Re: the death of the loop

[Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>]

As an arranger and producer as well as an instrumentalist and composer
some of the earliest 'tricks' I learned to make a simple idea much more 
interesting
are uses of dynamics.

We can use several dynamic strategies to introduce new material or even 
break up
older material.

1)  Linear Dynamics:   Fade Ins and Fade Out         These have already 
been mentioned but this is a
great way to use either Feedback (if your looper supports this function) 
or to use a simple Volume pedal
on a pre-existing loop as you bring in another idea (either on top of 
the old 'fading' loop as Kevin points out)
or even just going to

2)  Terrace Dynamics    This is where a new musical element just starts 
out of silence  causing a layering effect  (here's a representation)

                      __________________________________        4th element
                ______________________________                  3rd element
       _________________________________________________        2nd element
________________________________________________________        1st element


I always giggle when I consider this effect because I use it mercilessly 
in my own music.
I think I have mystified Matthias Grob who invented the EDP and relies 
heavily on
FEEDBACK as a technique because I rarely use FEEDBACK in my own music 
because
I'm still discovering new ways of exploiting TERRACE DYNAMICS.   Someday 
I'll probably
get there, though.  I just haven't run out of things to learn about 
Terrace Dynamics
and Linear Dynamics that don't use Feedback.

The use of UNDO (if your looper supports this function) is very powerful 
if you are
using a device like the EDP or emulative software like MOBIUS,  because 
you can just keep layering
tracks and then by using UNDO,  you can pull them back out again.

Not only that, but if you have more than one looper running (or a pedal 
like the BOSS RC-50,
Electrix Repeater,  Looperlative LP-1 or programs like Ableton's LIVE or 
MOBIUS)
then the MUTE button on your mixer (or software) can be of huge use to you.

Just by judiciously using the MUTE button you can make static loops 
morph by creating
DUB music.     The original Reggae producers who introduced DUB music 
would merely MUTE
entire sections of repeating rhythms.      This cause what I call 
'Negative Improvisation'.
Dropping out one important loop can cause dissonance for the listener 
that is very pleasurable when
it is reintroduced (un MUTE).     Before my brother and I had the kind 
of equipment needed to create
our own DUB music we would pretend that someone had a hand on the entire 
bands tracks and
just abruptly stop playing as others played on,  creating a faux DUB 
sensibility.    The first things we added to
our arsenal in the 70's were tape and analog delays so that we could 
throw delay onto the very last
couple of notes before we 'muted' ourselves,  causing the delays to 
cascade over the resulting tracks in
a very psychedelic way.

as a note about new tech:

The new Looperlative LP-2 MINI looper (which will be out within 8 weeks 
from now)
has a cool function because it automatically sets 1 of 20 different 
levels of UNDO
for every 10% reduction of FEEDBACK.   This allows for a combination of 
both
TERRACE and LINEAR dynamics..........you can pull the volume out of a 
single loop by
lowering your feedback expression pedal several different times
and then by pressing UNDO successfully,  you will return to your 
original level, level by level.

*************************
Another cool use of TERRACE DYNAMICS:
In Pop songs,  a standard effect is to have the band use Terrace 
Dynamics by just
dropping their volume by 10%-20% the instant the lead singer starts to 
sing and then
raising their volume commensurately when instrumental passages happen.

You can easily use Feedback in this way, especially if you think ahead.

************************
Another way to morph a loop is to use dramatic effects on the loop that
, in essence, create Timbrel Terrace Dynamics.

As an easy example,   one can suddenly turn a fuzz pedal on and off on 
every
single strike of a backbeat, snare drum.

This creates a subtle volume increase and a dramatic timbrel shift.

I use effects constantly to introduce new material in my looping shows,  
merely
by re contextualizing the timbre of a part by the use of dramatic 
processing
(and taking it away to create reverse TERRACE DYNAMICS)

************************

You can also create RHYTHMIC TERRACE DYNAMICS by suddenly REPLACING 
certain parts
of a repeating ostinato pattern with either new sounds or,  very 
dramatically
with silence.

Frequently, as a drummer playing three instruments simultaneously 
without looping
(bass, snare and hi hat)  I will suddenly drop a part or instrument out 
of the mix
for 4 bars and then reintroduce it.  This creates a sometimes dramatic 
TERRACE DYNAMIC.
This is very easy to do with looping if you have REPLACE or SUBSTITUTE 
functions in your
looper (EDP, MOBIUS, LOOPERLATIVE, LINE 6 M-9 and M-13 and others?)

If you want some great examples of how to use MELODIC, RHYTHMIC, 
HARMONIC, TIMBREL and DYNAMIC
dynamics over a static chord progression,  go listen to Miles Davis'  In 
a Silent Way or Bitches
Brew or some of the music it spawned in jazz in the early 70's ---Herbie 
Hancock,  Wayne Shorter,
et. al.)

With sufficient intelligence and a number of aesthetic strategies one 
can stretch very, very simple
material to last a long time in a way that is constantly evolving or 
morphing.

I hope some of these ideas help.