[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Date Index][
Thread Index][
Author Index]
Re: How do you approach looping composition?
Thank you all for the precious suggestions!!!
Your open-mindness and simpaty confirmed me this list is a very nice
place to talk about the deep musical questions and not only technical ones.
I'll try to follow your ideas and approach looping as a "musical
instrument" more than as a "technology".
As I think I'm not the only one approaching looping for the first time,
I hope this discussion can be useful for someone else!
cristian
max valentino wrote:
> Thank you, Scott, for the very nice compliment!
>
> In regards to composition with loops, one must consider just what you
> want/need to do with the loop, when and how.
> I have been giving all of this a lot of attention lately in my own
> work. For me, the challenge has been to make the "loopage" more
> interactive with the real time playing.
>
> One very cool aspect of the LD list,is the interchange bewteen
> players. It seems all of us use different approaches to
> looping/performance/composition, of which the techniques, tips and
> tricks we are all quite welcome, even eager, to share with others.
> This allows for a great deal of mutual influences and
> cross-pollination, so to speak.
>
> I have noticed a few things about we loopists and how we work.
> There are some of us who pile up fx and processing before the loop and
> make each "layer" have it's own sonic signature, allowing it to
> standout from the other layers. In this aspect, it is much like
> multi-track recording, and is very much an additive approach in which
> our "box" is contiually being filled until it can simply hold no
> more. Perhaps, Christian, this is one dilemma you have encountered
> with your own looping. Of course, the only remedy to this is to know
> when to stop adding to the loop.
> At thast point it may be creative to begin subtracting from the loop,
> peeling away layers before constructing new ones.
>
> There are also some on this list who prefer to process, or "treat" the
> loops themselves; often referred to here as "mangling". In some ways
> this helps to alieviate the "filling up the box" syndrome, as with
> this technique the loopist needs to pay attention to what has already
> been recorded, and how that is been effected by any treatments. For
> instrance, running a loop thru a filter device can drastically change
> the sonic foundation and "flow" of a piece, taking it along an
> entirely new tangent. This approach can seem to subtractive, as the
> player is, at times, filtering out bits of sound, or, at very least,
> "evolving", mutating, or re-constructing an recorded (and looped) event.
>
> Of course, there are those who do both of the above. Again, the key
> to a well-looped performance is knowing when to stop adding to a loop,
> when to treat, or stop treating, when to "undo"..etc.
> And, that just comes with hours and hours of practice, and paying
> attention to oine's own creative flow.
>
> In both cases here, there is a tendancy to create a loop and let it
> run, with all the varied, "added" parts, for the length of a piece.
> For my own compositons, of late, I have been working with loops
> which I "fly" in and out of a piece, adding color and texture,
> rather than being a static event which I add to or play over. Having
> the ability to run multiple loops in parallel means I can fade in and
> out short loops to add color/contrast, density, accompaniment, and
> texture to a solo bass piece. I can "remove" them from the piece, and
> yet bring them back at a different point in the performance to provide
> a sense of continuity. This makes the "loop" interactive with my own
> playing, and hopefully, when done right, it is seamless enough to not
> stand out from the rest of the "played" performance ( in what the
> audience may percieve as "canned").
>
> Again, this is considering how you use a loop, as well as when, and
> where the loop is used. Recording a loop, rhythmic or harmonic,
> layering a buch of stuff over it, and playing over that, while being
> the "direction" many of us started taking when we first entered into
> looping, hardly makes use of the potential of "live-looping" (yet
> again, it is one approach which is certainly viable....if only a
> "one-dimensional" approach, and again, knowing when to stop adding to
> the loop will make it more "musical", knowing when to peel away layers
> of the loop could help make this approach more two-dimensional).
>
> Then there is the LaFosse-school, where the players actually "plays"
> the loop. Andre actually eschews any fx processing in his gtr-EDP-amp
> signal chain, but his ability to "play" the EDP, carving up , slicing
> and dicing, his gtr loops, creates something totally unique and
> wonderful, and is a rather original way of "composing" with loops.
>
> Although I do not use an EDP, Andre's work, and his techniques of
> working with a loop (rather than merely to it), has had a tremedous
> influence on my own concepts of "composing" with loops.
> This "interactive-ness" allows the tool (looping device) to become an
> instrument in its' own right, and leads to countless possibilities of
> re-structuring both sound and the form of a composition.
>
>
> Max
>
>
>
>> From: Scott Kungha Drengsen >
>> Hello Christian,
>> My 1st Cd "Bassapes" was pretty much layering and reverse on a
>> Boomerang.(This was before I discovered this list the Echoplex and
>> the work of Daved Torn and Jeff Pearce).I think that Steve Lawson and
>> Max Valentino are bassists who are masters of this approach.
>>
>>>
>> cristian cascetta wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> It's my first post (even if I registered to the mailing list 5
>>> months ago), so I'd like to introduce myself:
>>>
>
>>>
>>> How do you approach looping composition? I'd like to create some
>>> composition and a little repertoire, as I'd like to try some bass
>>> looping busking.
>>>
>>> When I try to compose something, I start with some simple riff, then
>>> I add some layer, but soon I've the impression of overplaying and
>>> messing up everything.
>>>
>>> I think that I'm focusing too much on the looping paradigm, and I
>>> lose the musical inspiration. Another disturbing thing is that I
>>> tend to answer and react to the loops I create filling every silent
>>> part producing a strong anxiety impression in what I play.
>>>
>>> I know composing is a very personal matter, but I hope to get some
>>> suggestions from you experienced loopers.
>>>
>>> cristian
>>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get MSN 8 Dial-up Internet Service FREE for one month. Limited time
> offer-- sign up now! http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup
>
>
>