Re: what a loop has to say

[matthew.quinn@sunlife.com]

Boy I wish I had the time to respond to this the way I'd like- maybe I'll
get to it next week when I get back from Amsterdam......

Basically though, IMO- NO effects box can do anything unless a person is
operating it. Until that's not the case, you have to accept that they are
tools that requires some skill (how much is debatable) to 'play'.

There are a lot of paralells in this conversation with the age old 'Is the
turntable an instrument?' debate, but what they both boil down to IMO is
the fact that neither a turntable or an effects unit is particularly
impressive without someone skillfully operating it.  I mean, if you follow
the logic of 'hiding behind gear', where do you draw the line? When you
pluck an acoustic guitar, you aren't making the sound- very basic
technology (strings vibrating over a sound hole) creates the sound. Are you
then hiding behind the technology of the acoustic guitar? I guess only
vocalists would be considered pure musicians then.  ; )

To me- if I can use it (whether 'it' be a bass, a wood block, a Flanger, a
laptop or a Repeater) to make noise, it's an instrument. From there the
only thing that matters is how the artist chooses to use the sound creation
device.

Well that got a little more lengthy than I thought I was going to
go.....just some Friday morning ramblings.



                                                                           
                                                            
                                                                           
                                                            
             "Kris Hartung"                    To: 
Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com                                        
         
             <khartung@cableone.net>           cc:                         
                                                            
             03/17/2006 10:46 AM               Subject:  Re: what a loop 
has to say                                                    
             Please respond to                                             
                                                            
             Loopers-Delight                                               
                                                            
                                                                           
                                                            
                                                                           
                                                            




My wife once told me that when I sit down with my acoustic guitar and just
play freely, that what she hears sound more creative than anything else I
do with my gear, looping, etc. I find that sort of interesting (sometimes
discouraging)...makes me start to question what is really necessary for me
to express myself artistically, vs. hiding behind the gear. Heck, if I can
sit down at a gig with just my acoustic, and satisfy both myself and others
artistically, I'd probably be retired right now with all the money I would
have saved!  :)

But I just love the effects, and I openly admit that "sometimes" they do
substitute for true, raw creativity. I would be surprised if anyone on this
list who uses a lot of gear thought or felt otherwise.  It would take quite
a artistic genius to ALWAYS, 100% of the time, have effects acquiesce to
one's talent and creativity, rather than the other way around. Either an
artistic genius, or a complete liar.

Kris

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: daniel stevenson
 To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
 Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 2:39 AM
 Subject: Re: what a loop has to say

 i do find the clean acoustic guitar to be my muse.yet ill mangle it with
 reverse and speed control.varible delay times seems to keep the sound
 pure.maybe just a phase im goin thru but nothing beats a good ole acoustic
 source into a looper.
                                     my best regards,
                                                               scary
 visionary.

 Kris Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
  > Yep, to me a loop says, "Freedom."
  > G

  Speaking of which, does anyone find it easier to freely improvise when
  you
  aren't using layers and layers of effects, tone mangling devices, etc?
  I've
  found this to be the case with me. I love all the cool effects at my
  disposal - the Boss VF-1, hundreds of VST effects, LXP5, etc - but they
  sometimes produce artificial restrictions or boundaries on my creativity.
  I
  tend to be more intentionally and genuinely creative, and less enamored
  and
  influenced by technology, when I just play with a clean guitar sound with

  just a touch of reverb and delay for ambiance. You have nothing but the
  notes, basically, no window dressing to distract the creative process.
  I'm
  sure this is quite subjective and relative, but I'd be curious what
  others
  think of this. I guess just the simple sound of the guitar forces me to
  think more out of the box, rather than relying on the box. For example,
  you
  have a effect patch that has two octaves and panning delays that go on
  forrrrrrrever....you play one "note"...just one human data-point of
  interaction, and the gear takes credit for the rest of the interesting
  sound
  for the next minute. And I start to think to myself, what is really
  creative
  about that? I could play 10 notes in 3 minutes and produce a song that
  requires very little creative energy. It would be interesting to take all

  of our looping songs and strip every single cool effect from them,
  resulting
  in just the initially, humanly generated notes and natural sound of the
  instrument...what might we discover? How much of the intrigue of the song
  is
  generated by the gear vs. human creative energy? These are just open
  questions for discussion. I'm not necessarily making any categorical
  point
  here.

  And in this regard, I really respect a lot of the work of Derek Bailey,
  where its just him and his hollowbody guitar...quite amazing what a guy
  can
  do with just a guitar and amp.

  ...I'm off to bed now. It's been a long day.

  Kris





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