In which I take a photo every day that I'm 50, and post it here on this blog, with a bit of related blurb.

Thursday 22 May 2014

Day 159 - Looperland

no man band

Well, it seems I have to put Roob out of his misery, and reveal what was in the box...

Apparently waiting a little while for some trivial detail of someone else's life was too much for him, and he had to vent his frustrations in the comments of yesterdays post...I bet he'll be disappointed when he eventually finds out.

It reminds me of Se7en...(yes I know, that 7 really doesn't work, does it?  Except you know what I'm talking about, don't you, so maybe it does!).

"What's in the box?"

"Don't look in the box..."

"WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!"

"DON'T LOOK IN THE BOX!!!!"

Fortunately, it's nothing so horrific...although perhaps it's not that interesting either.  I think I've built it up too much, over-hyped it, and now the weight of expectation bears heavy on me...

I might have to just leave it another day...that'd be ok, would it Roob?   ;-)

Oh, ok well I'll tell you then...it's one of the bits of kit in the photo...

Happy now?!

Oh, you want more detail?  Ok, it's a Loop Station...a loop machine, if you like...but I suppose you're still none the wiser...it's the left most one of the two big flat things on the floor, the one with a glowing red 3...now you see why I was surprised at the size of the box it came in!

What it does, simply, is enable you to record sounds or musical phrases from a variety of sources, and loop them...you can layer sounds on top of one another, and bring sounds in and out of the mix...and you can create huge pieces of music with just a guitar and voice (or either one on its own), or you can add any sounds you like...

You can use it offline to create full music productions for recording or practice, or if you're confident enough, you can use the Loop Station as a performance tool (known as Live Looping)

In the photo, I have my guitar plugged into an effects pedal, then into the Loop Station.   I also have a microphone plugged into a vocal processor, and then into the Loop Station.

But rather than embarrass you all (and myself) by giving you one of my early forays into the world of looping, let's go straight to the professionals...here's a great demo from a guy called Rico Loop (seriously?!) working for the manufacturer at a music show...stick with it for a minute or two to see how versatile the thing can be...




I have to say a couple of things at this point - It's nowhere near as easy as this dude makes it look...and the dancing thing isn't compulsory...phew!

You can look forward to further ramblings (and perhaps some video or music) from Looperland, once I've found my way around...

It's a big place, and they speak a funny language!

In other news, Anna is off cavorting with the local wildlife (I hope that's not a euphemism!), so far including manatee, bald eagle and alligator...

And right about now, Anna should be swimming with Dolphins in the Keys...I can't wait to hear all about that!

B-)

1 comment:

  1. No way, you got a loop station, amazing!!! Real one man band piece of kit, will have to have a play on that monster!

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