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Looper's Delight
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I looked up LIVE LOOPING in the Oxford English Dictionary and found this:
LIVE LOOPING: A musical movement begun in the late 20th and early 21st
century
that was comprised of many different musicians from disparate styles
who
used
repetitive digital and analogue technology to augment their musicians
musical vision.
Controversial at first, because many of the musicians who used the
technology
could not agree on what to call it, it came to existence due to a
series
of Salon
like Festivals that were produced all over the world in the early part
of the first decade of the 21st century. While never achieving
mass
popularity it , nevertheless,
made a strong impact on modern popular music and the music of films and
modern dance.
I'm being facetious of course, but my point is this. Matt Groening's
character, Homer Simpson kept saying the word 'DOH' and people kept using
it
(even though it was entirely fictitious) until sometime a year or so ago,
it
was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
I keep saying this: WHAT IS, IS. Live Looping exists as a movement
because we've put energy into it: Pure and simple. It is not easily
defined
because it is so all inclusive (within the caveat that it's adherents use
modern analogue and digital looping techniques as the prime and ONLY
unifying metaphor).
You know, I've never been a part of a community that celebrated more
diversity, musically than that of say, the Y2K2 LIVE LOOPFEST in Santa Cruz
last year.
People played Tubas, Cellos, Guitars, Percussion, Saxaphones, prerecorded
Compact Discs,
Acapella Vocals. They performed music that included avante garde, ambient,
folk music, serial repetitive music, jazz, world music. They played solo,
in duets, trios and even an octet. They used repetitive techniques that
relied on dedicated digital live loopers (Echoplexes, Jammans, Line 6
DL-4s,
Boomerangs, Headrushes,old school, short loop Digital Delays,Eventide
Harmonizers, Boss Loopstations and forgive me if I've forgotten anyone
else's specific gear). One group of guitarists from the Robert Fripp
school
played interlocking repetitive rhythms acoustically in real time (perish
the
thought)..............lol.
The overall feeling of those two days was one of strong community. Not
everyone who attended felt it (obviously from Kim's posts) but then again
not everyone who attended
a Be-In in the late 60's in San Francisco felt a part of the hippy movement
either, but there was a palpable sense that something was happening and it
was fun and inspiring for the bulk of people who both attended and who paid
to get in ($1,700 of income was generated at that event which was
generously
given by the performers to the struggling Cayuga Vault which was not too
shabby for a fledgling movement).
Perhaps the best analogy (and perish the thought that there is no
precendent
for this self professed movement) I can think of would be the Impressionist
movement in the late 19th century. There were many painters associated
with that movement who hated that they were included in it. There was also
a tremendous stylistic diversity if you look at all of the
painters associated with the movement. It may not be a precise term for
describing what got created, but the term was invented; the galleries used
the term as a way of publicizing
and selling the artwork. No matter what anyone thought about the movement
or whether they felt included or excluded, defined by it or confined by
it................it existed and exists to this day.
Despite what Kim says about the potential exclusivity of LIVE LOOPING, I
say, that anytime
that I produce a festival, inclusivity will be one of the strongest
definers. Andre LaFosse and Matthias Grob will both be welcome and
encouraged to perform despite how differently they use almost the exact
same
type of gear.
Some of you may be pissed off that we're doing what we're doing and that's
okay. I won't exclude you from performing at any event that I try to
produce. I promise. Come. Please. God forbid, you might have fun and feel
accepted by your peers. I don't take umbrage if you don't want to
participate at all.
It's all really o.k. WHAT IS, IS.
I want to have fun. I want to have a community. I want to loop. I
want to promote the
fuck out of it all so that I and other loopers can actually make a living
doing it, someday.
I need a handle to market the whole shebang. I chose LIVE LOOPING. WHAT
IS,
IS.
I feel like I have the right to do what I am doing because I think that it
is an inclusive and positive mission. I don't feel judgemental of loopers
who don't want to participate or be confined by the term. I don't feel
superior to anything. What we are trying to accomplish is entirely benign.
It's all okay.
I hope you can come perform or attend the Y2K3 LIVE LOOP FESTIVAL in Santa
Cruz in late September or early October. I'll let you know the dates when
I
complete my European tour
in the beginning of August.
yours sincerely, Rick Walker