Re: Repeater

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@altruistmusic.com>]

OK, folks, this is all getting a wee bit silly to me.

We're getting into a long and convoluted discussion about the relative
merits of "live" versus "studio" uses for a Repeater, AND NONE OF US HAS
EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO USE ONE.  Nor will we until (at least) the
projected release several months away.

Now, my personal inclination would be to sit patiently and wait until
the machine has actually materialized in the real world before getting
into a thread like this.  

I certainly don't want to go any further into the whole "Is it live?  Is
it a DJ?  Is it a live DJ?  Is the DJ live?  Is it Memorex?" thing.  I
do think there are some relevant distictions between what might be
practical for a DJ to use in a live set as opposed to someone who's
actually creating sound in real time while they loop.  

This isn't my attempt to philosophically ghettoize turntablists; it's a
basic case of how much a person has their hands free while they're
playing.  If you're looping something from a record that's playing on a
turntable, you may very well have both hands free to push buttons and
turn knobs.  If you're looping something from an instrument you're
physically playing, you may just need one or both of those hands to play
the instrument while you loop.  

(And yes, I've seen plenty of scratchers and turntablists in action, so
*please please please please* don't start on a "OH, but what if someone
wants to loop their turntable tricks" thing.  I know, I know, I know...)

To me it's a very practical issue.  Damon has revealed that there is in
fact a footswitchable interface, so once again, how about we wait and
see what the unit's like first? 

If people want to start soliciting Electrix for features they want in
the Repeater, that's their provision.  To me, it's jumping the gun in a
serious way, and maybe a bit disrespectful to the manufacturers.  Maybe
we could (once again) wait until we actually have the unit in hand, and
have tried to learn how to use it and what its basic design slant is
like, before we start campaigning for features and modifications on a
unit we haven't even had the chance to use yet?  

Like I said, nobody will be able to *start* to answer these questions
definitively for a while yet.  

Electrix seems like a very cool company with strong products, and I
apologize if I jumped to the wrong conclusions about the unit.  I'm sure
it'll be a more than worthy addition to the current slate of loopers. 

Anyway.  

--Andre LaFosse
http://www.altruistmusic.com