Re: Looping Strategies

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

>
> Per wrote:
> One of the most difficult techniques in looping is to make
> the music evolve into orchestration and arrangement quickly enough.
>
> What techniques do people fall back on in order to make the music
> interesting listening right from the start?
>
I organize my loops into four* categories:

1) Very Short Loop  (VSL): less than one measure long
2) Short Loop: lasts from one to four measures  (< 10 seconds)
3) Long loop: greater than four measures  (> 10 seconds)
4) Manual loops: done without hardware -- the musician simply repeats  
a passage

*note: simple loops with no processing

Very Short loop
. advantages
     can be used to set up a tempo -- helps to keep things in sync
     can be layered quickly
     easy to create syncopation by sending to multiple VSLs of  
different lengths
. disadvantages
     static harmony and texture
     quickly becomes monotonous

Short Loop
. advantages
     can be layered relatively quickly
     imitative textures (i.e., rounds and canons) work well
     possible to build a simple harmonic progression (up to four chord  
progressions possible.
. disadvantages
     harder to layer the parts in sync without the use of a metronome,  
click, or underlying rhythm
     texture is percieved as static
     hard to move forward to another section of music

Long Loop
. advantages
     allows complex harmonic progressions
     allows complex and varied textures
     not perceived as repetition (if the loop is long enough)
. disadvantages
     difficult/impossible to sync without the use of metronome,  
clicks, or some underlying rhythm
     to build up layers is time-consuming
     difficulties with loop time-slippage (depends on  
hardware/software and syncing capability)

Manual Loop
. advantages
     all the flexibility of a live performer -- the ability to  
modulate, change tempo, etc.
     dramatic -- if the performer "loops" mechanically the listener  
may percieve a loop-machine rather than the performer thus, when the  
performer breaks out of the loop it can be quite jarring/dramatic
. disadvantages
     in the absence of any other instruments or tracks, this can start  
to sound like excercises rather than "music".

Currently, my finished looped music has utilized Very Short Loops,  
Short loops, and manual loops.  I am working on music that uses Long  
Loops now but haven't performed any of it yet.

Since my work requires synchronized musical lines, I tend to send to a  
VSL to establish a tempo.  While listening to the VSL, I can then send  
to Short Loops.

Often I'll do both -- sending to a VSL (delay) with say, 50% feedback  
and, in turn, laying this down onto a Short Loop.  Again, to play on  
the tails of the delay keeps things in sync.  One could build a long  
loop in the same manner -- the main issue is sync*.

(*note: I like to loop music that is quite rigidly in sync -- for  
music that is sustained the sync may not be as critical a factor).

I tend to favor music that immerses the listener without a long  
introduction.  The VSLs and Short Loops are effective because one can  
build up a texture quickly.

To create music that holds the listeners' attention is always a  
challenge -- whether the music is looped or not.

To buid up a loop is pretty easy for me -- the tough thing is to move  
forward from one loop to the next -- once the "machine is running" it  
tends to anchor a piece of music, for better or for worse.  Sometimes  
I do a kind of "cross fade" -- I fade out an already-playing loop  
while I build up the next loop.  Often, I use manual loops as a way to  
move from one section of music to the next, too.

-- Kevin