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hi there. i'm so happy that i found this community. since i joined this list, a couple of days ago only, i've been a bit unsure about the meaning of that word "loop". i am really into real time captures & sampling at the moment. but i'm often trying to get away from loops, understood as something repeated & expected. personally i'm using loops but breaking, hacking, going back & forth between variations & repetition. i hope i'm still part of the group ;) i'll try to be in zurich in august but until then can you tell me what live looping means for you. i suppose the meaning is different for everyone. ok. but does looping necessarily have to do with repetition for example? sorry if this is an old debate for some of you. stéphane, stockholm www.clumsybeats.org > There certainly is a robust, amazingly supportive community around this > thing we do. Lucky us! > > For what it¹s worth, this was how I defined ³Live Looping² in the press > kits > I sent out: > > About Live Looping > > Live looping is an art form in which musicians use technology to capture > or > ³loop² musical passages in real time, while playing. Once a phrase or > sound > is captured, it becomes an independent musical element, which the >musician > can repeat and alter, playing with it or against it. > > > Live Looping essentially allows a musician to act as his or her own > ensemble, making it possible for performers to push the boundaries of > their > instruments and their musical imaginations to new and often far-reaching > places. Live loopers create walls of layered sound, full compositions >with > multiple counterpoint lines, and incredible soundscapes, and are some of > the > most interesting and inventive musicians on the planet today. > > --------- > > Maybe live looping is a little like Cubism, or any other art movement. > Cubists certainly didn¹t invent painting, but they applied new techniques > and a new way of conceptualizing to an extant art form. > > Dan > > > -- > > ghost7 | Orange > http://www.envelopeproductions.com > http://www.cdbaby.com/ghost7 > > > > on 5/11/05 2:24 PM, max valentino at ekstasis1@hotmail.com wrote: > >> >> >> I wanted to send out a public, list-inclusive “thank you” to everyone >> who >> were involved and present at last week’s “Second Sunday Live Looping” >> show >> in Santa Cruz. >> >> First of all, to Rick Walker, who through his own tenacity and >> connections >> has made such a unique event possible. >> >> To Dan Soltzberg who put together a very eclectic and unique lineup of >> artists, and whose first production in Santa Cruz can be considered a >> success. Thanks. It was really an honor to be part of it. >> >> And to Matt Davignon and Amar & Samba who provided some wonderful, >> beautiful >> and diverse music that evening. >> >> And, while I have the bandwidth, perhaps I will re-open the debate of >> community within this little community of ours. While at the “second >> Sunday” show, I was able to really ponder the significance of this >> “spirit >> of community”. >> >> There is some debate here on the list as to whether the concept, or even >> the >> term, of “live looping” is appropriate or even necessary. There is also >> debate as to whether looping is an art-form in itself, a musical >> sub-genre, >> a technique, a means of production or an end product in its own right. >> >> It struck me, while listening to the diversity of musical expression at >> the >> Second Sunday show, that the debates over these things are quite null. >> Regardless of what we call it, we do have a “community” of musicians who >> use >> the techniques of looping as a motis operandi for their musical >> ventures. >> And, as such, we, the loopers, loopographers, or loopists, give support >> and >> credence to each of our efforts. >> >> The show this past Sunday featured a wide array of diverse musics. I >> certainly performed what might be called the most “accessible”, or the >> least >> “experimental” of the music on the bill (this is a deliberate choice for >> me >> as I make my living doing this, and for me to gig regularly my music >> must >> have at least some semblance of traditional form and melody). But all >> of >> the performers were quite supportive of each other (not merely >> glad-handing >> and giving the mutual back slapping stuff). We were, and are, genuinely >> interested and excited about what each artist is doing. Despite the >> diverse >> and divergent musical styles, we all do share a common trait, which is >> the >> use of looping in a live musical forum. >> >> There is much historical precedence for “art movements” to be started by >> the >> artists involved simply as a way of giving support, credence, and >> exposure >> to a new form or tendency within the artistic discipline. Now, I don’t >> want >> to go so far as to call looping a new “movement”, or genre of music >> (although there are those on this list which certainly do extol the >> merits >> thereof), but, the fact is, looping, and the multi-faceted uses of audio >> loops, have permeated all forms of the recording industry in such a way >> they are now “mainstream techniques”. The use of loops in a live >> situation >> is still a fairly uncharted course, which makes what many of do so >> exciting >> and fresh and new. >> >> The very existence of this list does, in some way, define us as a >> “community”. And, while quite a few of us are uncomfortable with the >> “live >> looping” moniker (perhaps seeing it as self-indulgent, or perhaps >> self-limiting), if creating a label for what we do, and therefore making >> possible “looping festivals” or multi-act shows of artists who >> use/feature >> looping can bring forth greater promotion of the tools and techniques >> we >> use; can give greater exposure to artists whose work will certainly fall >> far >> outside the mainstream (and whose prospects of “good” gigs becomes more >> and >> more limited), is this such a bad thing? >> (and, in case you hadn’t noticed, it seems that what we do is creating >> some >> sort of notice as there are several new, or re-vamped, performance based >> loopers hitting the market. And while many of these might be deficient >> of >> many of the features some of us more experienced loopists might crave, >> the >> fact they are being produced can be viewed as evidence that what we do >> is >> being noticed, and the act ,or art, of looping is creeping its way into >> all >> aspects of performance-oriented music.). >> >> So again I would like to thank Rick and Bill Walker, Dan Soltzberg >> (ghost7), >> Matt Davignon, and Amar & Samba…along with any and all of you who >> support >> shows such as “Second Sundays Looping Series”, and any other of the >> “looping >> festivals” and other one-off loop-based shows. For those of you lucky >> enough to be close to Santa Cruz (“the looping capital of the world”) , >> go >> to next month’s Second Sunday show (which, I believe, should be on June >> 12)….or better yet…play at one! >> >> Max >> >> > > >