RE: Looping Catching on?

[dan sumner <permadan@yahoo.com>]

Fellow Musicians,

I feel that this is a good point to throw in my 2cents worth.  Do you
really think it necessary that looping catch on with the listener?  To
me, that seems as ridiculous as a particular surgical instrument
catching on with the patients.  We're musicians and we should be
asking our gracious listeners to accept our music, not our technique.
Dan Sumner



---Tim Nelson <tcn62@ici.net> wrote:
>
> I agree, and you really can't blame "John and Jane" for feeling more
> comfortable with something they're already familiar with.
> Case in point: Jimi Hendrix was a consumate showman, but that's not
ALL he
> could do.Roger Mayer (effects maker extraordinaire) once commented
to the
> effect that he had never seen anyone assimilate technology faster than
> Hendrix. Mayer would hand Jimi a new gadget and within minutes Hendrix
> would be using it in a very musical fashion; Mayer was astounded at
the
> slope of the Hendrix learning curve, and one can only imagine what
he'd do
> with an Echoplex (the new kind...) and ACID (also the new kind...).
Jimi's
> playing technique was a lot more subtle than many remember; think of
> "Little Wing" rather than "Star Spangled Banner", finesse as opposed
to
> bombast. The thing is, he did BOTH well, yet what is he remembered
for? The
> flashy, superficial stuff; clothing styles and whammy dives. One
would find
> it hard to imagine him playing a little flashing box behind his head
or
> with his teeth, or kneeling before a flaming Boomerang with that can
of
> Ronson, none of which has much to do with the player's skill at
actually
> USING the equipment, but sure does make for good entertainment. So
it's
> easy to see why that solo washboard player would draw the crowd!
> As far as illustrating my other point about developing technique
SPECIFIC
> TO LOOPING, I'm sure most of us have known at least one quite decent
> guitarist who was a crappy bass player. The instruments are similar;
> strings, frets, EADG, etc., but require a very different playing
> philosophy. Guitar licks do not translate well to bass.
> (I don't mean to pick on the guitar, but it's such a versatile and
> ubiquitous instrument that it's an easy target!) Similarly, a
Steinway, a
> B3, an SH-101, a Mellotron, and a modular Moog share at least one
obvious
> feature; those black and white things you press with your fingers.
Yet how
> different they are in terms of technique, and how easy it is for
this to be
> lost on the non-musician. How often have we heard ANY keyboard
referred to
> as a "piano"? So it is little wonder that John and Jane find it hard
to
> appreciate something as alien (at least to them) as looping.
> 
> But is IS important that looping "catch on", and it IS unfortunate
that
> most of the factors influencing popular acceptance of looping have
more to
> do with economics and demographics than with music...
> 
> Tim
> 
> P.S. to Dave Eichenberger: Great Website!
> 
> 
 
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com