RE: TapeOpCon 2002 Report (and Looper Sighting)

["Paul Weissman" <paul@nioterra.com>]

hey hans...

just wanted to say, thanks for the tapeopcon report!  i was SO wishing i
went... it was really killing me... at least this way i felt like i was
partially there.  ;)  hopefully next year i'll be able to get there.

thanks!

paul

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hans Lindauer [mailto:armatronix@charter.net]
> Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 9:29 PM
> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> Subject: TapeOpCon 2002 Report (and Looper Sighting)
>
>
> I'm just back from Sacramento, California, home of the 2002
> TapeOp Magazine
> Conference.  It was a very interesting and informative weekend, and it
> would have been perfect if I hadn't had my rear windshield broken and my
> entire CD collection and my electronic repair kit stolen out of my
> car.  Even so, however, it was a great time.
>
> Mr. Steve Albini gave the keynote address on Friday night, which
> was mostly
> an introduction to the Laffer Curve.  The Laffer Curve is a bell-shaped
> curve which essentially states that you need to keep your gear lust in
> check.  Someday I'd like to hear his entire speech concerning Spock's
> emotional and irrational behavior during his time of Pon Farr in Episode
> 23, but he only gave the first ten minutes this weekend as a way
> of calling
> us all a bunch of loser geeks.
>
> And geeks there were aplenty.  The kind with glasses and pocket
> protectors
> and garages or spare bedrooms full of the kind of gear that puts large
> studios out of business.  Rules were laid out in the beginning of the
> conference banning any type of analog vs. digital debate, Steely Dan
> bashing, or general gear-queerness, but we still were able to
> find lots to
> talk about.  There were excellent panel discussions on mastering,
> production, studio design, and the future of recording, just to name a
> few.  Q&A sessions followed each panel discussion, which was very
> nice.  I
> learned a lot during every panel.
>
> The event was held at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento, which is
> the most beautiful art deco theater I may ever see.  I was signed up as a
> volunteer, but ended up serving as Front of House Engineer by
> default.  Nobody else wanted to do it, I guess, and I had nothing to
> lose.  Anybody who reads TapeOp will see the absurdity of mixing
> FOH with a
> digital console to that crowd. :)
>
> There were a number of great performances at night at two different
> venues.  I got tired and missed Calexico the first night, but caught a
> couple of really good bands the second night: the Freight Train Riders
> featuring one of the Fried Brothers on fiddle, and J. Mascis
> playing guitar
> and singing solo.  Mr. Mascis is an interesting character, who happens to
> be a Looper!  He was using one of those Z.Vex analog looper pedals, which
> I've been wondering about lately.  It did indeed sound crappy,
> just like in
> the advertisement, but not bad as long as you don't need any tone above
> about 5 KHz.  I considered telling him about some higher-fidelity looping
> gear, but he didn't really seem like he wanted to talk to anybody, and
> besides that he's an analog guy anyway....
>
> This year went really well, so I'm sure there will be another TapeOpCon
> next year (not in Sacramento).  I'll be there for sure, and
> hopefully I'll
> see some of you there as well.
>
> -Hans Lindauer
>
>
>