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Looper's Delight
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Matthias writes: >Jon Durant, what would you say as an old professional? First, I'm not old. I just feel that way sometimes when my two boys run me ragged!!! Second, and more to the point: Getting Composers on our side is a tricky issue. For example: Bill Frisell has been using a JamMan for years, mostly as a compositional tool. In his live performances, he generally still uses his trusty old Electro Harmonix thingy. Why? Because he can take a loop and speed it up or slow it down using the delay time (something no cuurrent looping device can do). So his use of the device is completely hidden to the general public. >For them we need demonstrations or a video "how to apply loops in rock >music" or so. Did anyone see the Lexicon JamMan Video? This was one of the greatest embarrasments of my professional career. What started as exactly what you're calling for turned into a complete disaster. Yet another case of having people who don't understand the product take responsibility for marketing it. In this case, the Marketing VP at the last minute decided to give the entire project to his buddy, a notorious publisher in the music world, who also dabbles in convention TV, and let him decide how to make a "snappy" video. I had already contracted David Torn to do the guitar portion, and the producer brought in a DJ to do that portion. From there everything went to hell. To this day, I have refused to let Torn see the video. The last segment was Steve Frankel (International Sales) and myself in the demo room at Lexicon, caught on hi-8. We added this section, because it was the original outline. The horrible results of the "big" production required us to add this miserable little piece to give some sort of reason why someone might want to buy this thing. >- Amateurs that start playing and grab the loop quicker than the >>instrument they are using and therefore are happy to be able to create >something musiclike on the loop from the start (some techno rythm for >example). I did a dealer show in Florida a couple of years ago, and had an interesting experience. One person came up and saw my little demo and was instantly hooked. It turns out that he plays in a cover band (which I suspect means that he makes a lot more money than those of us who are trying to create original music!) and they do a bunch of "alternative" music, such as the Cure. He immediately grasped how useful it would be to grab some of those repetative licks and be able to play the counterpoint lines with them. He bought one immediately. And I realised that if we could hook a band like the Cure to start using one and talking about it, then it would be a big lift. So my British distributor tried to get me into the sessions for their last record (recorded at Jane Seymour's house!), but they had started work and didn't want to be interrupted. Of course, the record stiffed, and they *never* talk about gear, so it wasn't a big loss. Meanwhile, the way to get kids to get into it is through the dealers. And we all know how likely that is to happen: It isn't. Besides, there's a major price barrier for beginners: You can't sell them a looper that costs more than their guitar, and that means the thing has to cost about $200 max. Probably more like $100. So where does this leave us? Personally, I'm frightened by the outlook in the present tense. I do know that there are a couple of guys at Lexicon who believe in the potential. Of course, they happen to be the two guys who created the JamMan and modify PCM 42s. Believe it or not, the answer really comes from one place: the dealers. (I know, I know...) The management of Lexicon is completely conviced that the word of Sam Ash and Guitar Center is the word of God. If we could convince these guys to start pestering the manufacturers, then we might see movement. True story: At one point, I tried to put forth a proposal that went way beyond reason, but that I thought would work: I suggested that an upgrade to the JamMan, adding the most requested features (which had already been developed and tested by the product's creator in a personal quest for the coolest thing going) should be done, not because we'd sell more, but because it was the professional thing to do. Stand behind your customers. It would have generated excellent press, and would have said a whole lot about why Lexicon is the professional choice. And it really wouldn't have costed a whole lot of money--you could write it off to the PR account! The idea gained steam, until the words "JamMan Upgrade" were raised in a management meeting and were met with howls of laughter. NEXT! OK, I'm leaking confidential secrets of life at Lex, and I'm sure Kim could regale us all with some charmers from Oberheim/Gibson land, but this is the reality: Looping is a sore subject for these companies, and it won't improve until Alesis comes out with a winner and makes everyone look stupid. (Did I just say that? JD, you've come a long way in 9 months...)