Re: "Live Looping"

["David Kirkdorffer" <vze2ncsr@verizon.net>]

Sarcasm mode = on

Hmmmm....... let me see.... naming a genre of music that requires specific
capabilities derived from any of a number of devices that is used to create
the music.... I have it!!!    FuzzBox Music!!!

Sarcasm mode = off

Is there such a thing as wah-wah music??

I have sympathy with the desire to have something that consolidates music
with loops in it, but if you can find a term that will cover Classical,
Opera, Jazz, Rock, Hip-Hop, Country and Folk, then I definitely want to 
know
it!

David


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Hamburg" <mark_hamburg@baymoon.com>
To: "Looper's Delight" <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2004 6:36 PM
Subject: "Live Looping"


> I've been pondering Andre's departure while away from my e-mail for a
week.
>
> Andre may or may not be uncomfortable sharing a genre with Matthias Grob
and
> Rick Walker, but I think there is a fair amount of overlap and in ways
that
> are distinct from a singer-songerwriter using loops on a DL4 for
> accompaniment and in ways that are pretty distinct from others I've heard
at
> looping festivals such as Richard Zvonar, Matt Davignon, or Amy X Neuburg
> (who are all relatively distinct from one another). I think that
similarity
> is potentially apparent to people who aren't familiar with the 
>technology.
> Andre is more aggressive and less ambient in his playing than some but
there
> are some core similarities stemming from a musical style that grows and
> evolves the music as the audience listens.
>
> But that's where I think the "Live Looping" movement got itself in
trouble.
> There is an aesthetic similarity, but I don't think I've ever heard 
>anyone
> express what it is. This leaves us with "Live Looping consists of people
who
> use loopers live". But that includes the singer-songwriter with the DL4
who
> doesn't think of himself as a live looper per se. As Kim (I think) has
> pointed out, it makes knowledge that something is a looping event be 
>about
> as informative as knowing it's a guitar event or a trombone event.
>
> So, to really be successful as a promotional tool -- which I think is the
> basic reason for trying to define a genre -- there are a couple of things
I
> think should happen:
>
> 1. Someone needs to come up with a definition of the aesthetics and
> experience from an audience perspective.
>
> 2. The name needs some consideration. If there is real audience knowledge
of
> live looping then that name may be worth keeping, but it also carries 
>with
> it the problem that to use a looper live may not make one a live looper
per
> se. Mark Sottilaro and I started toying with the name "Cycletronica" last
> time this came up. He seems to have done more with it than I have.
>
> I've also been thinking about Loopstock and wondering whether the
> potentially anemic showing in Los Osos is symptomatic of a bigger 
>problem.
> Maybe it's just that like me other people have schedule conflicts. I'm
> trying to resolve those conflicts, but I haven't managed to do so yet.
>
> Or are Andre's frustrations taking hold at a broader level? I've found 
>the
> festivals extremely valuable to me as a player because without them I
> wouldn't be playing publicly. But I've also found them a bit frustrating
> both as a player and an audience member. For example, as a player, I
become
> paranoid about getting my rig into a form that will set up and strike 
>very
> quickly. That probably results in some useful focus and keeps me from
> spending a performance playing with too many toys, but it is also a bit
> stressful. And I really would like a soundcheck though the audience
> presumably wouldn't. As an audience member, I find it annoying when 
>others
> haven't worked as hard and the festival turns into a festival of 
>technical
> difficulties. (As a performer, I can think "there but for the grace of
God"
> but that wouldn't cut it if I were just an audience member.)
>
> Is it time to evolve beyond the marathon festival model? To what? How do
we
> keep bringing the community together without the stress level burning
people
> out?
>
> Mark
>