Prerecordedmaterial

["Rick Walker" <looppool@cruzio.com>]

I've only done all improvisatory concerts for the last 10 years of my life
but I have started to desire playing some more formal musical concerts 
with 
my looping
gear in the upcoming year.

Though I put a high premium on people doing as much as possible live  I 
was 
enthralled
with Thomas Dolby's recent spate of concerts where he had a lot of 
prerecorded material
that he seemlessly added to his considerable live looping chops.

Essentially,  his performance had a beautiful blend of spontaneity with 
his 
live looping
and also wonderful renditions of some of the tunes of his that I love 
dearly.
His rendition of 'One of Our Submarines'  was so beautiful and evocative 
that I cried
during it.    I honestly didn't stop to analyze how much he had looped 
live 
in it and how
much he was triggering as pre-made loops and/or samples.  It was just 
great, 
emotionally
rendered and entertaining music.

There are times when attempting to do more formal kinds of music like pop 
songs as a 'fer instance
where it just takes too long to get the whole thing going in terms of the 
energy of the song and
the interaction of the audience.

Quite frankly,   I am entertaining the thought of having occasional stored 
loops where I can
be very, very improvisatory and off the cuff at the end of one tune and 
then 
immediately
launch a loop that gives me enough time to quickly change instruments and 
vibes for the next track.

You know,  it's interesting,   but Amy X Neuburg has been one of the very 
best recieved
live looping artists in our festivals and community.   Kid Beyond is also 
similarly extremely well recieved
as a looping artist.    Both of these artists use a lot of pre canned 
material in their shows.
After having seen Amy's show many times,  it's apparent that things are 
planned to within a gnats eye lash
in her songs.      No one has ever complained in the looping community 
about 
it because they are both
such incredibly performers and, indeed,  they are doing the lion's share 
of 
their work in real time , viz a vis
looping.

Still and all,  I make it clear to all who play the Y2K Festivals that 
their 
performances have to be
predominantly live looping oriented.

I've turned away dozens of groups who play to predominantly pre recorded 
loops and just aren't in the spirit
of live looping.

In the long run,   the larger and more mass audiences neither care whether 
what we are doing is canned or
spontaneous.................they tend only to think about the music and 
the 
performance.

And this is coming from a guy who has been a militantly no canned loops 
performer for a long, long time.