Re: Live Looping versus using Pre-Recorded Loops

[Michael Carlson Music <music@carlsonarts.com>]

Rick and everyone,

Man, I am so glad I met many of you in Santa Cruz the other week.  I  
really feel like I've found creative kindred.

About the live looping vs pre-recorded loops. . .

For me, I love the challenge of creating an arrangement that I can  
perform live by recording all the loops on stage with nothing pre- 
recorded.  When I perform, however, most people ASSUME that I am using  
pre-recorded loops.  Only the good musicians in the crowd realize what  
is happening, and they are appreciative of what I am doing.If I was  
using pre-recorded loops, I think the "energy" would be a lot  
different, like Rick was saying about the shows he has seen. And it  
would be less interesting for me.

When I'm going to loop on stage, why would I want to create loops  
beforehand? I take no recorded loops on the stage with me, I do my  
thing, and then I delete ALL the loops at the end.  Sometimes I  
capture the performance as a whole, but hardly ever.  Someone told me  
its kind of like a live sand-painting performance.  I think thats  
about right.  With sand-painting, you can video tape it but you can't  
preserve the sand itself.  With live looping, you can record the audio  
and video, but you can't capture the "grit" and emotional texture of  
the live feeling.

And my performance is a little different every time, no matter how  
much I might rehearse my arrangements.  That's that adventure of it.

Michael Carlson (TripleOhNine)






On Nov 5, 2011, at 8:34 PM, Rick Walker wrote:

> Much is said about audiences not knowing the difference between  
> someone
> hitting play on a computer that has complete tracks stored,  someone  
> playing over
> pre-recorded loops or someone who is looping everything in front of  
> an audience.
>
> I go to see a very wide variety of musical performances that use  
> technical augmentation, from ones that are completely
> canned (Fisher Spooner) to ones partially canned (a tremendous  
> amount of the
> big electronic shows) to artists who do all of their looping live in  
> front of the audience.
>
> My experience is that people really do get, viscerally, when someone  
> is playing something in real time
> that they loop and then play other things against (including other  
> loops).
>
> A couple of artists in recent years, who shall remain nameless,   
> have only played in real time over
> loops or samples that were pre-recorded.   The energy of their sets  
> was really markedly different
> from the ones that didn't take this approach.    Of course, our loop  
> festival audiences are not typical
> but many people complained about these performances after the  
> fact.   They bothered me, to be honest.
>
> The fact of the matter is it's infinitely easier to do all of your  
> looping ahead of your performance
> and then just fly them in as is musically suitable.
>
> To me, it's much more dangerous to have to pull all of one's tech  
> off in front of an audience;   to
> play live in real time in front of an audience even if you are  
> looping yourself for augmentation's sake.
>
> That's why , despite the fact that no one could tell from merely a  
> recording of a performance whether someone
> looped live or just flew in pre-recorded loops or samples,  I think  
> there is a huge difference between the two
> and this is why I am proud to be a live looping artist.
>
> This is why I specifically make the distinction that the Y2K  
> Festivals are Live Looping Festivals
> and why I send out a performance agreement before booking people a  
> spot on the festival.
> Out of 11 years of performance only two artists have disregarded the  
> rules about creating live looping
> content in front of the audience.    We'll have to have a heart to  
> heart talk if those artists ever want to
> play the festival again.
>
> Rick Walker