Re: Describing looping to others

[KILLINFO@aol.com]

Since a lot of otherwise very nice people seem to sometimes think of 
technology as, somehow, "cheating" when applied to the arts in general 
(and 
music in particular) I use the following analogy when talking about 
looping. 

Think about juggling. A juggler throws an object into the air and it 
returns. 
He throws it again and it returns. He throws many objects into the space 
above him and they all return. This "circle of motion" keeps going as long 
as 
(and as well as) the skill of the juggler holds out. 

Then imagine that the juggler adds some newfangled "antigravity" 
technology 
to his routine that allows him to put one of these "circles of motion" in 
place up in the air above his head and then remove his hands and still 
have 
it hanging their circling as long as he wishes.

Further, imagine that he is able to hang ANY number of these moving 
"circles" 
of objects in midair--all sorts of objects, large, small, living or 
inanimate, whatever--and have the circles all chain in and out of one 
another 
and dance in the air above his head. What a show that would be!

Certainly, there might still be a few who would scoff and say that this 
marvel was not "real" juggling in the traditional sense. But one would be 
hard pressed, I think, to make that judgment stick for long. Because at 
it's 
base is still involved all of the original skills of juggling. The 
"antigravity" technology is just an "amplification" of these. And, with 
artistry and skill, technology just becomes another one of the things the 
artist juggles. 

That is what looping is "like."