Re: problem w/live looping using mic - "Empty Scores"

[Cara Quinn <CaraQuinn@onemodelplace.com>]

   Zoe, excellent points about the improv 'vs' composed ideas.  -Very much 
agree!  :)

   As for empty scores, I too have been using this technique, (starting in 
2002 at the First Women's Looping Festival) with a Repeater and an 
MC-505.  Unfortunately, much of the PC looping software I've seen has 
accessibility issues with my screen reading software, so I am still using 
the 505, but still totally enjoy the spontaneity of doing empty scores 
live, as I feel it really lends a great feel to the music.  I also really 
wanted something a bit different than the 'let's see how many loop layers 
we can add on top of eachother!'  lol!

   Thanks for the post and have a great evening!...

Smiles,

Cara  :)

At 05:13 PM 9/23/2007 -0700, you wrote:

>let's see...i started using the "empty score" analogy as a neat way
>to describe this techie stuff to classical music people in a way they
>understand. i do think of it that way, that a sequence of midi
>commands IS a score, just in a different format.
>
>anyway, the technique is similar to what kid beyond is doing in that
>we're both using midi clips within ableton live to control recording
>and playback.
>
>differences:
>1) in addition to ableton, i have 2 multi-track hardware loopers to
>quickly create amorphous and layered loops
>2) the "empty scores" are constructed of modules. each module is a
>sequence of midi commands (anything really: record on track 2 for
>four bars then fade out track 1 over the course of 8 bars; start
>playing loopB on track 3 and stop all the other loops 4 bars later;
>etc.).
>3) the structure of a piece can be a bit like a choose-your-own- 
>adventure 
>novels. each module i can trigger with my feet, or have it
>be triggered by another musical event, or string batches of them
>together in another module. i can therefore change the order of
>events quite easily.  or arrest the sequencing and move to manual
>foot control if i'm feeling like improvising the rest of the
>structure. i
>4) some of the the compositions are that..."composed"...and so i have
>the computer execute batches of modules in a certain order. obviously
>every performance is still different because i am not a machine so
>the arrangements can be quite varied if i use a different bowing
>style, etc. i can always arrest the progression with my feet and
>switch into manual mode. for example, in one of my recent pieces i
>play a long, solo composition on the cello. meanwhile, i have the
>computer silently sample segments of it in the background. then, 3
>minutes in, i press a foot pedal and BANG, a whole orchestra comes in
>made up of all the sampled phrases.
>
>i've gotten pretty fluid with the programming and the execution to
>the point that now this setup is extremely freeing. i can move
>seamlessly between structured and improvised bits and i can so do
>much more than i could do before. most importantly i don't have to be
>linear which seemed to me one of the limitations of lets-build-layers- 
>on-top-of-layers-looping. i still use that technique ad nauseam of
>course, but its nice to have a bit more musical freedom.
>
>also, i don't know if this is relevant, but i don't really make a
>distinction between improvised and composed parts.  and i don't find
>the idea of a 'score' or 'structure' to be limiting since nearly
>everything i do is about working within well defined boundaries,
>maybe this is the classical musician in me. playing exactly the same
>composition, 4 days in a row...is no different to me than
>improvisation. i mean, each day is different and i am not
>experiencing the same things the same way every day. so the music
>will mean whatever it does at that particular moment, a moment which
>can never be duplicated. don't know if that makes sense. but whether
>or not i choose to improvise in the middle of a composition, is also
>about what is happening right at that moment. i'm happy to have
>finally found a method of playing that allows me to do that.
>
>one of my favorite "games" to play now is to take an empty score of a
>particular composition, and then play different music into it. the
>computer takes care of the arrangement and i just improvise and see
>what happens. it's kind of like back in 2000 when i first started
>playing at afterparties. i would play and my electronic music friends
>would sample and manipulate me, and then i would react to that. but
>now I AM IN CONTROL...HA HA HA (fade evil laughter)
>
>i'm sure other people are doing this too.
>
>On Sep 23, 2007, at 12:37 AM, J E wrote:
>
>>Hey Zoe,
>>
>>Not to make you blush more, but I've got to second the
>>awesomeness comment. More than just impressed, I went
>>and checked out your music, and its just plain great
>>:).
>>
>>So, I don't know how much this is about the mics now,
>>but I noticed that you say you use a
>>
>>"empty-score" (a blank musical framework in the form
>>of pre-programmed midi sequences that I then play the
>>music into)
>>
>>I've been experimenting with this idea, and was
>>wondering, do you have the midi sequences as freely
>>callable tools at your disposal (i.e. non-sequentially
>>individually callable) or is the form locked in, and
>>it varies more by what you play each time into the
>>"empty-score".
>>
>>I was thinking through this idea with Kid Beyond over
>>the summer, as one of his songs, 'Cathedrals', is more
>>or less an empty score in ableton, that takes the
>>input material and midi clips it around to form the
>>song. At the far extreme you could even predeterimine
>>the song as one giant clip, which would require you to
>>know when to play what, but after you hit start, would
>>not require foot switching etc.
>>
>>This of course is an extreme, and would be very
>>limiting to amount of improvisation involved, but its
>>a neat to look all the way to the end of the spectrum.
>>I could also imagine a world, where composers of
>>"empty-scores" could share their scores with other
>>musicians, who could learn how to play them and come
>>up with entirely different music, that would still be
>>bound together to the fundamentals of the empty score
>>loop architecture. You could even write some stuff
>>down on a piece of paper, a "real" score to help an
>>artist learn your "empty" score.
>>
>>What seems cool about the idea is not so much the
>>codifying and reductionist thinking, but the concept
>>that through speaking a common language, people could
>>start sharing their architectures they've developed,
>>their empty scores, with eachother, allowing us to be
>>simultaneously loop players, of our own scores and
>>other's scores, but also loop composers, of scores to
>>share with other loop musicians.
>>
>>So, related to that idea, I was wondering, to you, or
>>anyone else who's been working with these ideas, how
>>much of your empty score is predetermined, and how
>>much is left flexible ussually? What types of things
>>do you program into those midi sequences (midiclips?
>>Do you use ableton?). Looping changes? Bringing back
>>old parts? Fade outs? Effects?
>>
>>I'm been working on this myself, using midiclips in
>>ableton, but I've been stuggleing with setting up the
>>architecture in a way that encourages creativity as
>>opposed to giving me either too much to think about,
>>or made me feel like I was playing in a box.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Jesse
>>
>>
>>
>>--- Zoe Keating <cello@zoekeating.com> wrote:
>>
>>>*blush* thank ye!
>>>
>>>hey, we all start somewhere. and even if music can
>>>only be "hobby",
>>>it is no less valid.
>>>
>>>my first looping gig was at y2k2 and i was so
>>>nervous i could hardly
>>>hold the bow. my most recent gig was on jay leno, on
>>>tuesday (but not
>>>looping alas...).
>>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GHbuFlya4
>>>
>>>
>>>On Sep 22, 2007, at 9:52 AM, Chris D'Errico wrote:
>>>
>>>>By the way, I checked out your website & you're
>>>amazing.
>>>>
>>>>My latest "project" is called "Sidewalk Beggar", a
>>>humble
>>>>undertaking considering your accomplishments.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>______________________________________________________________________ 
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>
>
>
>
>
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