Looperlative Linearity Questions

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

Bob already answered the question about loop linearity on the Looperlative
but I also wanted to chime in a little about the use of parts in
a looping device.

Essentially, the salient reason for creating separate tracks for separate 
parts in a song form
is so that we can then manipulate them after the fact (or treat them with 
effects in real time, separately).

What I find (and I did a show tonight where I played drumset, percussion, 
found objects, fretless bass, trumpet, melodica,
strumstick and voice and in more of a song oriented rather than the more 
experimental found sound shows that I usually tour with)
is that one doesn't usually have time to layer 8 parts onto one section of 
a 
song........................

..........it just takes to long to do so and you begin to lose your 
audiences attention if you don't create your song structures
more quickly.

So, by this, what I'm getting at is that,  since it is always incumbent 
upon 
us (unless we are specifically creating noise
types of experimental work)  to create parts that are timbrally separated 
so 
that the phenomenon of 'timbral masking'  doesn't occur,
it becomes efficacious to just overdub new instruments onto an existing 
track and not worry so much about
being able to take those parts in an out when we switch from a verse to a 
chorus section of a tune.

So,  even if the Looperlative were able to create two sections with 8 
separated parts each (which it actually does I suppose since
it does create 16 potential mono tracks and clever routing and muting 
might 
be able to exploit this fact)
you probably aren't going to need that many tracks in creatiing a song.

That is, unless you are doing a building song in the manner that Mir O did 
at the Y2K6 Live Looping Festival.

In Mir 0's brilliant approach,  his song built and built and built and 
took 
almost 30 minutes to perform.

If one is performing pop or folk styles of songs,  you just want to get 
your 
sections created a lot more quickly
than that and I'd never want to use 8 separate loops.

I'm curious and will start a new thread to poll this:   I wonder how many 
tracks people use
in a multi tracking loop situation?