initially detect as an 
important
sound more of a background sound as time goes on.  Play a pattern of 
clicks and
pops that really grab you into a loop.  Then, wait for the sheer quantity 
of
repetitions to allow your mind to let go of it.  Blur the loop into 
something
less aggressive -- perhaps with more bass tones.  Later, play the inital
pop/click pattern back into the loop again, you will evoke an "AHA!" 
response.

Any other things like these I should try?

Warning: the rest has little to do with looping:

> Also, vintage ART gear can be easily modified using my Mark UNuglyator
> Re-edifice kit (TM) OK, it's just black electrical tape, but it works
> wonders.

I apply such treatment to everything, regardless of it's inital beauty.
I suffer from this horrible disease where if I see words in front of me, I
can't play music.
Everything gets taped over except for a the small words that label the 
useful
controls.
Glad to see that black tape is a fetish others have as well.

(Joe Miklojcik)