----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2008 5:43
PM
Subject: Re: Live Looping in an ensemble
context.....what gear do u use?
Hi Ricky,
I use either filters to help focus the sound or pitch shift the material.
Often time pitch shifting musical material downwards sounds better than going
up. There is something about the chipmunk effect that is just too comical and
not pleasing. But I have found that if you pitch shift material up say 3
octaves or more you remove the sound from chipmunk territory and into some
nice tinkly sounds that work great if you want to fill the higher
frequencies.
My music is in the more experimental realm so I am not worried about
timing and in fact love the phasing that happens between using the same loop
at multiple pitches.
The granular syth section of Kenaxis also allows for transforming a
captured loop into all kinds of different pitch clouds. Playing with the delay
between the grains you can create sparser textures that have space in them for
other things to happen.
I also have a negative crossfade option on the loopers. This adds space
between the loops also helping create more space and avoid the mush.
Of course the mush can be fun too - but its nice to have options.
Stefan
On Dec 18, 2008, at 3:29 AM, Ricky Graham wrote:
Hi Stefan,
I must check out your software. If you don't
mind me asking, how did you manipulate loops into frequency ranges? It is
something that I find interesting at the moment, especially if only one
member of an ensemble is looping, and like you said it can lead
to 'mush.' I find this is a common trait when you
are 'limited' by the range of your instrument. As a guitar player, I
find myself striving to voice motifs differently before tweaking post
fade to try and give each loop it's own space in the mix.
Cheers,
Ricky
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 8:21
PM
Subject: Re: Live Looping in an ensemble
context.....what gear do u use?
I almost always loop with others. Although to be fair often
I am just controlling the loops and not playing my viola at the same
time.
You can hear some of my duet work with vocalist Viviane Houle at
these two sites.
As for tools - I use Kenaxis which is the software I've developed.
One of the main new features I added to version 3 was the ability to
choose from any of up to 8 inputs that I can have going into Kenaxis. This
allows me to decided to loop and manipulate any player I want in a group
once I setup enough looping mics. It is hard not to get into a mush when
you have more than 3 or 4 players. Done a couple of large ensemble gigs
with 12+ players and just had to find ways of manipulating the loops into
frequency ranges that most normal instruments can't get to.
As for evolving loops - there is so much that can be done with a loop
which is why I am more than happy just capturing and manipulating the
loops while another player creates fresh material. It is great fun to see
a players reaction who usually does not play with loops once their
material starts coming back at them.
Stefan
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