Change is good (?)
Looping is fun.
But it’s a tool of the trade, not a ‘thing’ of it’s own. A few years back it was enough to make you go ‘ooh’, but that was because it was new. Now though, it’s relatively old and the ‘ooh’ factor is gone.
Good.
So is it still good? Well yes, it is. However, the listening ear get’s bored easily and one danger of being a looping musician is getting too deep into your own groove and wanting to explore every nuance of a sound whilst forgetting the listener might have long switched off! Looping can lock you in on a repeat that appeals and sometimes, the right thing to do is to use that frame of reference to play in. A little like sailing a boat into a lovely lagoon, stopping for a while to explore it before sailing on to a new location. The trick is to know the time has come to move on.
Having played with our style for a while now, we’ve made a concious decision to move away from pre-made drum loops. Not exclusively, but in general because they are too restrictive. We have a vague rule now that created musical phrases must be destroyed once used for a useful period of time, forcing the improvised creations to evolve in new directions. The listener may or may not be aware that the soundscape has mutated from a minute or two before although it is likely the mood remains.
Who knows where these musical journeys will take us? We certainly don’t!
Jazz-Admin