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Boy I wish I had the time to respond to this the way I'd like- maybe I'll
get to it next week when I get back from Amsterdam......
Basically though, IMO- NO effects box can do anything unless a person is
operating it. Until that's not the case, you have to accept that they are
tools that requires some skill (how much is debatable) to 'play'.
There are a lot of paralells in this conversation with the age old 'Is the
turntable an instrument?' debate, but what they both boil down to IMO is
the fact that neither a turntable or an effects unit is particularly
impressive without someone skillfully operating it. I mean, if you follow
the logic of 'hiding behind gear', where do you draw the line? When you
pluck an acoustic guitar, you aren't making the sound- very basic
technology (strings vibrating over a sound hole) creates the sound. Are you
then hiding behind the technology of the acoustic guitar? I guess only
vocalists would be considered pure musicians then. ; )
To me- if I can use it (whether 'it' be a bass, a wood block, a Flanger, a
laptop or a Repeater) to make noise, it's an instrument. From there the
only thing that matters is how the artist chooses to use the sound creation
device.
Well that got a little more lengthy than I thought I was going to
go.....just some Friday morning ramblings.
"Kris Hartung" To:
Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
<khartung@cableone.net> cc:
03/17/2006 10:46 AM Subject: Re: what a loop
has to say
Please respond to
Loopers-Delight
My wife once told me that when I sit down with my acoustic guitar and just
play freely, that what she hears sound more creative than anything else I
do with my gear, looping, etc. I find that sort of interesting (sometimes
discouraging)...makes me start to question what is really necessary for me
to express myself artistically, vs. hiding behind the gear. Heck, if I can
sit down at a gig with just my acoustic, and satisfy both myself and others
artistically, I'd probably be retired right now with all the money I would
have saved! :)
But I just love the effects, and I openly admit that "sometimes" they do
substitute for true, raw creativity. I would be surprised if anyone on this
list who uses a lot of gear thought or felt otherwise. It would take quite
a artistic genius to ALWAYS, 100% of the time, have effects acquiesce to
one's talent and creativity, rather than the other way around. Either an
artistic genius, or a complete liar.
Kris
----- Original Message -----
From: daniel stevenson
To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 2:39 AM
Subject: Re: what a loop has to say
i do find the clean acoustic guitar to be my muse.yet ill mangle it with
reverse and speed control.varible delay times seems to keep the sound
pure.maybe just a phase im goin thru but nothing beats a good ole acoustic
source into a looper.
my best regards,
scary
visionary.
Kris Hartung <khartung@cableone.net> wrote:
> Yep, to me a loop says, "Freedom."
> G
Speaking of which, does anyone find it easier to freely improvise when
you
aren't using layers and layers of effects, tone mangling devices, etc?
I've
found this to be the case with me. I love all the cool effects at my
disposal - the Boss VF-1, hundreds of VST effects, LXP5, etc - but they
sometimes produce artificial restrictions or boundaries on my creativity.
I
tend to be more intentionally and genuinely creative, and less enamored
and
influenced by technology, when I just play with a clean guitar sound with
just a touch of reverb and delay for ambiance. You have nothing but the
notes, basically, no window dressing to distract the creative process.
I'm
sure this is quite subjective and relative, but I'd be curious what
others
think of this. I guess just the simple sound of the guitar forces me to
think more out of the box, rather than relying on the box. For example,
you
have a effect patch that has two octaves and panning delays that go on
forrrrrrrever....you play one "note"...just one human data-point of
interaction, and the gear takes credit for the rest of the interesting
sound
for the next minute. And I start to think to myself, what is really
creative
about that? I could play 10 notes in 3 minutes and produce a song that
requires very little creative energy. It would be interesting to take all
of our looping songs and strip every single cool effect from them,
resulting
in just the initially, humanly generated notes and natural sound of the
instrument...what might we discover? How much of the intrigue of the song
is
generated by the gear vs. human creative energy? These are just open
questions for discussion. I'm not necessarily making any categorical
point
here.
And in this regard, I really respect a lot of the work of Derek Bailey,
where its just him and his hollowbody guitar...quite amazing what a guy
can
do with just a guitar and amp.
...I'm off to bed now. It's been a long day.
Kris
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