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hi my name is jimmy george and i am a player and also a looper. my earliest looping device was a pds 2700 1 sec. pedal from digitech. it was and is still used in many of the loops that come also now from the boomerang and various patches of infinite repeat off my johnson 150 and my old 2101 x2 LE. i've used loops under a second for recording textures as well as on stage. it's easy to bring the loops over to the boomerang from any of the devices. looping to me is a very visual means. almost like a moving painting. there's beauty in repetition, especially random repetition like waves, or bringing in and out elements of time to perhaps a based motor loop. the nature of looping i find very meditative. not just in an ambient sense but also in the heavy loops. i am now more interested than ever in the live applications for looping. playing heavily for the last few years has allowed this medium to be exposed to many people who don't normally get an opportunity to hear it. i bring my devises through the house boards, which it times can be very challenging to make work, so that any instrument miked we choose to loop on can be easily accessed. i use this application as well in my solo shows. it gets it to the monitors easily also. my drummers used to wear headphones but have learned to get a proper mix from their monitors before we start instead. headphones can be bulky in the stage heat. looping in the beginning was more of an interesting necessity to enrich the solo shows. like song writing and playing motivates as therapy or to get laid, looping has evolved to be an intricate part of the show. sequencing has played a large part in commercial and experimental music for years. zz top, peter gabriel ect. i like to see looping evolve into it's own like it has for other 'subtle' means such as bass, jaco, acoustic guitar, hedges ect. i find these discussions very intriguing to read and have followed for some time. i have learned much from just keeping up with all the mail posted. if you'd like to hear some of my looping in and inspired by in song check my listening booth at http://www.jimmygeorgearts.com/Music/NewCD/newcd.html i would recommend tracks 'odysseys in black' and 'hard rain' to hear actual loops brought in and out and tracks 'in a scent' and 'utopia' to hear looping inspired songs. (songs that came from looping experiments.) looping to me is a medium just cracked open. it reminds me of other contemporary means to express rhythmically such as rap or any of the various lyrical and tribal sounds coming out today. my main influences such as phillip glass and brian eno remind me yearly where it can be taken. folks like belew and fripp are equally as exciting. id like to see the industry comply with our need for devices that can help us generate the next generation off musicians and music away from the statistic sales of 'sure bet commercial products' they like their safety in numbers and i don't blame them. we can be vocal though and express our wants and needs through forums like this and others to get what we want. 'gig' magazine does not advertise the cookie cutter products that most all music magazines pedal. you do not have to buy his add space for a product review either. the man who makes my guitars, jamie kinscherff http://www.kinscherff.com/ was denied reviews from 'acoustic guitar player' magazine because he would not buy an add in their publication. he was not even listed in their, 'official luthier directory' for texas luthiers. mike built his boomerang because no one else would. i am unfortunately not as technically savvy and am more at the mercy like you. check out the movie 'ground hogs day' the director and bill murry bring looping to the movies! thanks for your time and hope all is well. loop on! jimmy george http://www.jimmygeorgearts.com Kim Flint wrote: > At 11:00 AM -0800 11/22/99, K. Douglas Baldwin wrote: > >As always, Matthias, I enjoy your posts immensely. Some comments on this > >most recent thread: > > > >>>> Some of the last posts about t.c. and such leave the impression >that any > >>>> delay is a looper as long as it has enough delay time (and is >stereo?!). > >>>> But a delay unit just repeats all the time! > >> > >>>> ---> what turns a delay into a loop unit? > >> > >>As you say it nicely, Dr. Knox: > >>> ... making it an "instrument" rather than an "effect" > > > > > >I believe that "making it an instrument" is more internal than >external. > >For me, the question is "at what length does a delay become an >instrument?" > >and my answer would be, "around two seconds". > > For me, the loop length is nearly irrelevant to it being an instrument. > What matters is interactivity. An instrument to me includes an interface >of > some kind that lets my heart, brain, and soul interact and connect with >the > sound. The interface connects me intuitively, so I express what I want > without having to think about the mechanics too much. But interactivity >is > key. There have to be features to let me continue to work with the >sounds, > evolve them, change them, screw around with them, be continually involved > in it. To me a looper is a data instrument, it lets me manipulate audio > data in real time. Add to it, subtract from it, shift it, sequence it, > shuffle it, flip it, chop it, mutilate it, reconstruct it, evolve it. > > The kind of looper that just records something and then just sits there > spitting it back at you, offering no way to continue manipulating and > interacting with the loop, that's not much of an instrument. It's a >passive > device, just doing it's thing without you. Might as well play a cd and go > home. > > Similarly with a lot of delay things, its more of an effect. It just sits > there doing it's thing, and you don't get involved beyond what sounds you > dump into it, and the way you react to the sounds coming out with some > other instrument. That's just an effect, not an instrument. It might be a > really interesting effect, but still: no user interaction, no instrument. > > >>I created only textures for about a year. Then, when rhythm came into >the > >>loops, it was a great revelation! Texture is nice, but groove is a >natural > >>consequence! > > > >I wonder if this is an organic, predictable consequence of looping. I > >started adding rhythmic pulses early in my "serious" looping experiments > >just because it seemed the way to go. I had never heard anyone else >doing > >guitar-based rhythmic loop music prior to that. It just felt right. > > To me, looping was always about rhythm from the start. I love the way it > forces anything into a rhythm, and the hypnotic, dance-y feel that the > locked-in, tight rhythm loop gives. I've long sought rhythm in music > anyway, and loops were a perfect way to get more of it. > > Of course, I can't stand cloudy ambient music, maybe that has something >to > do with this too. :-) I even fast-forward over the irritating ambient > stuff that always seems to be put in the beginning of drum and bass > tracks.... > > But even with ambience, loops force a rhythm. I can see why it might help > you ambient guys find the beat. ;-) > > About time somebody started an interesting thread here. :-) > > kim > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Kim Flint | Looper's Delight > kflint@annihilist.com | http://www.annihilist.com/loop/loop.html > http://www.annihilist.com/ |