Journey to Sirotastan RE: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF THE LOOP

["Timothy Mungenast" <mungenast@earthlink.net>]

"I was coming off a stint writing the "weird column" for Guitar Player"

I THOUGHT THAT NAME LOOKED FAMILIAR! I loved your column.
~Tim Mungenast


> [Original Message]
> From: Warren Sirota <wsirota@wsdesigns.com>
> To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
> Date: 1/23/2006 8:44:37 AM
> Subject: RE: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF THE LOOP
>
> I can identify with what Ted is saying (but I draw some different
> conclusions - see end), although I had substantial performance skills
before
> encountering electronics. When I moved from the SF Bay Area to Oregon in
> '92, I was coming off a stint writing the "weird column" for Guitar 
>Player
> and graduating from Mills - I had a reputation in the Bay Area as being
"the
> best guitarist for really weird stuff", but my bottom-line skills as a
> guitarist and (somewhat lesser skills) as a composer were widely
overlooked
> (even though I'd performed widely throughout the Bay Area in the Electric
> Guitar Quartet, orchestrating and performing string quartets for custom
> electric guitars - pretty non-trivial chops territory). When I moved, I
> vowed to not develop that reputation in my new locale.
>
> In Oregon, I played in a Reggae/rock band for a couple of years
(channeling
> my electronic explorative tendencies into sound design, both in my guitar
> synth sounds and in my multi-effect presets). I made private tapes that
> captured the weird things I was doing when testing products for 
>Musician's
> Friend. I woodshedded (and started the World Wide Woodshed, and created
> practicing tools). I spent 2 or 3 years accompanying a solo (alto)
> clarinettist at jazz gigs, taking unaccompanied solos. I followed that
with
> a few years leading jazz/swing duos and trios so that I could develop my
> "leader" skills more.
>
> Then I moved to NYC. I started sitting in on some of the jazz jams in
> Brooklyn, and I have to admit I was out of my league (not so much with 
>the
> other guitarists there, of which there were surprisingly few, but when
> compared to the unbelievable horn and keyborad players). It didn't last
> long. At the same time, I hooked up with my old percussionist buddy (and
> kindergarten classmate), Steve Rubin, who I'd played with in freeform
improv
> groups in and around 1970, and who had an interest in restarting 
>something
> like that. I brushed off the EDP to fill out the duo for several reasons,
> but the biggest one is that looping struck a balance between two
"problems"
> of freeform improv (at least for me): (1) we needed more than 2
instruments
> to fill out the soundscape enough for my taste (2) adding another tonal
> instrument would be inhibiting for me - it pretty much limits the 
>possible
> tonalities to modal things, pre-arranged chord changes or utter chaos,
> because my ear is just not good enough to pick up a rapidly-shifting 
>chord
> structure implied by, say, a bass or piano player running free.
>
> So, I know for myself that I am a middling-level jazz guitarist, but an
> excellent guitarist of unknown genre. I am a better creator of
vocabularies
> and idioms than a user of others' vocabularies. Based on my listening of
the
> works of other members of this forum, I would say that this might be a
> deeper shared characteristic than the fact that we all used looping
devices
> at some times. Or perhaps we're all developing a new musical vocabulary
that
> incorporates the characteristics and capabilities of electronic and
> electronically-enhanced instruments, and we just don't have a good name
for
> it yet. (Maybe this "place" is where all(?) the free-improvers came who
> weren't that interested in the Coltrane-ish way of doing it...)
>
> YET here we are, congregated together in this very interesting and, I
would
> say, vital community, under the banner of "Looper's Delight". For 
>whatever
> reason, this list has more the feel of a community than anything I've 
>seen
> since the early days of the WELL (probably has a lot to do with the F2F
that
> we get at live looping festivals like Y2Kn). There are some things that 
>we
> have in common here, although I'm sure that categorizing them would be
> difficult. I kind of think that the smart thing to do, from a marketing
> standpoint, would be to all form a record label together and start
promoting
> the "Live Looping" concept in media all over the world, making it into 
>the
> next "pseduo-big" thing (if you're not making music suitable for
> 20-something clubs, "big" thing is probably overly ambitious - but there
are
> exceptions - Norah Jones did become a certifiably "big" thing without
that).
>
> Even though probably a lot of us here would feel that "Loop Music" is a
> reductionist way of looking at what we do, reductionism can be a very 
>good
> thing from a commercial standpoint. I say, embrace and extend the usage 
>of
> the term to add to public recognition.
>
> Best wishes,
> Warren Sirota
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Per Boysen [mailto:per@boysen.se] 
> > Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 3:32 AM
> > To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> > Subject: Re: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE STATE OF THE LOOP
> > 
> > 
> > On 23 jan 2006, at 00.43, ArsOcarina@aol.com wrote:
> > 
> > > Hi there, 8< 8< 8< 8< 8<.......
> > 
> > 
> > I agree with the opinions on looping posted by Ted. As I have  
> > repeatedly said in threads touching the looping community etc I  
> > regard looping as both and instrument and a performance technique,  
> > but not being a musical style. I really never thought anyone was  
> > serious with this "being a looper" talk and still regard it as a  
> > funny community jargon on this list. It's cool and in fact 
> > many of us  
> > share similar musical tastes and artistic expression in what we do.  
> > What really matters though, is what story the music tells the 
> > listener.
> > 
> > My own life looping has been an instrument that has been with me  
> > since around 1983 to extend my traditional instruments, tenor 
> > sax and  
> > stratocaster electric guitar. One year ago I began to learn a new  
> > instrument, the traverse alto flute.  I choose that traditional  
> > instrument because I had a vision of it being a suitable 
> > extension of  
> > my instrument Looping.
> > 
> > Greetings from Sweden
> > 
> > Per Boysen
> > www.looproom.com (international)
> > www.boysen.se (Swedish)
> > --->  iTunes Music Store (digital)
> > www.cdbaby.com/perboysen
> > 
> > 
> >