Re: playing during speeches / great movie

["Alan Imberg" <alan_i@sprynet.com>]

Yet more evidence of the power of sound and music. I have been curious to
hear the possibilities a marriage of ambient loop music and spoken word
would present. A couple of months ago, my kids and I were watching a 
cartoon
parody of a stereotypical "Beatnik" poetry reading with the accompaniment 
of
bongos. It made me wonder what a serious modern poetry reading would be 
like
with subtle loops in the background. It is definitely something I would 
love
to explore and experience, especially in light of Matthias' experience. Any
poets out there looking to jam?!

Thanks for sharing your OT experience Matthias.

----- Original Message -----
From: Matthias Grob <matthias@grob.org>
To: <Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 1999 9:11 AM
Subject: playing during speeches / great movie


> * OT introduction
> I cared for the sound of a 3 day conference about "integral sciences" -
> experienced people talking about everything between Homöopathy,
> Permaculture, female power and UFOs. No religions, no proofs. 
>Experiences,
> Faith - the old "new age" conspiracy, but a lot more mature and concrete.
> No one sold any truth, and mutual respect and tolerance was a strong 
>base.
> The aim is not so much the survival of mankind (much less of certain
groups
> or individuals), but the humble acceptance of necessary changes in the
> course of the bigger evolution.
>
> * The work
> I played most of the time, during the speeches! Its somewhat like
> improvising a sound track. For me, its rather easier to follow a 
>difficult
> speech while playing.
> The sound was mostly very low, and nobody seamed to care about what I
> played, but as soon as I stopped or got lost, the difference became
> obvious. Sometimes I was amazed how nicely the sound coincided with the
> speech or even prepared for a change in it. It once happened that I
> developped a theme while an ancient story was told and later in the
speech,
> when that story was mentioned again, I already was back at that same
theme!
> Loops helped a lot to simplify my work and the listeners reception, but I
> rarely had time to build a complex loop and often just used single notes
to
> keep flexible. Pretty different styles were appropriate, between
> nature-like noises, romantic harmonies, intergalactic conflicts, softly
> animating rhythms and silence (also because I am not used to play 8
> hours/day). Since I had my "magic box" set up in the corner of the stage,
I
> was free to leave and come back when I felt necessity.
> Two of the speakers asked me not to play, because they felt it would
> distract from their subject. Others wanted me to play. Most agreed 
>without
> comment.
>
> * Interpretation
> At some point I felt like the "fool of the court". During the questions
> phases I did not play, but made "innocent" questions from my special
corner.
> I understood I was doing little corrections in the energy flow. Its not 
>so
> much about music, but about the perception of moods, a rhythm flowing
> between speaker and listener and about the experience to influence an
> experience.
> Historical reviews and analytical subjects are much harder to support 
>with
> sound than emotional or spiritual contents.
> The flow of the speech (or the lack of it!) becomes more obvious through
> the parallel music and can be improved by the music if the speaker is
> receptive and speaks rather free. I would like to try to work together
with
> a speaker.
> No chance to do this work with prerecorded music!
>
> Towards the end, people came to me, saying that I had helped a lot to 
>keep
> the balance of the event and bought CDs.
>
> * A marvelous movie
> By a nice accident, a week before the event, I had stumbled over a French
> movie on TV called "the violinist" that ends with a brilliant Bach solo 
>in
> some dirty underground, causing an old man to die in peace and poor 
>people
> to gather around a fireplace, starting to share the little they have -
this
> may sound ridiculous as I tell it here, but it makes a lot of sense, 
>watch
> this movie!
> I cried of deep emotion and understood:
>
> WE ARE USEFULL WHEREVER WE CAN PLAY SINCERELY !
>
>
>
>          ---> http://Matthias.Grob.org
>
>