Re: nerds with toys

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

Per Boysen wrote:
/*"For this reason I try to kick off certain looper comands from laptop 
keys instead of instantly doing it "on the side" by a
floor pedal while playing a physical instrument up front. Just to add a 
little laptop mangling to the show."*/

I have really thought a lot about how to make the live looping 
experience more compelling for an audience as I have
seen some laptop loopers give fairly boring presentations of otherwise 
beautiful music.

One experience really shaped me in this, several years ago.

When I first got into sampling (and would also, by the way,  put velcro 
on all the notes of my midi keyboard controller so
that I could velcro down a note which would loop as long as I wanted it 
to)   but before there were dedicated
digital live looping gear,     I'd go home and put hours into 
customizing my samples that I would play in concert.

At the time I was playing gigs with a musician who played a wind synth 
controller.    This musician was a fantastic player but
was not concerned with creating custom patches or samples on his gear.

I, myself, was fascinated by the sonic morphing capacity of my Akai S950 
sampler. I could repitch sounds,  change their envelopes, etc.)

But after all that work on creating unique sounds (this was the genesis 
of my love affair with found objects as musical instruments)
at the end of the gig,   people would swarm my wind synth playing friend 
with a barrage of questions about his 'magical' instrument.

At that point I realized that seeing me play the keyboard to trigger 
those samples left the audience with no visceral perception of me
playing these unique sounds.     Even though he never customized his 
sounds (and even played pretty old fashioned 80's new age synth
sounds)  the fact that he had this unusual looking and very physical 
looking (he could sway and move his body as his played, unlike a 
keyboardist)
was vastly more 'entertaining'  to the audience.

So when the late great Dr. Richard Zvonar made the point at the Y2K3 
Round Table discussion that the future of looping lay in the creation
of interesting new controllers,  I agreed 100%.

Modern audiences have been so inured to the fact that fairly canned 
shows can be made with laptop computers,  foot controllers,  keyboards 
and turntables
that the next place to go is creative theater presentation with more 
kinaesthetically interesting controllers.

Of course   an instrument is a kinaesthetically interesting controller, 
as it were and it is obvious that some people make that a visually 
stimulating experience
while others can make it be a yawn producing experience.

******
Now, after saying all of that,   I think it's completely okay, as well, 
for people to just make music that is interesting to listen to,  
irregardless of the use
of 'theatrics'        I myself,  like to be entertaining, if possible 
but it's perfectly okay if others are not so drawn to that approach.

******
and just saying that reminded me, too, that I went and saw one of my 
favorite abstract electronica acts,  Autechre, for the very first time.
They had the sound of god and it was in 5.1 stereo all around the huge 
room.
They then turned off all the lights in the place (except emergency exits 
and the lights of the bar at the rear of the room) so there was
nothing to look at.    They even figure out how to cloak their laptops 
so that you could not see even the glow of the screens on their faces
(how they did this, escapese me, but hell,  I could see anything as was 
their intent.

Sonically it was one of the most interesting things I've heard.   The 
sound was awe inspiring.

I got bored 2/3 of the way through and left early.      My poor ADD 
brain just needed something to look at.
Honestly,  unless they change their tack,  I won't pay money to go back 
to see them.