Research Paper Ch3 - More feedback greatly appreciated!

[darren perry <darrencperry@live.com>]

Hey guys,

This is the third chapter which includes a stab at finding/compiling a 
definition for the term 'Live Looping', deals with analysis of live 
looping music, a look at the audience experience and the recording process.

Again, any help greatly appreciated. Feedback concerning content preferred 
over english language advice as it will be proof read in due course.

Thanks!

Darren Perry
Dartington College of Arts, Devon UK


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Live Looping Definition

Recently the definition of Live Looping has come to recognise musicians of 
all genres, styles or categories and merely focuses on the application of 
looping technology. However, it has had many different definitions applied 
to it. One definition is that of a musical style or genre. Where this 
definition fails is that the term already incorporates a huge number of 
musicians across many different styles and genres of their own.

Smith (2003 ch.10 p.2) writes:

“I believe that there is a strong case for Live-Looping to exist as a 
musical genre and for history to relate its unfolding story. On listening 
to a large range of music produced by the process of Live-Looping I have 
found that pieces from contrasting musical genres have remarkably similar 
qualities.”

In response, Kim Flint writes in the Looper’s Delight mailing list  on the 
27th May 2003:

“I have received countless cd's and tapes from loopers all over the world. 
I've downloaded hundreds (or maybe thousands) of mp3 files that loopers 
have posted or told me to check out. I've been to numerous performances 
and looping festivals. I've bought albums by famous loopers. Yet, when 
somebody hands me their cd and tells me they are a looper and they want me 
to hear their looping music, I still have absolutely no idea what it will 
sound like!”

Where Smith does state a valid point in that he believes there is a shared 
musical aesthetic across the examples he has listened to that incorporates 
looping technology, he attempts to apply the broader term of Live Looping 
as a process to a smaller definition of a musical style or genre. Were 
another term used however, Flint still disagrees with Smith’s evidence.

There are at least two extremes in the spectrum of uses for looping 
technology. One is the approach of using the technology mainly to repeat 
audio fragments of the natural sounds of instruments, creating music that 
might also be reproduced in an ensemble setting or with multi-track 
recording. Another is to create new sounds that would be totally 
unattainable without the use of the technology. LaFosse certainly sits 
towards the latter extreme whereas Keating and Kid Beyond sit further 
toward the former.

The approach of musicians such as LaFosse could inspire the labelling of a 
new genre of music due to innovative and key use of looping technology to 
create a new auditory experience. However, calling this proposed genre by 
a term that is already used to describe this huge spectrum of music is 
bound to cause confusion and evidently, conflict.

There are also musicians that utilise pre-recorded samples, either of 
their instrument or of other sounds, in conjunction with other live 
looping techniques. Some definitions of Live Looping would have this 
approach discarded from the term. The technique of playing back 
pre-recorded sounds is similar to that of recording and playing back live 
sound but it is fundamentally different in that the word ‘live’ becomes 
ambiguous. Though the sound is triggered live, it is not recorded live and 
therefore doesn’t quite sit within the bracket of Live Looping. A DJ for 
instance would only be said to be live looping if they were actually 
recording and looping the sounds from the record through a looping device, 
playing sounds back on a record alone does not constitute Live Looping. 
Using this technique in conjunction with Live Looping however affords 
exciting opportunities for new musical approaches and aesthetics.

So to conclude on the subject of a Live Looping definition, it is being, 
has been and will continue to be constantly defined in different ways by 
different people, however what pins all of these definitions together is 
the use of looping technology in live or realtime performance where live 
sound is recorded and played back repeatedly.

Rick Walker writes in the Looper’s Delight mailing list on the 28th May 
2003:

“[Live Looping] is not easily defined because it is so all inclusive 
(within the caveat that it's adherents use modern analogue and digital 
looping techniques as the prime and ONLY unifying metaphor).”

Analysing Music That Utilises Looping Technology


Through writing this essay I’ve had the need to structurally analyse music 
that has been created with looping technology. Before completing most of 
my research into the technology this was a daunting and difficult task. 
Without understanding the functions of looping devices in general, or of 
the particular looping device being used, analysis of some examples was 
often inaccurate and vague. Although analysis can sometimes be made purely 
from hearing the musical content, the manner in which the music has been 
played is often very unclear. On the other extreme, some music defies all 
structural analysis of this kind, which is also true of a considerable 
amount of music that utilises other forms of complex technology.

Audience and Listeners

>From a listener’s perspective, similar issues arise to those within 
>musical analysis. In recordings, looping technology can be completely 
>transparent depending on the type of music created. By transparent, I 
>mean that the technology is not audibly present or affecting the music. 
>This is often appealing to musicians who choose not to call themselves 
>Live Loopers, or who focus on an audience outside of the looping 
>community. A similar aesthetic can be achieved in live performances 
>although this is much more rare and with the ability to see what the 
>performer is doing, the audience will be very aware that there is, for 
>instance, only one cello on the stage when they can quite clearly hear 
>many more. This is not to say that complete transparency of the 
>technology is required for a musician to achieve notoriety outside of the 
>looping community. Many musicians use looping technology to the extent 
>where its notable presence in live and recorded material is unavoidable 
>and so some musicians choose to directly reference live looping in the 
>descriptions of or titles for their music. As with any musical tool, it 
>is the manner in which looping technology is used and the musical input 
>into that technology that defines a musician’s success. Amy X Neuburg 
>states (Cleveland 2006 p.94):

“Looping is an expressive device that's there to serve the music, and, as 
with any instrument, the music it makes is only as creative and compelling 
as the musician who controls it.”

Recording

When recording music that uses looping technology, there comes the 
decision of whether to record a realtime performance and give an exact 
recorded version of live material or to utilise multi-track facilities and 
perhaps explore the potential of the music out of the confines of the 
looping technology. There is ambiguity over whether the latter technique 
can still be considered Live Looping as it is not necessarily the realtime 
recording and playback of audio. To say that a recording of this kind is 
influenced by Live Looping would be more accurate although many musicians 
would still choose to include recordings of this kind within the bracket 
of Live Looping.

Kid Beyond’s album ‘Amplivate’ is an example of this latter approach, 
taking advantage of a number of studio production techniques to present a 
version of his music that breaks out of the confines of his looping 
technology. Butler and Keating’s albums ‘livelooping’ and ‘One Cello x 16: 
Natoma’ both present unedited realtime performances of their music. Though 
Butler and Keating’s albums do adhere specifically to Live Looping values 
it is difficult to exclude Amplitive from the term as Live Looping has 
played such a huge part in the creation and popularity of his music.


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