Re: Loopfest - the opaque veil of technology

[Dave Trenkel <improv@peak.org>]

>As a classically-trained musician, I'd like to say a few words in the
>name of music.
>
>Many of the acts at the Portland Loopfest were more "performance art".
>Hearing wave upon wave of amorphous withering masses of sound, including
>unintentional (?) feedback, screaming, and cursing, was overpowering. 
>
>Call me a purist, but the technology should be used to augment a
>performer's skill in their instrument of choice.  Most of the time, what
>I heard was "look-what-I-can-do-with-this-cool-piece-of-gear".  They
>probably had chops, but the opaque veil of technology had descended on
>their performances, covering up their true musical talents.

Patrick, you make some good points here, these are some of the same 
issues I have with the idea of "looping music." However, I feel that 
the performers at the Loopfest did a great job of transcending these 
problems. Even the most abstract performer of the night, Nonpolar, 
IMHO, created some very musical structures out of a few close-miked 
cymbal sounds. All of this is very, very subjective, I'm sure we have 
different standards of what is and isn't musical. Actually, I 
wouldn't characterize the night as "wave upon wave of amorphous 
withering masses of sound, including unintentional (?) feedback, 
screaming, and cursing", I was personally surprised at how little of 
the music presented was like this. We must have different standards!

Maybe you need to think somewhat differently about where the skill in 
this type of performance actually lies. I tend to approach these gigs 
as if all the equipment I bring is one big instrument. The processing 
gear is as much a part of musical process as the more "conventional" 
instruments. Even the mixer is an essential musical instrument in my 
view. In the case of the Nonpolar performance, his "chops" included 
knowing where to mic the cymbal, knowing how to move the mic around 
the cymbal, and knowing how to mainpulate the sounds he captured. I 
thought it was a fascinating performance.

I thought the other acts did a great job of being musical while using 
looping. The Ascention Conspiracy played some lovely, melodic stuff. 
Neil's set showed that an acoustic guitar and 2 processors could 
create a universe, sometimes threatening, sometimes beautiful. 
Lecture's tape delay sounded so wonderful that even the most minimal 
of input was made interesting, and he knew how much input was enough. 
The Darsan trio did some amazingly effortless looping of grooves with 
multiple DL-4's, anybody who has ever tried to loop within a band 
knows how difficult this can be to get in the pocket, they did it. 
And they had some pretty monstrous conventional chops as well.

>
>
>(To be fair, I did not hear Admiral Twinkle Devil.)


>
>Let's use this amazing technology to create things that are articulate
>and wonderful. 
>
Well, I didn't feel particularly articulate that night either, though 
I did have a wonderful time :-)