Canned Loops

["Rick Walker/Loop.pooL" <GLOBAL@cruzio.com>]

You know,
I've always been in the "I don't ever use canned loops" category and still
haven't used one yet.

That being said and done,  I'm amazed at how many people watching my shows
(when they are not
playing to the converted at , say a Looping Festival full of live loopers)
come up to me and ask me
about how I am triggering those canned loops.

I think the general public these days has become so inured to backing
tracks, creative DJ shows
and shows that use different kinds of modes (Portishead come to mind with
their seemless live use of
scratched groove on turntable, sequenced analogue synthesize, live 
rock/soul
band and live vocals)
that they frequently care less whether one uses some prerecorded loops.

I'm beginning to see where it might be liberating for me to investigate 
that
(and, again, I mean in a general
audience performance kind of situation).

I have to admit, I get a giant kick out of looping a brass candy dish who's
overtones that I am manipulating in a
comb filter stylee in real time and then suddenly picking up my wind synth
and playing that loop modally over
three octaves.    There really hasn't been a time until recently where 
there
was gear that would allow you to do such a thing
in front of an audiences eyes.

Mass general audiences have been listening to looped samples since the
advent of hip hop  in their recorded music so, in
a way, if it serves the music, there is no big deal about using 
pre-recorded
loops.

Chris, Michael Peters, Leander Reininhaus and I both saw TARWATER in Berlin
the day after the 1st Berlin Live Looping Festival
and the two of them (who are brilliant IMHO) went on stage with two AKAI 
MPC
2000s (sample players) and triggerred loops
live with their fingers.   One sang while he did that,   the other played
all the bass lines while he did similar things.
I, personally, loved that show because the music was so compelling and it
was wonderful to be seeing two of my musical heroes.

Chris and I, who have been contemplating starting a new live duet abstract
electronica pop band with vocals turned to each other
and just broke into shit eating grins because we realized that we could 
rely
on a precorded loop or sequence or two and keep the bulk of the playing 
live
so that we can give the project the timbral variation that it would have on
the record that we will record
(as soon as we have actually taken the time to record the records).

It's wierd, but I felt elated and liberated to realize that I've always
owned the technology to pull it off (but never the courage to actually do
it).

******************************

Also, on tour this summer when I had a particularly cool loop in my EDP or
Repeater or DL-4  I would record it into my
128 meg CFC card.   I still haven't gone back an listened to them yet, but
I'll bet I have the makings of several really cool
songs for my next record of abstract electronica in those
loops....................they won't, when I 'm finished with them,  sound a
whole
hell of a lot like the live pieces I played but hell, I made the music, I
guess I can plaigarize myself as much as I want...........LOL.
The first track on my live CD used this technique..............it's source
material is only one live piece but I chopped it up in
ACID on the 'puter....................it's the only piece that isn't really
live on an otherwise live looping CD, but I just wanted to start the record
off with something really cool.

Rick Walker