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Looper's Delight
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Haven't had much time for music or discussions here fore quite a while and I'm sure I have missed a lot of interesting discussion.. as Mattias points out in a recent post a word needs to exlude some "stuff" or phenomena do actually mean something. .. so
LIVE LOOPING.. could mean all music producup live with OR without prerecorded loops.. To me a sensible limitation is that looping can be a TECHNIQUE used to perform various types of music OR it could be a musical STYLE in this case the looper is more of both an instrument (you play the looper as ypu would a keyboard or a guitar, or even play the looper WITH a keyboard) and usually (and for many more imprtant) a compositional tool. IE the music would not be possible to perform without a looper and usually the looper is used in composing/improvising the piece of music. SO live looping in it's "purest" form is where a looper is used in a live setting as an instrument and it is an integral part of the music performed that could not be replaced with an other instrument.. If a looper is used in such a way that i COULD be replaced by, for example, other musicians live looping is used as a technique. So live looping as a musical style is where the piece of music is dependent on some sort of looping to exists.. from Reily and Reich to Walker, Boysen and Lafosse (as examples) we have music that i would call LOOPING music and in the case of Walker, LaFosse and Boysen it is often LIVE looping as well. Perhaps, as i think out load, it is smarter to talk about a difference also between live improvised and composed music (music composed to be performed with some sort of looper then performed live) .. on the other hand it this is like all music a composition might be performed with varying degrees of improvisation... This not saying that using a looper as a techique to perform an existing genre of music is "better" or "worse" than playing Looping music. BUT to me there is a HUGE diffrence in hearing a blues band using loops for rhythm and comp or a singer songwriter using looper instead of a second guitar player or hearing music where the looping instrument is an integral part of the music itself. There is also a difference between how for example Nels Cline use loops as a instrument in Wilco songs and how Walker and Boysen built the music 100% around loops.. In one way it is the degree of importance the looper as instrument and composition device that could be the interesting demarcation.. if the music could not exist with out looper it is looping music on all other cases it is music where a looper is used either as an instrumet not intrinsic to the music being played or looping as a technique to perform as a one man band or replace an instrument with a loop that could be can or added live. Sorry this became rather long..... Maybe I'm repeating what andy already said..
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