dual loopness

[bryan.helm@dinosaur.com]

Being an avowed techno-primitive it always occurs to me that any
"technique" or "procedure" that I utilize in my loop work would hardly
be of interest to anyone else, let alone border on anything close
to being "avante garde"  or progressive in nature. However setting
this disbelief aside momentarily...here goes:

I normally run my clapped out Korg DW8000 synth and Roland TR-505
drum machine into an EH-16 second delay. After manipulating the EH
until I've gotten a suitably twisted rhythmic loop from the Korg and Roland
signals, I close the loop and run the signal into a Mackie 1202. The 
effects
send is routed through an Alesis Microverb (pronounced HISSSS) then into
a JamMan and then a Vortex to bring it all a sense of stereo. This signal 
is
then returned to the Mackie via seperate channel inputs,as opposed to the
effects send return. At this point I should say that I don't currently use 
MIDI
for anything, not likely to start soon given my techno-phobe tendencies. At
any rate with the EH providing the rhythm loop, I tap out as many loops 
into
the JamMan as I feel appropriate, or can get to synch, before the EH 
starts to
drift. With hopefully a few synchronous loops in the JamMan as a result of 
this goofy fun, I then layer various textures and tonalities on each of 
the 
loops to achieve a collection of varied but rhythmically congruent 
segments.
Sometimes I keep the EH loop and slow it down or speed it up to add some
percusive accents to the JamMan loops, or I do new tonal oriented loops on
the EH and add them to the JamMan loops to taste. Often when I think I've
reached a saturation point on the JamMan in relation to retaining the loop
texture I was seeking, I'll stop. If that point has been passed (operator 
error)
particularly in a rhythmic sense I'll add hand triggered drum machine 
accents
to the loop to re-vitalize the aspect of tempo. After I'm happy with the
collection
of loops in the JamMan,I may use the EH to do another "non-rhythm" loop
which I'll use as an un-synched harmonic source to compliment and contrast
the JamMan loops. Then I generally solo against/along with these loops and
capture the whole mess on my aged 77 dollar Marantz dubbing cassette deck,
in real time, no undo button, no fix in the mix. Usually I'll do a couple 
of
takes
with varied intent before sending the respective loops into the ether. In 
that
I started tape looping in the late 70's, this system affords a far greater
amount
of control than any earlier system(another story) while still maintaining 
a true
element of chance (or "hazard" as Fripp would say), which is after all the
real beauty (for me at least) in this "method". I've utilized this basic 
system
as a player in a solo,duo,trio,... up to a quintet situation, with varying
results.

As an adjunct to this "blurb" I want to say that the issue of sharing one's
loop techniques and methods with others is the same for all artists who
work in a medium that isn't addressed (yet) in the scope of "instructional"
videos,classes, or shameless huckstering by the supposed "elite" class
of performers in any generation. There's every reason to protect one's
artistic "secret procedure", if the result of sharing said same results is 
a
lessened abilty to market one's wares as being unique or new(to an
increasingly jaded public) particularly if that marketing is the artist's
sole source of monetary support. In that I doubt if I've made 1000 dollars
total as a result of my 20 years of loop oriented musical pursuits I have
no qualm sharing these "cutting edge" techniques with any and all, but 
then again my wife and I supported ourselves and our 2 children on about
16,000 dollars last year. I mention this only to further illustrate that 
the
true difference between many artists (and certainly many of the players
on the LD list) is the relative ratio of time and money available to those
artists to pursue their art. On a related note....when the hot water heater
in my basement broke this morning, the resulting leak did not damage
any of my equipment, for which I am eternally grateful.

                            Still avoiding being the subject of the "loop 
of
the week"

                                                   Bryan Helm

P.S. If this endless tirade bored you to tears...
        compose a loop about it...I sure will.