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Looper's Delight
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max wrote: >One thing, and a very important thing, I learned from Rick "Loopool" >Walker >was not to underestimate your audience. whether under- or over-, it's till only an estimation..... >Believe it or not, most audiences >DO want to be challenged, whether they are cognizent of this or not. i'm not so sure about that. these days, it seems there's been a kinf of amplified resistance towards 'challenge/surprise', in the ongoing musical balancing act 'twixt that half of the equation & the other: that of 'fulfilling expectations'. >For us loopers, this is very important. Sure, as Steve Lawson pointed >out, they >may not really be aware of or understand the concept or technololgy of >looping, and perhaps you may have to lead them around by the ear for a >bit, i'd prefer to avoid that, generally, myself. >but almost always, the audience becomes rapt with the entire process. again, that's not my experience --- and i don't tend towards 'explaining' my process to an audience, except at the odd (and, i do mean odd) clinic & master-class. (i was turned off to that concept, in the '80's. after showing eberhard weber the lovely aspects of using a pcm42 as a looper and purchasing one for him, i went to one of his first solo-performances, where he educated the audience re: looping at the beginning of his performance; i found that, for me, some of the potential for 'magic' in the performance -ie, my ability to get 'lost'/transformed by the music- was obviated by the more pedantic and pedagogic aspects that the act-of-explication had wrought)..... but --- while for us the *process* of looping may be important, why would that process be important to a listening audience? --- unless, of course, that audience is comprised primarily of musicians..... which is another story, altogether. >This has been my experience in live situations, where, as Steve said, >they might >believe there are "canned" parts...or sequences etc. yes, whether there are 'canned' parts, or not. OTOH, see: madonna's 'drowned world' tour, or any NiN show: nobody seems to *know* nor *care* that it's 'canned'..... >To counter that, >I try >to throw a few glitches into my performance....to keep it from being in >any >way perfect (which for me is never really a serious threat :-0) and, alternatively: i've always thought that a more visually correspondent way of manipulating loops might help the audience-disconnect factor, a bit..... >hmmm..I was just listening to some live tracks from the solo bass looping >tour this summer, and maybe I took that concept to an extreme! >By "walking the audience" thru the whole looping process, you somehow >involve them in what is happening, and at that point...you have 'em! again..... and this is certainly just my personal preference: i'm always hoping for some kind of ineffable transformation to take place in the process of performance, both for me and for the audience..... at least, something more subtle than what might otherwise occur as a result of the addition of whatall might be construed as a 'lecture'..... >I tend to look at looping, and the tools thereof, as instruments >themselves truth! >(albeit instruments which require an external sound device). unless, of course, you're just patching the output back to the input..... >I try not >to recreate other works, or make myself sound exactly the same gig after >gig, >night after night. I suppose that now with the Repeater and it's memory> >functions, mainaining loops and sequences can be part of the looping >show...and this is fine, but I rather enjoy stretching the limitations >of >both the player and the gear. ..... which doesn't define a mutually exclusive situation, i think..... >Looping greatly benefits the improvisatory >nature of music, digya. >and as such, the "looping" part of your performance is >as just evolving, and involving, as your instrumental "chops". for a committed looper, they *are* part & parcel of your instrumental 'chops': just a different instrument! >I try to work >this into each of my looping gigs. digya! >I also am quite fond of adapting compostional approaches to the looping >environment. Rather than trying to, say, make an ABBA type structure with >multiple loops, I try to adapt or make a variation of my compositon to >include it in a looping system. Often times this means shifting the >harmony >over a static rhythm loop, or shifteing the melody over a static harmony.. here, too..... not to mention purposefully glitching the 'composition', *and* its expected form..... >or tapping out and starting over incorporating both ideas! >Of, course, using loops in a live setting is gonna be hazardous. thankfully! bring on the dangers..... >The foot-pedal ballet thing is sometimes mind-numbing in its own right, >but >add >to that the horror of "the bad loop"! What I try (really I do TRY) to >do is incorporate all these snafus, glitches, clams, and train-wrecks >into the >performance, just as you use what talents and chops you have to cover >those >same kind of faux pas "sans loops". again: digya. >Incidentally, when Steve spoke of >leaving (and encouraging) the audience to do what ever suits their fancy, >it >reminded me of a solo gig I did a few weeks ago where there were folks >listening intentively, others in various conversations, and others eating >(complete with clanging glasses and silverware), all coupled with the (now >mandatory) cappucino machine ahhh, i love that sound..... >blaring off every few moments (not to mention >the cafe was near the train tracks!!). So I improvised a piece which used >all of these elements in it. There were but a privilaged few in >attendence >who "got it", like, those who were actually listening continuously? >but I made sure to thank everyone who contributed their "part" >to the piece. Was the piece filled with blatant mistakes? Sure..timing >errors see dangelo's cd, voodoo..... track #2. >(mostly on the part of the audience or espresso machine :-o)), ha! >bad notes, etc., but using a DL4 allowed me to flip those around, or >change >speeds..... >well you get the picture. >by the way, I too am a professional musician....I actually make my living >doing this! In that way I am very blessed, as I get to make a living from >what I love to do most. >whew! a little more than just $.02..but what the heck! thanks for all that! best, dt / splattercell