A constant exists in most modern and classical music – that constant being repetition. Most of the contemporary pop music we hear is drenched in repeated melodies, chord structures and beats. In the dawn of the decade of love, avant garde composers such as Terry Riley began experimenting with tape loops, manipulating the output of the loops to musical effect. Riley became a sensation in the 1960’s for his famous “All-Night Concerts”, where Riley performed improvised music from evening until sunrise, using an old organ harmonium and tape-delayed saxophone. During these marathon performances he would take breaks by playing back loops from his saxophone recorded during the same concert.

Before the turn of that same decade (while collaborating with Brian Eno) the guitarist of the progressive rock band King Crimson, Robert Fripp, developed a technique to loop his guitar by utilizing two reel-to-reel tape recorders positioned side-by-side. This new technique was facilitated by allowing the tape from the supply reel of one tape machine to be fed into the take-up reel of the second tape machine, which causes the sound recorded by the first machine to be played back later on the second. The duration of the delay is determined by the distance between the reels as well as the speed of the playback. Audio from the second machine is routed back to the first which causes the delayed signal to repeat. Fripp had a revelation that with this new system he could operate as a solo performer, building entire compositions in a live setting. Joanna Walton, Fripp’s girlfriend at the time, conceived a term to describe Robert’s delay system now widely known in the guitar world as “Frippertronics”. Electronic musicians should take note – in many ways, this looping technique spawned a new generation of singular performers who generate repetitious layers of sound in order to create innovative compositions live from the concert stage. This concept is in essence the modus operandi of most electronic musicians today. Guitarists aren’t the only ones getting into the looping game. Naturally, multi-instrumentalists such as Andrew Bird foresaw the potential in loop-based performance and presently continues to develop this technique.

Multi-instrumentalist and looping performer - Eric Radoux

Eric Radoux, one of our esteemed Speed of Sound artists performing next Wednesday (May 12th, 2010) will give us all a chance to witness his own skillful technique of looping. A multi-instrumentalist in his own right, Eric loops his own voice, guitar, trumpet, percussive elements – and anything else he can get his hands on – to construct his own compositions in real time. But while we tend to focus on methods and technology on this blog, it should be made clear – the quality of Eric’s song writing is intelligent and compelling. Find out for yourself and make a visit to his website to uncover the fresh fruit of his labor and you’ll find out why Radoux is one of Bloomington’s most promising singer songwriters.

Per the usual tradition for Speed of Sound artists, here is our interview with Eric…

Continue reading… «Eric Radoux – In the loop»