Re: Loop length query

[Todd Pafford <galen@erols.com>]

On Mon, 31 May 1999, Kim Flint wrote:
> Something nobody mentioned in this thread, which seems obvious to me but 
>I
> guess not to all you arty ambient soundscape guys, is looping the chord
> progression or bassline of a tune and playing the melody or soloing over
> it...

I do this all the time with my Boomerang.  I'll tell ya', my skills as a
'soloist' have progressed by leaps and bounds.  

Another use for long loops that may bear mentioning is as a compositional
tool.  A perfect example is this piece I've recently written with a very
chromatic or at least non-diatonic chord progression as a base, making it
VERY difficult for me to write a melody for it.  After an hour or so of
looping it and playing over it I've found a great melody and harmony to go
along with it.  I would've pulled my hair out trying to do this on paper
and probably wouldn't have written a melody I liked half as much as what
was produced through the loop.

---
"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear
 to man as it is, infinite."  -- William Blake

Todd Pafford   galen@erols.com