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Looper's Delight
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Hi all, As an occasional user of pre-recorded material I thought I'd pipe in with an opinion. As far as using stuff that's pre-recorded in a "live" situation goes -- I can take it or leave it. As long as the outcome is creatively interesting for me -- as a performer or an audience member -- it's all in what the end result actually IS. Does it MOVE me in some way? The sort of pre-recorded stuff I use tends to be "canned" loops of material that I've created in the studio (or my living room, or garage, depending) on a Mac computer and downloaded to a simple Boss SP-303 sample player. I now have a vast collection of this sort of material and it's fun to create this stuff. As a guitar player with only very limited skills as a rhythmatist (and even less as a singer/vocalist of any sort in a performance context) I'll often reach over and trigger different loops by pressing buttons on the SP-303 -- in full view of the audience -- and turn on and off individual and multiple loops. Sometimes these are textural and atmospheric, sometimes spoken word stuff. Sometimes it's very conventionally rhythmic percussive stuff (drums and bass). I don't always push the same buttons and my timing (and therefore the synchonicity of these loops) is left up to whatever happens at the time. It is not sequenced or anything so there is still a "live" element to it. So, I do not feel this is an invalid musical performance activity. However, once upon a time I used to loop and improvise totally and exclusively live -- never the same thing twice. I was almost religious about it. That was also a very freeing time for me too. But, I discovered that by always "making it up as I went along" I began to feel I was missing out on some discipline too. Learning how to repeat myself (as in learning how to play the improvised tunes from my own CD) has made me a better musician I think. Learning how to toss in to the live looping mix an occasional "canned" loop has also sharpened my skills. Sometimes using a "canned" loop to start a piece and to fit my "live" loops to it has sharpened other skills. I usually don't get too much negative feedback from audiences. I've been lucky. I've also been largely inactive. I am very picky about what gigs I set myself up for. So, I don't gig constantly like a Top-40 cover band would. Perhaps that would be a useful experience for me. I don't know. It's just not an area I'm interested in exploring. Besides, I'm a soft-around-the-middle (slightly overweight) 51-year-old white guy. Who'd care? If I'm going to face general indifference I might as well face it boldly and creatively for doing something I like. I have had mild criticism from some corners of the loop community (at festivals) for using "canned" loops. But I figure that I myself used to hold the same opinions that the ones commenting hold -- and I changed. Perhaps they'll open up too one day. It's all good -- mostly. I worry more than anything else about some of those initial questions. Does what I am doing MOVE me -- or anyone else for that matter? That's how I pass judgment on myself and any of my "creative" activities. What else is there? I hope this missive wasn't too muddle-headed and sleepy on this Sunday morning. I mean well. Best regards, tEd ® kiLLiAn http://www.pfmentum.com/flux.html http://www.CDbaby.com/cd/tedkillian http://www.guitar9.com/fluxaeterna.html http://www.garageband.com/artist/ArsOcarina http://www.towerrecords.com/product.aspx?pfid=2845073 http://www.netmusic.com/web/album.aspx?a_id=CBNM_17314 http://www.indiejazz.com/ProductDetailsView.aspx?ProductID=193 Ted Killian's "Flux Aeterna" is also available at: Apple iTunes, BuyMusic, Rhapsody, MusicMatch, MusicNet, DiscLogic, Napster, AudioLunchbox, Lindows, QTRnote, Music4Cents, Etherstream, RuleRadio, EMEPE3, Sony Connect, CatchMusic, Puretracks, and Viztas.