Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
At 03:31 PM 5/25/2003, Stuart Wyatt wrote: >I'm actually not one for pigeon-holing music in any way. Once you start >defining yourself in a genre, then start you build barriers around >yourself which can limit your full potential. People often ask me what my >style is, and I say "I don't know".. its a kind of fusion of celtic, >ethnic, electronic, classical, jazz, blues, experimental whatever >style"... even then, with that broad explanation it does not truly >describe how I class my music. That is just fine, and in fact very much the way I feel about the term "Looping". I don't think it should get pigeon-holed into one style of music. It is a set of techniques, instruments, and approaches to creating music that can be applied to any different sort of style. Looping can just as well happen in jazz or pop or acoustic folk or rock or dance or ambient or experimental glitchcore or psychedelic-celtic-fusion or whatever. The looping techniques themselves do not determine that, the musicians and their own unique musical preferences do. The danger I see is when the term "Looping" does get applied to a specific style. That style (usually ambient as it happens, but could be anything) is definitely not going to be representative of everybody who uses Looping in their music, or everybody who could use Looping in their music. If Looping then becomes associated with that specific style among the larger world of musicians or music listeners, anybody who is not interested in that style will avoid Looping. Many musicians will think "I don't play this Looping style of music, so there is no reason for me to consider owning a Looper or learning anything about Looping." An artificial barrier is built, and the potential growth of looping is restricted. This is why I used the word "misguided" in my last post, in reference to labeling a specific genre of music as "Looping". I see some people, in an effort to promote Looping, attempting to define a specific musical style as "Looping Music". (Invariably this is their own style of music, and in some cases there is a not-too-subtle undercurrent of exclusivity about it.) Perhaps this helps promote Looping to other practitioners and fans of that specific style, but ultimately I think this ghettoizes Looping to exist only within that style. The rest of the music world will become less likely to take it up, and the goal of promoting Looping is in fact harmed more than helped. kim ______________________________________________________________________ Kim Flint | Looper's Delight kflint@loopers-delight.com | http://www.loopers-delight.com