Re: looping and the public and categorization

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Hi Matt :-)


I think it's pretty rare for anyone to do a studio recording
project wholly as livelooping.
Might be worth making a list.

>If we finally come around to list the LL musicians 

(a bit of background...Matt's working on a website called
  livelooping.org with the intention of promoting live looping
  as an artform, aimed at the public rather than at loopers) 

I don't understand the desire to label so many artists as "livelooping".
If they only use it for a bit of multitracking then it's
no different to insisting that every singer who strums a chord
or two could be called a guitarist. ...and they might be a bit
sad you don't care about their beautiful singing.

There's absolutely no need to promote the concept that looping
technology can be used to do multitracking, that's
something that's very much well known these days.
Also, the growing collection of artists who do that and
thrive hardly 
need help from a bunch of unknown musos.

What the public doesn't know is that looping technology can be used
to create music such as has not been heard before, that it's
possible to "take it to the next level", to quote an appreciative
audience member.

Some of us have spent hours/days/years developing skills to use loop
technology in a way which feels musical, using it as an 
instrument. Surely that's "livelooping".

Now,if guys who do live multitracking actually
*wanted* to refer to what they do as "livelooping" then that would
be fine...but all the evidence seems to show that they don't want
to do that, they'd rather highlight the things that they
consider important to their music, the things that make their
music a unique expression. Using loops really *is* just
a technical thing in that case.

Since the introduction of the Roland machines, which are hardly
designed as a spring board for the imagination, the world
of looping has changed. The term "loop station" is heard all
the time, and reflects that the public know that looping exists,
but not that it can do anything amazing. 


So, I'm suggesting the www.livelooping.org would better serve 
by promoting livelooping as a way to make new music,
rather than a convenient(and fun) way to reduce the number or performers
required.
Perhaps make a distinction between liveloopers, and people
who "use loops live".


hope that makes some kind of sense,



andy butler





Per Boysen wrote:
>>Zoe:
>>> lastly....99% of the people who license my music have NO idea that i 
>even
>>> perform live. and as i don't employ live looping in my recordings, for 
>those
>>> who know me only from a recording, live looping would just be 
>confusing.
>