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Looper's Delight
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interesting dave can we hear something? leo At 18.28 06/08/99 -0700, you wrote: >>An informal poll: >> >>When doing your live looping gigs, i'm curious how much everyone is using >>canned sequenced materials? > >I've just started a new group, currently a trio with a drummer that >doubles >on turntables and a bassist who loops. I'm playing rhodes, modular synth, >sampler, etc. Our goal is to be a cross betweem Herbie Hancock's Sextant >band and DJ Spooky. In this group, I'm using a Roland MC303 drum >machine/sequencer, and an analog step sequencer in the modular. We've had >a >couple of gigs now, and I feel like we're figuring out a few things about >the machine/human-time connundrum. > >I use the MC303 as a master clock for all my stuff, because it has a tap >tempo to quickly sync it to the rhythm section or the turntables. I think >this is pretty important, to make the machine-driven stuff a little more >flexible. If I set the tempo with the MC303 at the start of a piece, the >band follows it and I generally don't have to adjust. If the drummer >starts >a piece, I'll sync to him and keep following him. This seems to really >help >the flow. > >Also, I don't have complete tracks sequenced, maybe just drum loops and a >few percussive synth tracks at a time. I try to make the sequenced parts >really obvious, and to leave holes for the 3 of us to play parts that fit >into the grooves. Also, I have things set up so when we move to different >sections, I have to trigger them manually, no sections are a fixed length. > >Another thing is that I don't sync everything up. The bassist uses a >boomerang for looping, I use a vortex and a jamman, but it's not >MIDI-synced. It keeps us more awake trying to do loops that work in real >time, and if it drifts, that's OK too. > >I use Vision as my main computer-based sequencer, and it offers a lot of >flexibility for live stuff as well, you can use keys from the computer >keyboard or MIDI notes to trigger new sections, things like that. I'd just >rather not take a computer to gigs. >> >>Reason i ask? Just saw Michael Brook/Djivan Gasparyan at the >>newly-remodeled Gothic Theater in Denver. I went to see the famed duduk >>player, not really to catch Brook, and while i REALLY enjoyed the duduk, >the >>presentation left something to be desired... I felt that there was alot >of >>rough edges, mostly due to trying to integrate technology into the gig, >and >>the fact that Brook is NOT the 'virtuoso guitarist' that the CD liner >notes >>to 'Black Rock' make him out to be... Most of the sequenced stuff was >>really just loops, but the lengths of the sections were definitely >>programmed and just when they finally started to hit a groove, they moved >>on... I don't know, in this case, they just relied TOO much on >technology >>in my opinion, and there wasn't enough PLAYING... (off my soapbox..) >Buy >>the record (which i like) and save the $$, unless you wish to see the >>legendary Gasparyan (you won't be disappointed in him). >> >Sounds like a fairly disappointing show, too bad because Gasparyan is an >amazing musician. > >________________________________________________________ >Dave Trenkel : improv@peak.org : www.peak.org/~improv/ > >"...there will come a day when you won't have to use >gasoline. You'd simply take a cassette and put it in >your car, let it run. You'd have to have the proper >type of music. Like you take two sticks, put 'em >together, make fire. You take some notes and rub 'em >together - dum, dum, dum, dum - fire, cosmic fire." > -Sun Ra >________________________________________________________ > > > >