Re: Performance/Jamplex/Indigestion

[Jon Durant <74074.1316@CompuServe.COM>]

>I'm wondering how you all feel about the sheer visual/performance aspect
>of looping and tweaking in real time.  Looping of various forms is
>well-established as a studio form, but live on-the-fly looping as part of
>a performance is a much rarer scenario.  I've run into situations with
>both looping and guitar synth where the first few seconds of a piece are
>almost immediately greeted by laughter from one or two members of the
>audience -- not so much as a result of the actual music (at least, I'm
>hoping not) but rather at the sight of a solo performer with a guitar that
>"plays itself" (a looping comment I heard) or that sounds like an
>orchestra string section.

Andre raises a very interesting issue here. On the one hand, as 
loopologists, we
have the ability to create extraordinary textures and backgrounds, and 
make most
intriguing solo performances. But the nature of much of what we do (at 
least
those of us who border on the ambient fringe) doesn't translate well when 
put
into a "live" context. The reason? The difference between listening to a 
record
by yourself and with other people in the room. With other people around, 
it's
very difficult to remove the exterior surroundings (the chair you're 
shifting
in, the person next to you talking to his friend, the ugly drapes hanging 
from
the wall, the smoke surrounding the bar area). When these external 
phenomenon
intrude on your personal space, it's very difficult to lose yourself 
entirely to
the music being presented. As a result, it's hard for an audience to get 
into
what's going on. But one-on-one, it's very easy to connect (assuming the
listener has the mindset for the music in the first place). For these 
reasons, I
found it very difficult to enjoy the solo Torn show (it was still  fun, 
but I'd
rather listen to his records any day...) and have no interest in seeing 
Fripp
live in a solo setting. It also expains why I've avoided doing any solo
performances. I just don't think it would translate well. 

Part B: re: discussion of the virtues and lack thereof of JamMan and 
Echoplex
(not to mention Boomerang and any other device with which one might loop. 
To
those who are frustrated by the amound of discussion on this topic 
(especially
surrounding the Echoplex) I'd like to comment: This is the only forum that 
I've
encountered where an interested party can get the information and 
unvarnished
opinions of those who are using the devices. After all,if you call Lexicon 
or
Oberheim what do you expect to get for a response? THEY WANT YOUR MONEY! (I
know, I worked for Lex). The fact is, these are music making tools that 
cost
real money--a lot more than many on the list can shell out without serious
justification. So they need to make an informed decision about what to buy.
Let's not curb this discussion, let's encourage it. If we want Lex and 
Oberheim
to continue to develop new looping tools or expand existing ones, it's 
going to
take a much larger sales base than the 40 or 50 people on this list to 
make it a
viable market. So let's expand the market by helping those who'd like to 
join.
OK?

Part C: Indigestion. PLEEEAAASSE Kim, get this into a digest before I go 
out of
my mind. Thank you.



Jon Durant