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Looper's Delight
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Andre makes a good point about about why Hip Hop artists dont' gravitate to this list. I think it is the name. Perhaps if we had a better name like "Loopers D" it would help... OK, now I'm getting silly. Funny, I don't associate Hip Hop with loops, but more with a style of beat and tonality, similar to the way "Rock and Roll" was defined. I for sure don't associate Andre's music with Hip Hop at all. Sorry dude, you do not have the clothes for it. Word. I do agree with Andre that we're not/ have not created or will ever create a new form of music with loopers, though new forms of music may be created by us. I mean that the loopers is the tool, just like the electric guitar pickup helped create rock and roll. How? Well, guitars are good because they're nice and portable and can lend themselfs to both lead and rhythm styles. They're also pretty affordable compared to a piano, but they're not going to be able to compeat with a horn or drums. Enter the electric guitar/amp. Now a new form (based on the old form, of course) of music can arise due to a tool that was previously unavailable. Now a blues guitarist can step into the lead melody role where before it was much more difficult. People start calling this new loud guitar based music Rock and Roll. But is it the transducer that defines the music? Not at all. It helps get you there, but it's what's being played. That transducer now finds it's way into many forms of music. It's a tool. The feeling and chord structure of the music is what defines it, not the tools used. In this way "Ambient" music was maybe facilitated by audio looping devices, but they do not define it. So Matthais, do you want to market "loop music" or your looping device? I do dissagree with Andre though as to whether or not we should think about what defines us. I think it helps talking about this. Andre's a good example of someone who stretches the term "looper..." but is he looping? Not all the time for sure. He's always recording though, and I think that's important. We're all recording something in some way... could this be it? Maybe we're not looping, but as Kim suggested a while ago, "Realtime editing." Is this closer? To what Andre does for sure, to what I do to a lesser degree, but.. well maybe not. Playing a phrase again *is* editing I suppose. Another marketing issue here is (now we're on my turf) is that "Realtime Edit Technique Music" sounds horrible. "Looping" sounds much better, though is less an accurate term. I suggested "De Ja Music" earlier, but I was joking. Sucks. I come across this all the time. We just designed a logo for Genentech, and a compromise was made and a logo that was more attractive was chosen over a logo that better communicated the concept. I think Electrix's big problem was that they didn't target the DJ market enough, even though they made the Repeater very DJ friendly. I'm not a DJ, and that's not the point, but walk into a "Guitar Center" any day and you'll find a room almost as big as the guitar section devoted to DJ gear. Looping *isn't* dance music, but it sure does facilitate it. The artists will figure out what to do with the tools, it's just a matter of getting them into the light. Notice that everyone's a DJ these days. Use that trend. I think the EDP's drawback in this matter is that there's no desernable marketing at all for this device. Gibson needs to say, "HEY! This is a great tool for making dance music!" Korg and Roland are great at this. Do you have to make dance music with their gear? Not at all, but it puts them out there. Here's what needs to happen. A-hem, excuse me while I mount this very high horse. Gibson should get a few musicians from different popular generas and have them do demo/clinics at EVERY store that sells EDPs. Show people how the EDP is perfect for minipulating a turntable, synth, sax, guitar, whatever. Make it a tour or better yet, use locals. Do this a few times, and believe me, word of mouth will do the rest. Mark Sottilaro