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

[Travis Hartnett <hartne.t@apple.com>]

Retriggering a loop every eight seconds (to pick a random usable length)
sounds like a drag when I'm trying to also play a traditional instrument 
and
add to the loop.  Also, I don't know an easy way to edit off a two
millisecond timing glitch in the heat of battle if one's tap accuracy is 
+/-
two milliseconds (which is what started the problem in the first place).

Plus...the other musicians have their own rhythmic inaccura--uh, "feel" and
if they push forward to meet the loop while you're shaving time off the 
loop
at the same time, things can get avant garde real quick.  No-one's time is
perfect, but good musicians are constantly adjusting to the other musicians
so everything hangs together.  A looping device doesn't listen and can't
stretch the last beat of a bar or hurry on the one to meet what's going on
with the rest of ensemble.

If you have two looping devices, unsynced, and you're concerned about
interlocking rhythmic patterns while perhaps also keeping time with a
drummer, than you've really got your work cut out for you.  I think many
people will find it too much to juggle.

None of which means you can't use multiple looping devices in an ensemble
situation, but you may have to shift your musical approach to accommodate
the technology.

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.