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>Somebody pleeeeez start an interesting thread about music...anything! I'd
>do it but i'm too busy and exhausted to think at the moment. anything but
>gear......
>
>kim
[Although gear is still referred to in the following note, I believe it is
only superficially.]
Hello Loopers,
I see this as an opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Steve
Cloutier. I'm a fingerstyle acoustic guitar player and maker. I've been on
the "Loop List" for a couple of months but haven't contributed because
frankly alot of the tech talk has been beyond me. Also my music may be a
little more traditional (sedate?) than most other's on the list. I'm
definitely not looking to push the musical envelope. I'll leave that to you
younger folks.
My gigging guitar is equipped with an L.R. Baggs pickup system that
combines the output of a piezo transducer with that of an internal
microphone. I always try to maintain the acoustic sound of my guitar.
The first time I saw anyone loop was in 1989. I attended the
American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival and saw acoustic guitarist, Pierre
Bensusan. He had a small rack of gear and a whole slew of floor pedals. His
delay unit at that time was made by T.C. Electronics w/ 40 sec of memory
added.(I've noticed a JamMan also in his rack recently) ...but the music!
During Pierre's set his music would sometimes build into this gorgeous
crescendo of huge swirly, counterpoint, chorused guitars that filled the
concert hall with a perceived depth of a symphony orchestra! His system
must have been all stereo because you could definitely sense the movement
of the chorus/flange when he used it. The experience totally twisted my
head around. I lusted heartily after one of them gadgets! I can't remember
what he had said the delay cost him at the time but it was alot more than I
could've scraped together then or now.
I've been using the JamMan (w/32 sec) for over two years now. In
fact, I credit my JM for inspiring me to get out and gig again. Since
getting one, I've written quite a few songs expressly for it. In most of my
tunes, I try to minimize the repetitive nature of looping in any way that I
can. I feel that some of my most satisying compositions use the longest
loops. Some of them get dangerously close to the 32 second limit. (I would
be happy with 60 seconds of memory.........I think. :)
The first time I looped in public was on the radio. I did my usual
solo guitar stuff and saved one JM song for last. When the time came,
everything went fine. I put down my first layer. I had a couple of beats of
free time before starting my next part so I looked up at the show's host
(who was wearing headphones) and raised my hands as if to say, "look
ma...no hands!" She was so startled by my guitar "playing itself" that she
almost jumped out of her chair!
I'm always pretty conservative when I'm recording a loop but get
considerably more adventurous with my non-looped improvisations. (I'm sure
you've all experienced the obvious clinker that comes back at you umpteen
times --- a truly painful thing.) My improvisation has also improved 100%
since working with the JM.
I find that the experience of looping in concert to be both
terrifying and exhilarating. Terrifying because of the potential of
creating a musical train wreck but at the same time I find it very
exhilarating to weave a whole orchestra of acoustic guitars. And for the
first time I'm playing in an ensemble where all the members are on the same
wavelength. :) It's definitely worth the terror.
Sorry for writing a book.
Steve Cloutier
* * * * *
Visit my wacky "Music Repository" at:
http://www.means.net/~treefrog
@..@
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^^ ~~ ^^