Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
(The following contains no value judgements, implicit or otherwise. Yeah, I know, that's not really possible, but anyway...)
Just some observations re the whole disciplined musicianship issue:
There's always been a bit of a pendulum swing on "chops"; I recently read Robert Green's book on "The Hurdy-Gurdy in Eighteenth Century France", and he makes some interesting points about how in the 17th century, musical accomplishment was viewed as something best left to the "hired help" and was not something that an aristocratic person should stoop to. (He mentions how playing the flute and oboe required "facial distortion" and how "the violin and musette involved an unsightly flapping of the upper arm".) Then, in the 18th century, it became fashionable for people of "culture" to become accomplished instrumentalists. Virtuosity became cool.
Fast forward to the 1970's to observe that whole cycle where Punk sprang up largely in protest of the excesses and pretensions of Progressive Rock, and to the 80's where in some circles one's musical worth was directly proportional to "shredding" ability, the backlash against which was in turn partly responsible for the "anyone can do this" ethic of Grunge and the less polished proponents of "alternative rock".
So when we talk about "practicing", how much of our response is influenced by that sort of cultural baggage? I think it's difficult to discuss the subject in a group without some sort of equivocation. Our definitions are bound to differ; some may see practicing as a way to develop manual agility and muscle memory so that it'll be simply easier to play the music they hear in their heads. To some, the notion may connotate a guy with a pointy headstock hunched over the Guitar Grimoire ripping scales.
As loopers, "practice" can involve more, too, as the definitions and boundaries of our instruments are extended. I did a session a couple of nights ago where I was called upon to create the sort of looped polyrhythmic textures that I used to do a lot. When I DID it a lot, it was easy and natural; but since I haven't been doing much of that kind of playing lately, I was rusty and was struggling with signal flow. The difficulty had nothing to do with the *instrument* per se, but rather with the mechanics of routing my signal to the right device at the right time with the fluidity necessary to pull off that sort of looping. The artist with whom I was playing was happy with the recorded results, but all the same I was alarmed that I wasn't able to play the sort of parts I was attempting the way I heard them in my head. It was obvious to me that I need to practice more, but that as a looping musician, my practice requirements are different from those of a non-looper.
-t-