Re: Looping in Stereo ("Karmic Looping", "N:o 2")

[Per Boysen <per@boysen.se>]

Hi,

A very interesting one, this thread about stereo looping! When I had  
a Repeater I tended to use it like (S V G) Stephen; looping my  
monophonic instruments and "stereoizing" the signal by different  
Repeater tricks (automatic panning sequences, bringing a mono track  
output through an added stereo fx etc etc).

This is also today one of my fav techniques with the EDP; I bring the  
EDP mono output into an AKAI analog filterbank that can create a  
stereo immage (even a rhythmically pulsating stereo image since  
filterbank LFOs follow tempo divisions of the EDP clock and also that  
high and low frequencies are differently distributed in the stereo  
field).

However, lately I've become very fond of playing with a stereo  
processed sound and record that into stereo loops. Instead of  
"mangling my loops output" I now tend to reshape the loops all the  
time by playing new material into them. And the material I play into  
the loops is very processed. It's like the effect processor becomes a  
vital part of the instrument played, not part of the looper (as with  
my old approach). So I'm definitely with Kris on "stereo looping".  
What I like with it is that it's so incredibly fast. Simply play some  
weird stuff with your fx-processor and cut slices of it into the  
loop, or blend it carefully on top of the loop as a layer by the  
feedback pedal technique.


--> Karmic Looping
I also tend to play more with the loopers constantly in overdub mode.  
This gives a new dimension to improvisation because you do not "play  
on top of a background". When playing lead melodies you are in fact  
creating the future background that you will have to play your next  
generation of lead lines over. It's like Karma - what you give is  
what you get.

--> Two For The Loop
In the text above, when I typed "my loopers" I meant two. I rarely  
use more than two synchronized looping devices at the same time. I've  
done three, but then I thought the process of keeping three parallel  
musical evolutions cooking in an interesting way restricted the  
creative flow of the music. It made me feel more like a remix  
engineer than like a musician ;-)  It seems the number of two is good  
for looping! In my experience the most interesting music is created  
when two looping musicians improvise together. I've found the duo  
format more creative than solo performances or bigger ensembles.

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.looproom.com (international)
www.boysen.se (Swedish)
--->  iTunes Music Store (digital)
www.cdbaby.com/perboysen