Well, here's me with a lurgy.
I knew I'd get it. I've spent a lot of time recently sat in the company of those whose lurgy exceeded my own, showered with predatory germs and generally nasty breath. So now I'm all lurged up. Therefore my mind turns to trying to get some music done. It's not that I only think of this when I'm ill, but rather that I should not be out riding my bike or taking photos or seeking cool art, and therefore may as well be sat at the computer playing with loops.
More and more I realize the fruitlessness of this. All I seem so far to be proving is that yes, I can play with loops. Actual music, though, is remarkably scarce from these experiments. I shall enumerate my frustrations here, and then at least I will have a list of things to address in the future:
First, there is no point in trying to put down guitars or basses while doing ones own engineering. There may be those who can flip between their playing head and their engineering head at will, but I'm not one of them. I need an engineer, therefore a budget. Also, it helps little that I have a chair with arms that get in the way of the instruments. Note to self: Get a chair with no arms for this purpose.
Second, I am not by nature someone who gets on well with loops. I can get good results by using them to ornament existing work, but outside the realm of straight dance music they have little point. I must assemble musicians to play live improvisations, and then use these as the source material for pieces. It worked for Miles. Now I need to get it to work for me.
Third, much though I like to use the little Boss Micro BR for my environmental recordings, it is a royal pain that it takes so long to convert stuff for export. I must revert to using the eight-track when at home. In fact, the setup I have is insufficient to do what I want. Bugger. I don't have any kit that I shouldn't have bought, thankfully, but I really need to get some more space so that I can set things up rather better. Nothing new there. Back to looking at the Boss catalogue again for a sixteen track or similar, and back to wishing desktop space were not so limited.
Fourth, this musing is not helping either. Back to the real world for cable-wrestling and A4 scribbling.
Morale is low, but it'll all be better in the morning.
More and more I realize the fruitlessness of this. All I seem so far to be proving is that yes, I can play with loops. Actual music, though, is remarkably scarce from these experiments. I shall enumerate my frustrations here, and then at least I will have a list of things to address in the future:
First, there is no point in trying to put down guitars or basses while doing ones own engineering. There may be those who can flip between their playing head and their engineering head at will, but I'm not one of them. I need an engineer, therefore a budget. Also, it helps little that I have a chair with arms that get in the way of the instruments. Note to self: Get a chair with no arms for this purpose.
Second, I am not by nature someone who gets on well with loops. I can get good results by using them to ornament existing work, but outside the realm of straight dance music they have little point. I must assemble musicians to play live improvisations, and then use these as the source material for pieces. It worked for Miles. Now I need to get it to work for me.
Third, much though I like to use the little Boss Micro BR for my environmental recordings, it is a royal pain that it takes so long to convert stuff for export. I must revert to using the eight-track when at home. In fact, the setup I have is insufficient to do what I want. Bugger. I don't have any kit that I shouldn't have bought, thankfully, but I really need to get some more space so that I can set things up rather better. Nothing new there. Back to looking at the Boss catalogue again for a sixteen track or similar, and back to wishing desktop space were not so limited.
Fourth, this musing is not helping either. Back to the real world for cable-wrestling and A4 scribbling.
Morale is low, but it'll all be better in the morning.
posted by Jim at 2:06 am
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