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Looper's Delight
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What did the Deadhead say when the acid wore off? Wow, these guys can't play! What did the raver say when the ecstasy wore off? Wow, this music is really boring and repeptitive. What do these jokes have to do with David Battino's article "What's Wrong With Loops"? Well, I think every person I have heard tell a variation on this joke (and it has been a few) has missed what this joke form really can tell us about music. Everyone I've heard tell these jokes seems to think that what the joke says is that A) the Grateful Dead couldn't play, or B) techno music is repetitive and boring. What this joke form points out to me is that music is only relevant within a context. Drugs (LSD and others in the case of the Dead, and ecstasy/ speed and others in the case of techno) were vital to creating the context in which the music was created, and often appreciated. I'm not making a value judgment on the use of drugs here, only pointing out from a sociological perspective one very obvious example of a "context" for music. Someone "outside" that context will not appreciate the music in the same way as someone inside that context (not that they cannot find their own ways to appreciate it). Other "contexts" that might guide what people like/dislike about forms of music might include: A deeply ingrained feeling that all is right with the world. A deeply ingrained feeling that the world is a piece of shit. A belief, or lack thereof, in a kind, loving supreme being. Lots of coffee. People who don't use their turn signal. A fixation on "intellect". A fixation on "emotion". A belief that music is only meaningful with chord progressions. An aptitude for higher mathmatics. Hatred of numbers of any kind. Blah, Blah, Blah. The list is infinite. Anyway, when I read about David Battino and Jim AIkin "Realiz[ing] what was missing" in the loop music they were listening to on podcsats, my first question (as it *always* is in these cases) is: "What is missing in their context?" Maybe I would feel the same way about the particular loops to which they listened (that something was missing). But I always try to explore *why* a piece of music works or does not work for me. For me, the answer is *never* something missing in the music. The answer is *always* something missing in the context. OK. Maybe not *always*. I forget how my brain works and shift into *objective mode* sometimes (usually when discussing music over a pint of Guiness). But I try to stay aware that my feelings on anything are the result of an interaction between the thing and myself. I find I can learn quite a bit by exploring what it is about my context that makes a piece of music work or not work for me. In becoming aware of *why* something does not work for me, I begin to understand that thing/myself better. Somtimes that exploration leads me to even change my mind about the thing. I do like that David Battino says "it just doesn't work for *me*"(emphasis added), and that Jim points out that it is possible (if difficult) to construct a musical journey without the semantic and syntax of chord progressions. I think the article is fair in that it does seem to acknowledge subjectivity This is just what popped into my head when reading it. What did the music critic say after his preconceptions wore off? Hmmmmm. That might be interesting. Cheers Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "Warren Sirota" <wsirota@wsdesigns.com> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: RE: What's wrong with loops Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:15:37 -0500 > > Might I suggest that people post their comments on David's blog? There's >a > "post reply" button on that page. Or would that just be taking the bait? > > (and here I go violating that suggestion) > I think, really, that he's probably heard only canned loopers, not live > ones. That would go a ways to explain his perception of the static-ness >of > it. > > Best wishes, > Warren Sirota > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: David Kirkdorffer [mailto:vze2ncsr@verizon.net] Sent: > > Friday, December 23, 2005 1:05 PM > > To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com > > Subject: Re: What's wrong with loops > > > > > > Why I like about performing within a looping world is it has > > helped me learn how to slow down time. Maybe I hear more when > > things slow down. Maybe I breathe better. Maybe I become a > > little detoxified from my regular diet of overstimulation well > > represented by listening to 5 radio stations in 1 minute. > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "joe rut" <joerut@lycos.com> > > To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com> > > Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 12:52 PM > > Subject: Re: What's wrong with loops > > > > > > Yeah, And he probably also gets bored when Mark Rothko only used > > one or two blocks of color in a painting when he could be > > painting all kinds of "happy little trees". Sheesh. > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Warren Sirota" <wsirota@wsdesigns.com> > > To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com > > Subject: What's wrong with loops > > Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 11:59:14 -0500 > > > > > > > > check this out: > > > > > > http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/8685 > > > > > > > > > Best wishes, > > > Warren Sirota > > > > -- _______________________________________________ > > > > Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos > > Yellow Pages > > > > http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.c > om/default.asp?SRC=lycos10 -- _______________________________________________ Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10