Re: Strategies to Cover Onstage Equipment/User Failure

[andy butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Rick Walker wrote:
> Responding to a posting by Petri about software failure,
> it occurred to me that most sophisticated live loopers I know
> have little strategies they use as performers, to cover equipment
> failure.
>
> What are yours?

As Rick says, much 'equipment failure' turns out to be user error
when it's analysed.

Primary cause of problems (at least in my case)
is adding a new piece of gear to your rig
prior to the performance.
e.g.
Hit record on your first loop of a piece, and forget that you faded out the
loop with your newly setup midi controller in the last piece.

..but of course there's 101 things that can go wrong.

...so here's my way of lessening the impact.


1) Practice on your live rig till you've made all the likely
  mistakes, and know how to deal with them.
2) If you dial up the wrong sound or play the wrong loop then
  only you know it's a mistake....so it's not a mistake.
  A lot of the time the only way an audience knows things have gone
  wrong is the performers re-action.
3) the looper's enemy is silence, be prepared to make some
  kind of noise right away. Just a very short loop of a single sound
  will give you a breathing space to work out what to do next.
4) Erased the main loop that you were going to bring back later
   in the piece? That's where it's a real advantage if you
  worked out how to build that loop quickly, and without 
  long periods of 'setup'. 
5) If a piece really can't be saved, go straight to the next thing seamlessly.
  (that's where the EDP has an advantage)


andy butler