RE: public response to looping

[William Walker <billwalker@baymoon.com>]

When ever I do a public or private performance, even in a background/  
sonic wall paper situation, like a wedding dinner, I invariably get  
approached by the person or persons who are really listening above the  
din of conversation and silver and china tinkling.  In all cases they  
are drawn to the music first, but they do show interest in the tools  
as well, particularly if I'm using a looping technique that does  
something dramatic, like change the track speed or reverse the track,  
or they simply notice that there is a lot of music coming out of one  
person. I'm more than happy to oblige them by explaining what's going  
on. And sometimes they actually act interested :-)    I think we all  
get caught up to some degree in trying to figure out how to describe  
what we do to non musicians, particularly if we are eclectic in our  
approach and use the technology to create music in a way that couldn't  
be rendered without it.  I'm certainly wrestling with how to market  
myself in this brave new world.  Any feedback would be welcome because  
I haven't a clue!  I've gotten a lot out of the Looping festivals year  
in and year out and wether they are  ready for prime time mass appeal  
or not, they are certainly interesting and enriching for me, even if  
its an insider event. I like to think we are on the cutting edge of  
new musical possibilities even at the risk of sounding like a wind  
bag.  Live Looping has really expanded my palette, and options as a  
solo performer. I'm pretty tethered to it at this point in some form  
or another, which is not to say I don't still enjoy playing in a group  
situation, or playing solo sans looper, I'm doing that as much as I  
ever have.  I'm not uncomfortable with the term live looper, but as it  
has been pointed out, it doesn't really tell the public at large  
what's going on without further explanation, and it certainly doesn't  
explain what I'm about musically.  Getting back to Matthias' original  
topic about whether or not a video such as the one Jim posted on  
Youtube would serve to draw people in., I would say maybe not as much  
as a well performed and recorded performance of someone playing a  
whole tune, but who really knows????.  Snippets of a variety of  
performers are cool, but you do run the risk of capturing a moment of  
music out of context,  .. , a paragraph  rather than the whole  
book, .I'm personally making a point to upgrade the production values  
of the stuff I put out on Youtube. lets face it, there is a lot of  
stuff out there, including some of my own stuff,  with poor sound  
quality and weird camera angles which in itself isn't bad per se, just  
not very captivating. I'm quite flattered that someone would take  
photos or video of my performance,  but not always crazy about it  
popping up on youtube. There is one of me from an afternoon gig a few  
years ago played in 90 degree heat,  where the camera seems to be  
placed at the back of the hall of a local college. Lets just say that  
footage hasn't exactly gone viral :-)
Bill