Andre LaFosse wrote:
>Electrix (who make the Repeater) are principally a DJ-oriented company,
>and
>the Repeater seems to be touted as the latest in their line of DJ/producer
>tools. That's not to say that an instrumental performer couldn't use it
>in
>a live situation, but from what I can tell it seems like the interface and
>the unit's intent is more ideally suited to a DJ than a live
>instrumentalist.
>
>I'd be happy to be corrected on that, though!
Yikes!
(first off, "hey look, Pulver's on Yet Another Mailing List!")
Hi Andre;
There is a whole world of composing possibilities when looking at loops. I
can tell you from first hand experience in living in loops that it's not
all about 4x4 beats and static pitched thumps.
Morphing through loops in various scales opens up a vast array of fun.
I've
been working with a partner for the past year or so on an application that
she's writing (in Max) which is all based on mixing, morphing, scaling,
pitching, modaling loops.
I would put it to the masses that I can offer up a piece of music which
you
would be hard-pressed to think of as a traditional "loop". :)
When I talked to Electrix at the show, I'll admit that I got side-tracked
into the coolness of the look of the box and swept up in a side
conversation that ensued about various modularish analogish things. So, I
don't have a lot of gory details on the Repeater, but I'm sure that
they'll
come out in time. Emmanuel has forwarded most of what I know (thanks
dude!).
I can say though, that given the box is coming from a company that "thinks
different" and has a wonderful line of products for mashing tones any
which
way, I would bet that there is plenty of fun waiting for everyone in this
box.
As a couple of funky side thoughts... Push a 2 bar pattern against a 3 bar
pattern, and spin the pitch up a I-IV-V scale on the loops.
Or, Run a pair of 2 bar patterns against each other, and then start
sliding
the starting point of one loop up through the list of beats in the loop.
Then play games with holding a 2 count on each odd beat of the loop.
Or, drop every-other static 16th to create stuttering 8ths. On a pitched
loop.
I'm not implying that the Repeater will be able to do this, again, I got
sidetracked in a conversation. But, I would bet that Electrix is here
watching the list, and I would further bet that they're taking notes. :)
(soapbox warning!!!)
Now... another little point to pick on. :) (All in good fun Andre, okay?)
While it's true that trainspotting will show the Electrix modules all over
DJ rigs, the modules are getting great use in home/pro studio setups as
well.
Why? Well, for one, they're real ANALOG devices that don't cost you an arm
and a leg.
There's another reason though that I think folks are really into. The guys
at Electrix aren't trying to be high-tech geeks with soldering irons. You
will *not* find tolerances of .00000001 {anything} in the boxes. The guys
are _good_ engineers that are also musicians. And *THAT* is the difference
here.
Electrix is a small company and that puts the solder-jocks close to the
designers who are close to the marketeers who are close to the real world.
These products sound good because they are designed by folks who work with
music for fun (some for $$$) and are not engineering super-nerds.
It's the same type of feel that you get from other small company products
like those from Clavia, Waldorf, Access, Big Briar, Encore, etc.
I love my digital gear, it certainly has it's place, but I love my analog
gear more, and I love my small-company gear the best. :)
(off of soapbox now - thanks for the ripe tomatoes :)
I'll work to find more info on the Repeater... If I get more, I'll be
happy
to pass it along!
Mark
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