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Re: prerecorded loops




> how can you explain the international DJ phenomena?  this goes against
> everything you just said.  no real performance, all pre-recorded music.
it
> still makes people get off their heads... and here's a preemptive shhh 
>for

Yes. People think the dj is doing a lot more than they really are. I've 
also
seen djs doing a tremendous amount of freaking ( ie - pretending along to a
bump cut or a scratch on a record). I saw some of the invisible scratch
pickles crew last weekend at the Elbow Room, with the scratches coming off
repressed vinyl. If they need a 'lift' to get by, then who doesn't? Damn...

> anyone who says it's about drugs.  you don't understand what a good dj 
>set
> is if you think it has to do with being altered.
>

Dj'ing is sooooo easy. Beat matching isn't some kind of magic art, if you
have any rhythm in you at all, and thinking of what record to play next
doesn't involve anything more than a modicum of creativity. I'm talking 
from
my own experience - playing records at clubs and parties. Sure, it's fun,
and the crowd seem to like it more than my own crap :> but it's not music.
It's music apreciation.

Besides, being able to put together a set list isn't precluded from the
>live< musician. However, the music they have ready to play is limited to
what they have prepared. If anything a good set of musicians will be able 
to
alter the songs to fit the mood of the crowd. I try to... though that
doesn't say I do much of a good job :>

> as a timely example... i just saw richie hawtin a couple days ago.  as 
>far
> as i could tell he was just using Final Scratch (basically just spinning
> records) and it was absolutely incredible.  his tools were (i'm guessing 
>a
> bit):  eq, filters, loops and knowledge of the tracks.  it can do
wonderful
> things.

Did you work out exactly how much he was doing and how much was just part 
of
the mp3 he was playing?

> but there's something very powerful about really nice sounding music on a
> really nicely tuned sound system.  it's like you could never achieve that
> level of dynamics and sonic control in an instrumental set... it's a
strange
> strange thing.  don't know how to explain it.

It's called live mastering, and yes, you can acheive it. You just need the
right gear to get that 'studio' sound. A good multiband compressor, limiter
and bass and treble exciters will get you started. For the really well
heeled, get an experienced sound engineer who knows how to mix 
aggressively,
who knows your set, with a real mixing board and a proper set of outboard
gear.

>
> > I also don't apriciate any attempt to hide the fact that there's
> > pre-recorded material being played - a good performer would flaunt it
and
> > use its strengths to some advantage.
>
> agreed.

Could you explain? What strengths do prerecorded material have? I'm not
dissing - I'd just like to know how you use it to advantage.

As well as a 16 track sequencer, I run a cd of pre-recorded sounds in my
live set - one or two tracks for each song. The sounds in each track are
usually a spoken word clip, looped and run through some slowly changing
effects.

Most of the time, I just fade it into the backgroun of the music I'm 
playing
via volume pedal, though it also feeds into the echoplex and repeater, so I
can grab a portion and improvise it's playback - fade back and forth using
the wet/dry, reverse and stutter in the repeater, and now do all those 
crazy
new functions in the repeater.

> it's like there's this great divide in the music world... people who
> understand the appeal dancing and people who don't.  i know all about it
> cause for years i just didn't ever want to dance.  then suddenly one day
i'm
> at burning man, and everything changes.  ;)
>

shh - it's about the drugs.

bIz