Re: What public is attracted by a Y2K Sampler Video? (loopingtechnology or artform)

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

Quoting Matthias Grob <matilists@gmail.com>:
>
> On 13 Dec 2009, at 19:51, Zoe Keating wrote:
>> if all the electricity disappeared tomorrow, i could still perform,  
>>  but i'd have to hire 8+ cellists to play the music (which is   
>> actually how looping started for me, i couldn't find enough   
>> cellists).
>
> oh, sorry, Zoe, I did not know you started with the compositions and
> then only needed a tool to execute them.
> and looping did not bring you new ideas? would your compositions really
> be the same if you had no looper but 8+ cellists?
> If so, I suspect you are rather an exception, or does anyone know of
> other composers who use looping tools like this?
>
>> it would sound different because its not me, but an ensemble of   
>> cellists could easily play my music.
>
> sure. which sound would you prefer?
>

Zoe and I share some things in common: we are both classically-trained  
and we perform looping compositions (as opposed to improv).

My work is designed with live-looping in mind -- my work would not be  
playable with an ensemble of theremins.

My goal is not to create a one-man-band or a theremin-ensemble.  My  
goal is to create a virtual-world.  I work in surround-sound and at  
times build a kind of virtual world.  I wish that I could perform in  
surround-sound at the Y2K -- the patterns that I play become unleashed  
and take on lives of their own as they scurry about the sound space.    
Some patterns echo from front to back, left to right, some in the  
middle of your head, and others way in the background.  To approach  
this without loops would require dozens (if not hundreds) of musicians  
arranged at the perephery of and thorughout a giant cathedral.

At the same time, I want my work to stand as musical compositions --  
they must work in stereo or mono without turning the surround-sound  
field into a cheap gimmick.  I feel similarly about the theremin -- it  
is a novel instrument however I want the music to stand on its own and  
not be dependent upon the novelty.

I would be the first to admit that I'm kind of a space-cadet.  I  
"hear" music in my head -- it is kind of weird sometimes -- and I've  
found looping, surround-sound, and other electronic processes tools  
that help me to translate what I hear in my imagination to something  
shareable.

I view a loop as an entity -- almost like a living thing with its own 
destiny.

-- Kevin