..Javanese music and other repitition

[andre <andre@monmouth.com>]

Andre (west coast) said  ...Javanese gamelan ensemble last spring here at
school.  
>(Apparently the new gamelan which was obtained for the Javanese ensemble 
>at the beginning of last year is the finest one in North America!)  
>
>There are some definite connections between that sort of music and 
>looping, I'd say, particularly since most of the Javanese music I played 
>consisted of what could be described in Western terms as one or two 
>(occasionally more) eight or sixteen-bar cycles repeated for a looooong 
>time.  

Andre (East c.) - this made me think of a favorite composer of mine - Steve
Reich - he's often just lumped in with Philip Glass as a 'minimalist', but 
i
think his work is also very textural and 'morphing' like gamelan can be.. 
he
also incorporates a lot of stuff influenced by Afrikan drum patterns, which
can be VERY loop-y

the new Steve Reich album is great - it actually combines a lot of the 
media
he's worked with - voices, strings, tuned percussion, keyboard-triggered
samples, layered time shifts. check it out 
>