Attitudes to instruments/loopers (Derek Bailey)

[a k butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

"There seem to be two main attitudes to the instrument among 
improvisors. One is that the instrument is man's best friend, both as 
a tool and a helper; a collaborator. The other attitude is that the 
instrument is unnecessary, at worst a liability, intruding between 
the player and his music."
...Derek Bailey in "Improvisation, It's Nature and Practise in Music".

So I take that to mean that the instrument is either a means to 
produce "the correct notes", or that is something that can be 
explored to find new sounds and new music.
Musicians who develop extended technique presumably have a certain 
curiosity about their instrument which is not shared by others.



It struck me too that this applies to looping, there seem to be a lot 
of loopers who want their looping gear to perform in certain 
pre-defined ways, and not many who are not tempted to 
experiment/improvise with the looping device itself.


andy butler
www.andybutler.com