Re: questions for loopers (andy b)

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

Jon Forsyth wrote:

hi Jon,
thanks for your interest in the art.

I'm sure the "live looping community" in general
is as pleased as I am to see us getting up
to "PhD level" .

> 1) what aspects of looping do you enjoy the most?

Like all the music I make the best part for me
is hearing how it sounds. (hopefully ;-)

Specific to looping or rather to "livelooping" it's the way the technical
possibilities of the looping devices I use interact with 
my compositional technique.

> 2) what aspects of looping do you enjoy the least?

I'm predominantly interested in "Live Looping",
the production of music with pre-made loops isn't
really something that gives me a thrill.

Another downside is that live looping as a way to create
new music has a very low public profile, to the 
extent that even people who use loops for music
deny the possibility.

> 3) what looping tools (including controllers) do you currently
> use/have used in the past?

Main Tools, the mainstay of my musical technique 
Echoplex Digital Pro (2 units for stereo)
Lexicon Vortex
Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai
and really the Gordius Little Giant foot controller 
needs to be listed here as well

New Addition.
Looperlative LP1 

Alternative device for "small gigs"
Vox VDL-1 Dynamic Looper

Used in the past.
Lexicon JamMan.
Zoom 2100
Behringer Virtualizer (5s delay)

Tried out briefly
Akai Headrush
Line 6 DL4
Boss RC-50

> 4) what are the strengths of these tools?

Echoplex Digital Pro
Really this is the machine which defines creative looping.
The user interface is carefully thought out to 
offer a great range of control with a small number
of switches.
Fast response time to all commands.
Vast range of loop manipulation techniques easily accessible.
Some of the most interesting are "emergent", i.e. they
are the result of quirks of the software, but given
full status by developer as features.
Designed by loopers, with full input from the loop community.


Lexicon Vortex
Ability to "morph" short loops.
The only available device (including software) 
that allows you to select 2 different effect 
algorithms and go gradually or quickly
between the 2. Sounds trapped in the delays can be
rearranged and modified from the original input.

Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai
Varispeed on loop.
Portable stomp box just sophisticated enough to
be worth using in a band context.

Gordius Little Giant foot controller.
the most sophisticated midi controller,
in a conveniently sized package.

Looperlative LP1 
Powerful multi track looper.
Stereo tracks.
User interface is configurable.
For most people, this is the only loop device
they'll ever need.
Designed by loopers.
Software upgrades planned.

Vox VDL-1 Dynamic Looper
Fairly sophisticated live looping device
in stomp box format.
Some inspiring quirks.

Lexicon JamMan.
Best sounding looper for bass.

Zoom 2100
cheap, quirky

Behringer Virtualizer (poly delays)
cheap, good sound quality.

Akai Headrush
none known :-)

Line 6 DL4
Very easy to use.


Boss RC-50
multitrack capability


> 5) what are the weaknesses of these tools?

Echoplex Digital Pro (aka EDP) (2 units for stereo)
need 2 for stereo (can lose sync).
availability

Lexicon Vortex
only 2s of looptime

Electro Harmonix Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai
Looper is just an additional feature on an echo unit,
user interface very limited and not ideal for
rhythmically accurate looping.

Gordius Little Giant foot controller 
price, realistically it needs computer for setup

Looperlative LP1 
availability.
Some people find that the need for user to
configure the interface is a downside.


Vox VDL-1 Dynamic Looper
not designed with input from live loopers,
so lacks obvious features.
no feedback control on loop.


Lexicon JamMan.
limited, no feedback control on sampled loop.


Zoom 2100
very limited,
no feedback control on sampled loop.


Behringer Virtualizer (poly delays)
just a delay

Akai Headrush
very limited


Line 6 DL4
no feedback control on loop



Boss RC-50
Sound quality not that great for the price point.
no feedback control on loop( except with complex workaround).


> 6) do you modify a loop once it's been created? if so, how?

Yes.
1) Change speed of loop (usually an octave)
2) Reverse.
3) Replace chunks of audio within the loop.
4) Insert extra audio into loop, making loop longer.
5) Overdub material.
6) Cancel the overdub (Undo)
7) Retrigger loop from start.
8) Change length of loop.
9) Loop windowing is a specific technique which involves stepping
  back through the memory space of the EDP after the length of loop
  is changed.
10) Lexicon Vortex offers some unusual modifications to its short loops.

There's also different techniques based on more than one loop:
parallel, series and resampling/copying.

> 7) how much planning do you do for a particular performance?

As much as possible.

> 8) what form does this planning take? (do you write it down, keep it
> in your head, etc)

In my head,
but may have set list with a few notations.

Sometimes I make sketch recordings, or use
released recording as a reference.


> 9) at what level of detail do you plan? (melody, harmony, timbres,
> dynamics, instrumental techniques, etc.)

Depends on the piece.
Can be through composed,
or very much improvised.

Often the looping technique can be a defining
part of the composition.


> 10) describe your general approach to loop performance.

The aim is to create something that the audience will enjoy.


> 11) what would the ideal looping system look like? describe it in as
> much detail as you can (and don't worry about practical concerns).

This is a bit like asking
"What would be the ideal stringed instrument?".
More strings?

It's a balance between the amount of available features,
and the immediacy of control of those features.


e.g. It seems attractive to have more independent loops
available, but the result is generally a more static 
performance.

To carry the string analogy further, it might be
worth checking out the range of playing techniques
available on a 2 string Dombra and then compare 
to the results possible with an Arch Lute.

There's also the consideration that it's often working
with the limitations of the technology which unleashes 
creative composition. 
It's long been considered on LD that there is no ideal
loop device, that each user has unique requirements.
I'd add to that by suggesting that it's often the non-ideal
qualities of a loop device which end up giving rise
to the desired (unexpectedly creative) musical result.


Maybe it would be as well to consider what's the 
*minimum* requirement for a looping device.
(and in many ways, that might be close to the ideal system).

> 12) any additional comments?

I guess it's worth adding that many people,
myself included consider the looping device to be an instrument.

1) It needs to be learned before it can be used well.
2) The quirks of the device profoundly affect the music produced.
3) Results can vary greatly depending on the user.

Interestingly though, that would make looping devices
the first instruments to be more concerned with form
and rhythm than with harmony and timbre.


A more contentious issue is whether "livelooping" constitutes
a genre/type of music. Having myself followed the "looping
device as an instrument" philosophy to the extent of producing
music which would be inconceivable (at least in details) 
without the technology I'd find no reason to 
claim otherwise.


andy butler