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Looper's Delight
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am 15.10.2002 8:16 Uhr schrieb Goddess unter thefates@earthlink.net:
> I think the audience is a very important part of a performance. <smile>
> Personally, I address the audience all the time when playing, in speech,
> in mannerism, in physical stance, in visual aspects of the performance
> itself, and the music itself as well. The audience matters in all of it.
> -just like I, and the music matter in all of it. <smile> The audience
>is
> cool, and if you treat them that way, they and you, contribute to
> eachother. It all goes together to make a wonderful performance. -just
>my
> thoughts...
>
> Smiles,
>
> CQ
>
> At 08:56 PM 10/14/02 +0100, you wrote:
>> Max ("max valentino" ekstasis1@hotmail.com) wrote:
>>
>>
>>> It interests me how others here are using their loopers. especially
> those who
>> might be working within an ensemble. If you are working within the
>> structures of ³traditional² song forms, how does that work?
>>
>> Iıve been using loopers in three settings recently, ranging from
>> ambient/avant/improv to French tradtional music. The ambient band
>> (www.big-hair.co.uk) features fretless bass, theremin and trombone and
>is
>> essentially structured improvisation using loops now and again with
>various
>> boxes and long long delays. By contrast, I play fretless bass in a five
>> piece band (www.pauljamesmusic.com) (drums, keyboards/accordion,
>samples,
>> sax/bagpipes) which plays real songs. The role of the looper is to
>provide
>> digital voodoo to complement bagpipes and accordion playing. I also use
>> atempo loops and very long delays with a pitch shifter/Ebow to play
>> melodies/harmonies which sound like nothing else you would usually
>encounter
>> in folk music. Works well. We get gigs.
>>
>>
>>
>>> The other interesting aspect of this thread is of the nature of
> performance.
>>> Especially with solo loopers, there is a tendency towards
>³shoe-gazing².
>>> We might have so much going on with our feet and hands that any
>performance
>>> (read: entertainment) aspect is simply impractical. I did not make it
>to
>>> the recent Womenıs LoopFest, but from what I hear, there were several
>>> performers who added a visual spectacle to some very impressive looping
>> techniques.
>>
>>> This is important as what we do as musicians is directly tied to our
> ability
>>> and need to communicate on some level with people who are not
>musicians.
>>> People who do not play are always fascinated by our alchemical
>abilities to
>>> conjure up sounds, which relate to them on various intellectual and
> visceral
>>> levels. Yet, attention spans do not last that long. The
>>> visual/entertainment aspect of our work is a great aid in our ability
>to
>> communicate.
>>
>> Good point. I play the knobs on the DL4 and frankly it is desperately
>> non-visual (keeps me happy, though). By contrast, Big Hair involves
>three
>> visual instruments a bass guitar, the sliding of a trombone and the
>arm
>> waving involved in theremin playing. Also, my musical partner has long
>been
>> a theatre performer too. This means that we are able to shape
>performance
>> and harness his stage presence as well as his trombone/theremin skills.
>>
>> If youıre asking people to pay to see you, then I think you have a duty
>to
>> give them something back it may be that the music you do is so
>fantastic
>> that the visual side is not relevant. On the other hand, there are
>positive
>> benefits for performer and audience if you spend time thinking about
>these
>> things. For example, Big Hair performed at an experimental music fest
>where
>> the audience had been faced with serious electronic improvisers for two
>days
>> solid, most of whom could have been playing in their bedroom for all the
>> notice they took of the two hundred people watching. We came on and
>spoke
>> to, and looked at the audience they responded very positively. In
>fact,
>> the audience reaction made us play better. A positive feedback loop (no
>pun
>> intended).
>>
>> One side effect of modifying the sound of a bass with all this gear is
>that
>> the audience doesnıt realise what is making the sound it could be a
>> keyboard. Generally, they donıt care and Iım sure this is right. To me,
>this
>> underlines the point that it is the music which is most important, not
>the
>> technology. The old punk rocker in me starts to get very suspicious
>when the
>> gear itself becomes the reason to play.
>>
>> v
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> ---
>
> "The only things I really think are important, are love, and eachother.
> -Then, anything is possible..."
>
> http://home.earthlink.net/~thefates
>
> Please visit The Guitar Cafe.
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the-guitar-cafe
>
>
After five years of playing the same 60, simple folktunes/songs with just
my good, old doublebass (and still finding new approach in a very detailed
way of looking),I now come the point to have the freedom to really work on
my performance. What i want to sayis this: The more complex the music your
playing and the techniques you are using, the longer it will take to become
a good musician and performer in the same time. For me the consequence will
be trying to simplify my setup, my music. I believe this way I´ll naturally
find an more audience-friendly way to perform my looping.
CW