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Re: Backing tracks: A confession
And I can confess that the first public concert I did with
"experimental electronics" in 1983 used tape recorders playing back
prepared stuff behind mine and my buddy's live playing. And right now
I'm preparing a backing track with "radiation noise" for the upcoming
duo gig with Erdem in Paris. I think what matters is the experience
you offer the audience! THAT is the artistry - not the technology or
techniques you are using to achieve the communication. ("..in the eye
of the beholder..." etc etc)
Per
On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Mark Hamburg <mark@grubmah.com> wrote:
> Okay. I don't use pre-recorded loops. But I think I am coming to
>appreciate why most of the loop pedals out there (the LP2 soon to be an
>exception) are so feature limited.
>
> Once upon a time, I made have use of my EDP and played with feedback and
>next loop and all the rest. Hey, it was there, it was easy to grab, it
>was my first real looper in a long time. Fripp's Let the Power Fall had
>given me a taste for the 5-10 second loop with the feedback control at
>less than 100%. Etc.
>
> Then the EDPs drifted out of my rack. First to try to make room for an
>LP1 and then because I was trying to go rackless and ended up using the
>looper on the M13.
>
> Now I find myself fairly routinely recording a loop, closing it in
>overdub mode purely to avoid cutting off the sound, maybe overdubbing a
>bit more, and then showing a tendency to just let it play while I
>improvise/noodle/whack-off (choose your description). And you know what?
>I like working this way. The loop fills the sonic landscape in, but it
>lets me concentrate on the guitar rather than on the loop.
>
> So, I've got the LP1 and it does all sorts of wonderful things and under
>pressure from Bill I've even jury rigged myself a MIDI foot controller (I
>now have a very confused EDP). What do I do? I record static loops and
>let them play. Maybe I throw them into reverse of half-speed. Maybe I
>turn on scramble. And I generally set up multiple loops often of
>different lengths. But after getting a few loops going and mixed, it all
>just becomes backing tracks.
>
> When does my Looper's Delight membership card get pulled? When do I stop
>getting invited to Santa Cruz to perform? ;-)
>
> Or in the quest for a rackless system, maybe what I need is a simple
>looper or two to do the backing tracks thing and a long delay line with
>feedback and a way to mute the input to do the Frippertronics-style
>thing. The only issue is that I'd like the latter to be syncable to the
>former so that it doesn't all just become a mish-mash of unsynced loops
>-- though that can be fun in its own right. The LP2 might actually be a
>great choice here given support for things like quantized replace, but
>last I knew it wasn't stereo friendly the way even the DL4 is (although
>it's a mono looper) which means I'm back to worrying about needing
>mixing/routine support and the benefits of shedding the rack may start to
>fade.
>
> So, it's probably stick with the rack, look for a real MIDI foot
>controller solution, and try to better exploit the LP1.
>
> I've got visions of an LP1 and my Korg AM8000R shoved inside something
>like the M13 with a really tuned performance model and control set, but
>that isn't going to happen and given the confession above, I have to ask
>whether I would really exploit it. But I'd certainly plunk down the money
>for it within reason...
>
> Mark
>
>