a prodigal son returns...
Greetings, gents. I'm decloaking after a long absence, and have been lurking recently.
The 'mainstream/downstream' thread is, IMO, one of the best threads in memory since i started following the digest again.
I felt compelled to drop in and give my perspective. Here's a bit o' catch up.
I've been a self motivated, and mostly self-taught musician for the last 20 years or so, and have been using some sort of delay/looper in my constructions since the beginning. (a Digitech PDS2000, a co-conspiritor, a boombox, and a couple of hits of acid and one very weird night in 1987 was the genesis of this journey!)
Yet, for the last couple of years, i've been increasingly disconnected to the process of making music. I dislike making music by myself, in a vacuum, and as age sets in, it's becoming more difficult to find suitable cohorts. Furthermore, my BS meter is becoming more finely tuned, and I have little or no volition to deal with other people who are more interested in their unspoken agenda than just enjoying the process of creation, working hard towards a common goal, and making something 'greater than the sum of its parts'. I've always said that being in bands is like dating. It's an ugly game, but you gotta put yourself in the game if you want to play. And dating is an ugly game even when you're in your twenties. At mid-forties, it's a lot UGLIER.
I'm not so into ugly, right now, thank you very much.
This situation has been further exasperated by a new undertaking of the last 12 months. I've taken up an intense physical activity, Short Track Ice Speed Skating. I'm utterly smitten, and it's been a transformational experience for me. I've jokingly dubbed it "Yoga meets Drag Racing", which is fitting. Absolute grace intertwined with utter chaos, ripping around in circles at 20+ mph with a couple of razor blades strapped to your feet.
For the first time in 15 years or more, i'm engaged in something that is making huge physical demands on my body, with all of the trappings. I'm having to eat better, work out, focus, and enjoy the flood of endorphins while grimacing at the pain of lactic acid buildup and muscle fatigue. Crazy. But i'm motivated to do it because there's a goal....to go faster! (and not fall on my ass, of course, which happens...)
This is in stark contrast to the current mental/spiritual vibe of making music, which has been dissapointing, frustrating and very depressing.
So, in context of the Mainstream/Downstream conversation, I feel like I have a decent amount of 'Outside Thinking' available. I've got a good chunk of experience making music, but right now, i've got better things to do, and i'm not terribly enamored with gear, musicians, or grandiose self-indulgence.
Some highlights that strongly struck me (from reading the threads online):
#1. "That's my formula "5% in all genres of music is excellent.
so are you saying that 95% of looping sux?.....:)"
My answer? If you subscribe to the 5-10% of most human endeavors being of excellent quality, then YES! 95% of looping sucks. There's the outside thinking coming into play. I'm not buying into the 'looping as art' in and of itself as much nowadays. I'm looking at it from a musical, entertaining, artistic perspective. Is this composition well put together and presented in a manner that stands up and rises above the fray? (and if so...how and why?) For the most part, when looking at video or audio of most 'live looping' output, or even looking at my own work critically.....YES, MOST OF IT SUCKS.
but if you enjoy the process, and the personal engagement with musical vibrations that it provides, then sucking is ok. Compared to some of the pre-Olympians i've trained with in the last 12 months, I SUCK. But it doesn't matter. I'm engaged, motivated and happy. Which is where musical performance differs from fitness...I'm not asking anyone to be an audience (and i'm not planning on being an Olympian, either!). Music performance kinda demands it, in some ways. And if you want honest opinions, then be prepared to, given the odds, to be part of the 95% crowd.
#2. Why does mainstream seem more like , downstream these days?
It seems like there was different interpretations of what this actually meant? I took it to mean "Downstream" in that "You live downstream from me. I throw my trash, do my wash, and defacate in the water....then YOU get the 'downstream' result. I'm not sure if I got it right, either, but that's how I took it.
#3 "I can still work on killing the beast, or at least work at putting a
few crooked nails in it's coffin."
WOW. This isn't the central crux of Mr. Killian's missive, but I needed to reference something. and didn't feel the need to quote the whole thing.. Ted's comments were, for me, so on the money. His comments were stimulating, depressing, engaging, and a call to higher duty, all wrapped up in one neat package. Kudos, Ted. Me like.
SOOOOOO....
I'll leave off here. I'm back on board, at least for the moment. And still connected, i guess, in that i'm a new Boomerang III user, which is one of the most fun and enjoyable loopers i've played with in a long time. But the gear is beginning to be thinned, simplification is the prime directive, and days of gigs and band practice are on the wane.
I'm off to the rink...as Apolo Ohno says, "no matter how serious you take it, you're still just a guy in tights going around in circles". Kindof like Looping (minus the tights, of course)
best regards and much respect,
Rich Atkinson
