Hello All (& is anyone still using Reel-to-Reel?)

[PainPete@aol.com]

Dear Fellow Loopy People, 

My name is Pete and I'm new to this list. I just wanted to say how happy I 
am
that such a list exists. I've never felt much community spirit in 
loop-land,
I've felt like I've been on a nearly deserted island. So it's nice to meet
you all. Though primarily a guitarist, when I get sick of the guitar I 
start
looping anything that moves, like synths, the sound of crumpling paper,
garbage can lids banging, etc etc...I live in Seattle, hope to start
arranging live shows soon to celebrate my
fuctional-after-several-years-of-not-functioning guitar rig. 

I think the first loop I ever conciously heard was Lucier's "I am Sitting 
in
a Room", though my loop obsession began with Fripp's "Let the Power Fall" 
and
then later "The Heavenly Music Corporation" which I love dearly to this 
day.
At the time I was fortunate to have access to two reel-to-reel decks and
began experimenting with my own loops. The early loops were pretty much 
based
on Frippertronics (guitar with pentationic minor scales) which rapidly got
out of control as the reel decks were not in particularly good shape and
getting the feedback just right was very hard. I usually got something like
the end of "I am Sitting in a Room" pretty quickly. But I really dug that
anyway. My nickname back then (and to some extent now) was "Painful" 
because
I once did a radio show at the University of Vermont called "Swimming Pains
in the Head", a sort of experimental noise journey which not coincidentally
gave many people of non-like mind headaches. That title only lasted about 
six
months, but the nickname stuck. So as a sort of joke, I started calling my
loops "Paintronics" as opposed to "Frippertronics" (which I figure is also 
a
bit of a joke on Fripp's part...) - That name stuck too, and sometimes for
good reason it seems. (Is anyone else out there still using tape decks for
this?)

So nowadays I use a pair of Otari MX 5050 reel decks when I can get access 
to
them (and try to get the best possible sound out of them too). I hope to 
buy
my own sometime - Tape is my preferred medium - But on my guitar rack I 
have
an already loaded-for-bear electronics setup fed through (don't laugh 
please)
the Digitech Time Machine 8-second delay. It doesn't sound great but I have
my Vortex after that in the chain which fleshes out the sound nicely 
(though
I wish it could go first without sacrificing the nice stereo). I'd like the
sound quality of the newer loopers but can't afford and don't quite trust
them yet. 

(BTW glad to hear the Vortex has become an almost "cult" item due to its
untimely and undeserved demise. However that does give us who are fortunate
enough to have one a bit of a unique edge, does it not? I bet they'll be 
sold
for vast sums in used stores as the legend grows, like old synths. Who
knows?)

Is there anyone out there into trading tapes? We talk much but the idea is 
to
share music...

Pete