At 4:56 PM +0100 1/18/05, Per Boysen wrote:
Cool! I'm finding the quintophonic (don't pick on my English, please, I'm a Swede) sonic and musical option much more interesting than the syncing issue :-)
"Quintophonic" works for me.
I find the idea of going in and out of sync to be intriguing. Nothing new about it (Steve Reich was doing it with his phase pieces in the '60s and '70s) but with modern tools it could be more easily and precisely done. Some thoughts:
Two or more loops that are initially in sync can be unlocked and allowed to drift until an interesting phase pattern develops, then put back into sync. Just how to get from sync to useful asynchrony would be dependent on the loopers in use. I don't know the EDP, but I've done this sort of thing with a pair of Max-controlled TC2290s.
Loops can be put into various synchronous and asynchronous relationships: same length but different time offsets, different lengths with small differential to produce drifting effect, different lengths but small-number ratios to produce compound patterns and polymetric effects, dynamic control of the above, using presets that can be created on the fly.
Given the the audience sit down inside the "PA circle", just about anything - even non synced washy stuff - has to sound just gorgeous! I think I would set up up pedals for circulating sound at different (beat synced) speed and directions. Doing surround gigs is a dream I've had for long :-)
I've been able to do this from time to time. All it takes is more amps and speakers and a reasonable mixer. Some of my earliest delay performances (1976) used a quad speaker system and a pair of 4-track decks (classic time-lag accumulator), with short delays sent to one pair of speakers and long delays to the other.
My home studio is 8-channel surround, using NHT SuperOne speakers and a pair of Crown 6-channel amps. The whole setup cost less than $2,000 and could travel easily. I also have four little guitar amps that could do in a pinch, though I've come to the conclusion that for most effects-based and loop music it's better to run direct through a PA. Assuming I had the budget I'd probably get four powered Mackie PA speakers (they sound good for the money) and a 4-bus mixer.
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Richard Zvonar, PhD
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