Using looping in this way has been something I’ve been exploring for a number of years but there’s always new corners to explore. And new corners bring new techniques and strategies. Here I’ve veered away from fx, the cello loops are pretty much as played and recorded. Each individual layer panned to a different place in the stereo field. I’ve been wondering about how one note repeated across different loops of slightly different lengths would sound.

Another thing I’ve tried a few times unsuccessfully is to leave several loops open and in overdub mode all asynchronous and all different lengths. You can imagine the build up of cacophony rises exponentially and uncontrollably. So here I have them open for a small period and close them and some times open them in different combinations at different times. Also controlling the dynamic of the playing is crucial, as well as getting a good feedback level for each loop, which is not so obvious as with shorter loops or delays. Too large and the volume builds up too quickly, too little and the loop steps down the previous recording too harshly with each iteration.

What’s nice with working this way and with asynchronous loops is that a piece/improvisation can evolve very organically without the block like structure of synced loops of the same length or simple multiples of the first loop. Adding in overdubbing into several loops at the same time gives this lovely smearing of the sound and interesting fugal like evolutions. One also has to be patient when playing, stopping and listening as the whole unfurls.

Enjoy