Re: musicianship for solo loopers? (was OT NINE INCH NAILS)

["Matt Davignon" <mattdavignon@gmail.com>]

At risk of sounding new agey, I always tried to immerse myself in
improvisation in such a way that it feels like the audience and myself
are kind of navigating our way through the sound together. Not sure if
it works. Usually when I sit down to play, I have no idea of what I'm
going to do beyond the first few seconds. I love the idea of working
in your own take of a cover song or two into a set, but personally I'm
not technically proficient enough for that.

People have told me that they like seeing me push buttons and hearing
the relationship between what I do and the sounds that come out. (I
play drum machine btw, which usually gets grouped under the umbrella
of "electronics".) Personally I like a lot of laptop computer music
enough that I don't get bored at those performances. Some laptop
people I know figure out ways to bring the computer stuff back into
the real world. For example, Marielle Jakobsons uses external speakers
to vibrate metal plates that are part of her setup.

The most frequent advice I offer to people is "don't play too long".
The question to ask is - how long can I play without staying in the
same spot for too long or retreading old ground? An audience who
wishes you played longer is much better than one who wishes you
finished sooner.

Matt Davignon
www.ribosomemusic.com