Re: Fighting the temptation to noodle

[tEd ® KiLLiAn <tedkillian@charter.net>]

Mark,

I have an M13 too . . . with a couple of the Line 6 expression pedals  
to go along with it to modify loop volume, or feedback, or other FX  
parameters.

That provides some means to interact and modify the loop in basic ways  
(as I am sure you know already).

But still (for me) the best way to fiddle with the loop more and  
introduce more dramatic changes is to have a second looper to use in  
conjunction.

Frequently I use a DD20 "downstream" from the M13 to start things off  
rhythmically and then go "upstream" to the looper in the M13 to make  
some sort of longer "ambienty" loop to go in and out of phase with that.

Later I can "capture" fragments of the longer "ambienty" loop running  
in the M13 in the DD20s shorter loop delay and produce interesting  
glitchy rhythms that are related to the content of the longer loop and  
still related to the rhythm that had been going on all along in the  
DD20.

It sort of work like loop "windowing" in the EDP.

When that gets something interesting happening I fade out the longer  
loop in the M13 entirely so that only the DD20 is going and I can then  
begin something altogether new and different in the M13 looper.

Trading back and forth between two loopers this way I find I can have  
more "defined" sections of a looping performance with more quickly  
changing compositional textures - as contrasted with simply letting a  
loop slowly evolve all the time (which cam be cool too).

Thank goodness for tap tempo.

On noodling . . . something I know all too much about.

Some people simply use the term "noodling" generally for any  
improvisational musical exploration.

Some would divide such exploration up between creatively alert and  
engaged improv . . . and aimless, formless, mindless noodling  . . .  
and be using the term actually as a pejorative.

Sometimes the "muse" doesn't show up to the gig on cue and it becomes  
hard not to wander aimlessly for a little bit.

There is a lot that can be said to taking active control of your loops  
and modifying them and working on them as directly and actively as you  
do any other musical "instrument."

But there is also something to be said for creating something very  
simple and primal and letting it be the "one big thing" that runs  
throughout a piece.

It's not so much that one is bad and unacceptable and the other is  
good and superior.

What's bad is if you feel like you're "stuck" and want to move on.

For me, 2 loopers is really handy - even if one of them is pretty full- 
featured and the other totally basic.

Got an extra looper of some sort to feed the output of the M13 into?

Give it a try.

Best,

Ted


On Oct 3, 2010, at 11:55 AM, Mark Hamburg wrote:

> In endeavoring to strip my rig down, I've been playing with just the  
> looper in the Line 6 M13. This is fun, but I find myself recording a  
> loop and then just leaving it be while I play over the top. From a  
> live looping standpoint, this feels like cheating. Everything turns  
> into one long ambient guitar solo over a static loop which isn't  
> really what I was after. Yes, I could go play with half speed and  
> reverse and sometimes I do, but I still end up back at the soloing  
> over a static loop point fairly quickly. Any advice? Does feedback  
> work well enough on the M13 to make it viable for loop evolution?  
> (I'm finding my existing expression pedals don't seem to give all  
> that precise control with Line 6 equipment.) Or is it time to wire  
> the EDP back into the set up?
>
> Mark