TRANSPARENT TECHNOLOGY

["Rick Walker/Loop.pooL" <GLOBAL@cruzio.com>]

Much is often said on this list about the technology not getting
in the way of the music............or making the technology 'transparent'.

I'd like to offer a different perspective:

Modern software and hardware looping technology presents us with several
different
ways of manipulating the timbre and shape of our musical stylings.

You take someone like Steve Lawson who is as flawlessly transparent as any
looper
I've had the pleasure of seeing and he has seemlessly integrated that
technology
into his live solo bass shows.   Take away that technology and his shows
would radically change.....

As loopers, frequently however,  our technology is NOT transparent.

 I challenge the brilliant Andre LaFosse, as an example, to reproduce his
last several
recordings with anything but an Echoplex with Loop 4 software.

It just ain't gonna happen, my friends.

 Ya can't do it with a Repeater or a Jamman or a Line 6 or, or and believe
me, Goddess and I have both tried (lol)

Richard Zvonar without his eventides?     Nope!!!

Matt Davignon without his primitive 2 second stomp box antiquated digital
delays.  Na!!!

My point here is that our individual sounds entirely reflect not only our
artistry, aesthetics and technical ability but, equally, our technology,
whether it is
Les Paul putting an electro magnetic transducer on an acoustic guitar or a
Papua
New Guinea tribesperson skewering a giant Sargasso beetle and then
maniplulating
the overtones in a rhythmic way of the dying bugs wing spasms with the
cavity of his mouth.

To badly paraphrase the late Frank Zappa (who, I hate to admit it, I didn't
like very much, but who's genius was both apparent and inspirational)

"If you want to know what timbre is take the Star Spangled Banner
as performed at Woodstock by Jimi Hendrix and then play it, note for
not on a clarinet."

You are what you play.............You are who you are..............You like
what you like..........IT's ALL GOOD because it is creative and an
expression of your humanity.


Personally, I choose looping technology precisely because it IS repetitive
and NON transparent. I like the juxtaposition of even static loops when it
is done creatively...........from the simple surf rock of Stan Card to the
multiple layers and textures of my brother, Bill Walker

I can also, however, appreciate when people don't like the majority of
looping artists.

I'm not a huge fan of bluegrass, myself.........

That fact just doesn't take away from the value of the music........it just
speaks to my
individual take on the world, aesthetically.

To badly paraphrase Brian Eno:

"if every human being on earth took a red crayon and a white piece of paper
and made a drawing of a house and a tree, we would have 5 billion drawings
of which NONE would
exactly alike..............and yet a house and a tree are not made of red
wax and white
cellulose.................so each person would have filtered there vision 
of
a house and a tree through their individual experience and technical 
ability
and made a 'creation' that is totally unique...........consequently, every
person would have been UNIQUELY CREATIVE."

No one can control anyone's responses to things but if I were the 
benevolent
dictator of the world I would force everyone to acknowledge that their
judgements about other people's art are merely reflections of their own
likes and dislikes, securities and insecurities.

Ha ha ha...........if I were the ART dictator I would force people to quit
being
judgemental and separatist..........

what a paradox, eh?

But then again, what do I know,  I've been known to do three hour concerts
only using
dayglo green plastic, microphones and looping devices (without, shudder to
think, ANY
feedback control...................sly wink in the direction of my good
friend Matthias).

Oh yeah,  and I'm classically trained as well.....................LOL.

yours, Rick Walker (aka Loop.pooL)