Re: delay -> looper || player -> loopist -> musician

[Kim Flint <kflint@annihilist.com>]

>> And the next big challenge we as loopers may care to face is our
>> *collective* sense of rhythm. Can two loopers jam and keep the groove,
>> hearing each others' loop length and altering phrasing to match? 
>*Without
>> the MIDI umbilical cord?*

>I'd say "no".  Digital is unforgivingly exact, so if you're even two msec
>off, after ten cycles through the loop you're very out of sync.
>
>TH

I don't think that's true. It's just a question of learning to use your
looping instrument well so that you can manipulate the rhythm to keep
things in time. You can do this by retriggering loops on the downbeat
manually, or using real-time edits to shorten or lengthen the loops
(unrounded multiply on the echoplex, easy..., or pitch/speed controls, time
expansion/contraction on other devices), manipulating feedback and overdub
to morph your loop to a new rhythm, or even re-recording the loop on the
fly to match the changes of others. Any of this can be done seamlessly
while playing.

It is the same as playing any instrument in a group. Listen to the others,
and learn how to manage your own instrument to adjust for things as they
change. Hopefully the other players are adjusting themselves to you as
well. Rigidity is bad.

Of course, some loop tools don't have these features that allow you to
easily play with others, and what a darn shame that is. ;-)

That all being said, having midi or brothersync keep everything tight
automatically is damned nice too. Critical in some situations, but not
always practical or necessary. Learn to adapt.

kim

______________________________________________________________________
Kim Flint                   | Looper's Delight
kflint@annihilist.com       | http://www.annihilist.com/loop/loop.html
http://www.annihilist.com/  |