Re: Effect as crutch

[David Myers <dmgraph@pulsewidth.com>]

Christopher: my humble page is found at http://www.pulsewidth.com
Unfortunately I have dragged my feet concerning sound samples and there's
no audio on there yet.

Thanks for remembering me, Larry.  Although I don't post too often, this
"effects as a crutch" thread caught my interest, as you might imagine.  I
don't even like the word "effects"; to me it's all just electrons.  Imagine
sending a Vortex or a Boss VF-1 (comes to mind, since I just got one)
through a time machine (I don't mean a Digitech) to Karlheinz Stockhausen
circa 1950.  He would have flipped--but do you think he would say, "man,
now I can get a bitchin' guitar tone!"?

I think that most folks see musical electronics as something to enhance
their playing or color the sound of their instrument.  But when I work, I
almost feel myself in the world of the electron; it's more a question of
"what is reality?" rather than "where is the right note?", etc.  Electronic
sound makes this other world available, and I've always found it endlessly
fascinating.  True, modern gear is developed with "popular" uses in
mind--the VF-1 contains several presets with certain guitarists' names on
them--but I think you have to look for what possibilities the boxes
contain, irrespective of the manufacturer's intent.  Listen to what Tod
Docstader did with a jerryrigged test tone oscillator!  In fact, the entire
"classic (electronic) studio" of the 50's was nothing more than such items,
things that were never meant to make music at all.

That said, I must confess that lately I've been working with
(gulp)--guitar!  The convergence of vibrating string and electron flow has
always drawn me.  And it's an interesting work, trying to keep from
"playing" the damned thing....

David Myers

>what is the address?
>----------
>>From: "L Tremblay" <ltct@concentric.net>
>>To: <Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com>
>>Subject: Re: Effect as crutch
>>Date: Thu, Nov 25, 1999, 2:59 PM
>>
>
>>Yes, actually you *can* use nothing more than a bunch of FX
>>and a mixer as an instrument using feedback (ala David Meyers'
>>Feedback Machines). Check out David's fantastic page (and pix of
>>his machines).
>>
>>- Larry