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Looper's Delight
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Thanks for the responses...perhaps I was a bit more oblique than necessary. I understand the laptop setup...as well as various delay lines/fx lines, but that is a direction I am not, at this time ,interested in going. For the past several years I have been scaling back the amount of technology I use in my solo/looping performances. Of recent I have scaled it back to just a looper (usually my modified Lexi JamMan) and a reverb (my choice being my Demeter spring verb...but lately have been usig a TC M-One). Now I have even scaled that back to only a looper (one recent performance was just bass and the Akai Headrush). This has been quite deliberate, and while I am neither "anti-digital" nor anti-fx, I have found, with great success, that the somewhat severe limitations I have placed on my own gear has increased the musicality of my solo performance (again, forcing me to make most use of what I have....). The less I have to mess with, the more I make with what I have....... Of course, I have a few hardware loopers (Headrush, DL4, JamMan, EDP) , a decent laptop and some software loopers (mobius...Live...) quite a few multi-fx processors (Lexicon, TC, Eventide) and a gaggle of stomp boxes...so the actually "mangling" of loops is totally possible. But, what I wish to do is only use loops...no fx, no "treatments", no submixes, no complex routing assignments....no MIDI. I want to keep the nature of the performance (and this is all about live performance looping) as a solo thing. And, therefore am not all that interested in making more sounds "than would seem humanly possible" (have already gone that route...and I certainly enjoy all of you that do, but am looking at a different avenue for myself...). I want to take the "solo bass and loops" description to its' most extreme I suppose.....JUST solo bass and loops. Very direct, yet hardly "minimalist". Limiting the nuber of flashing LEDs, buttons, and footswitches with which I must interface. I have drifted from doing 100% improvised shows to shows which were 70% improvisation and 30% "composed" to now doing things with looping where the pieces are 90-95% composed with only a little improvisation involved. The loopage is no longer the "attratction" but merely a component (albeit a very necessary one) of the composition which drifts in and out of "played" sections. Often it is difficult to distinguish the looped parts from the played parts. What I am looking for is a supplementary looping device which does not necessarily have pristine audio quality, and one which does just spit out what you put into it. One which rather "does" something (this can be quite subtle or drastic) to the audio input; distorts it, warbles it, lowers the fidelity....so that it does not sound so much like the "played" section. Also it would help it these behaivoirs were less than predictable--adding a little mischief to what are composed pieces. From my understanding the Zvex "may" do some of this. I was wondering how anyone had used one in the real world. Another thought has been tape loops...and devices like the Fulltone tape echo have crossed my mind. But I was thinking, and perhaps totally offbase, that the zvex would add some lofi "vibe" to things to supplement the more featured loopers I use. FWIW..in solo performances I do play quite a bit of chordal passgaes..as well as playing high on the bass neck (would that still be too low to the zvex modul. to make any notable warbles?) Does this make sense to anyone? Max _________________________________________________________________ i’m is proud to present Cause Effect, a series about real people making a difference. http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/MTV/?source=text_Cause_Effect