Re: Ambient?

[The Man Himself <altruist@shoko.calarts.edu>]

On Mon, 4 Aug 1997, Pat Kirtley wrote:

> >>People have wondered why so many assumptions tend to be made about
> >>"loop-based" music being equated with "ambient" music, and why there 
>seem
> >>to be so many Big Three-wielding guitar players on this list. 
> 
> Let's simply quit making all those assumptions. And let's drop the "big
> three" terminology. The passage of time changes all of this pretty 
>quickly
> --any given embodiment of technology is ephemeral.

Fine.  If you've got a better way of referring to the Echoplex, JamMan,
and Boomerang without actually having to write out their names, I'd love
to hear it.  If you don't think that these *three* units occupy a distinct
and fairly unique place in the realm of looping with regards to the
details of their design and the features they offer, I'd be genuinely
interested in hearing why not.  If you honestly don't think that
guitarists who use one of the B** T***e units comprise a majority of those
who are *presently* subscribed to the list, I'd like to hear the evidence
you have to the contrary. 

I'll say it again: I'm not trying to make qualitative judgements about
"Those loop-based units of which three is the number, and the number is
three...  thou shalt not count five, nor two, save that it then be
followed by three..." being inherently better vehicles for artistic
expression.  I think some people have interpreted my posts as elitist
manifestos of manifest destiny rule by Oberheim, Boomerang, or Lexicon
customers, and as statements that I want this list to remain dominated by
guitar players who utlilize one of the... well, you know.  That's *not*
the case!  I'm not trying to "draw lines in the sand" beyond which no
outsiders may pass.  This whole epic started off with me offering some
ideas as to why there seemed to be a dominance of the aforementioned
demographic group.

I'm simply trying to talk concisely and effectively -- and 
*realistically* about how things seemto be represented on this list *at 
this moment in time*.  And I honestly don't think I'm doing that in an 
inaccurate way.  This is starting to get a bit silly...

--Andre