Chord progressions, Multi Lateral Improvisation (looping) (Miles Davis, Bitches Brew)

["Rick Walker" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Per wrote:
"With the modern looping
gear this has not to be, since loops can be instantly changed to
evolve and also "pitched" on-the-fly into any chord progression. In
essence the "background" chord structure can be instantly improvised
as well as  melody lines."

I've thought about this a lot in my own music, too, Per.
The reason why modality is a good analogy to repitching melodic loops on 
the
fly is that the intervallic relationships between the notes of the loop
still remain identical when we pitch a loop differently  (of course, this 
can
change to with the judicious use of pitch shifting on just parts of the
loop as one copies it to a new loop..........but, still it's very 
difficult 
to pull off.

This produces a kind of 'virtual' modality if you don't mind the term.
In other words,  you are left with a new harmony (or implied harmonic 
relationship
to the original loop).    Every note in the loop pitches to the same 
intervallic modulation
which ,  of course, will cause new dissonances to occur as a matter of 
course.

This can produce really interesting results,  resulting in suspended 
harmonies or chordal alterations.
But there is still a kind of stasis about it...............albeit a more 
complex stasis, because
the relationship of the new loop to the original loop is parallel, 
harmonically, even if it forces a new
harmony by the juxtaposition.   Does this make sense?

I like it personally,  and , to be truthful,  it's forcing me to learn a 
lot 
more about complex
modern theory than I knew before I first started looping bass lines and 
percussion in my early days.


Per wrote:
"In my praxis I prefer to call this Multi
Lateral Improvisation. And I predict a revival for chord analysis
based improvisation!"

Yes!!!!   Exactly.

You know,  this same thing is happening with a new instrument that I"m in 
love with:

  I signed an endorsment with a company that makes a very simple 
instrument 
called a strumstick.
It is like a skinny walking dulcimer with only three strings and an Ionian 
intevallic setup that allows for
either a flat 7 or a natural 7.

This instrument was designed to allow anyone to play simple diatonic major 
scale songs around a campfire without
knowing anything about scales, really.    You just strum and play melodies 
on the upper string where there are no 'wrong'  notes.

I'm loving this limitation because if I force the instrument into a I,  V, 
ii    tuning
then my upper string is constrained to a Lydian scale  with really nice  
9th 
chords (that are ambiguous because they have no 3rd in them)

I've been trying out different capo settings on each of them with I, V, I 
tunings (all the greek modes)      I, V, ii          I,  V,  bvii
etc. and it forces all these beautiful (and frequently suspended or 
dissonant)  triadic chord progressions.

It's just soo fun and cool sounding.       I have three diatonic ones in 
different tunings and I just got a large chromatic one so I can play
anything on it  (especially with a pinky slide on the upper string).

What's wonderful about it, is that I can hear things I really love for 
composition.................and then I analyze them after the fact, so
my harmonic knowledge is expanding rapidly.....................and yet, 
they 
are as minimal as minimal can be.................my idea of
a multi-instrumentlists'  good time...............lol