Getting Fresh Ideas from the Loop
Taking a look at a unique style of music and learning from it.
What is Live Looping?
Imagine a one person band that starts recording a random drum beat. That recording is then played back as soon as it ends and starts a loop of sonic information. The same person then adds to that with melodic ideas from both real and synthetic instruments. As a looped song evolves the artist omits elements and uses that free space to take the song in a different direction.
As the live loop is molded into it's final form we can treated to more than just instrumental sounds. An artist my choose to take a sample of any audio and use it as a texture. Things like spoken phrases, sounds from the surrounding environment, and pitch shifted audio help to accent the song.
In a way, this is a lot like painting without having a specific idea in mind. A background is introduced, then elements are added to the scene, followed by detailing and editing. It’s like the Bob Ross style of music. The main element in this style that live looping lets us hear the construction of the painting. Once the piece is is realized... it is gone. This is one of things that I find special about music in general: once a song is done, it is done. A painting can be displayed, but a song is no more than vibrating air, so it physically dissipates.
Live looping can take this one step further because nothing is written down. Humanity has hundred a years worth of written music that can be played again. Artists write down musical ideas to work on later. Aside from that, the written form of music is mainly academic. This places live looping in the realm of improvisation.
The Form of a Loop
So how much of an artist's loops are memorized ideas? For instance, when I play Autumn Leaves I like to start in E Minor, move to G Minor, and then finish in E Minor. Along the way I evolve the rhythm, the melody, and interactions between chord changes. In this way I have a form of the A section, B section, and A section that is my own idea. The same idea can be applied to a 12-bar blues format. This form uses all major chords: specifically the I, IV, and V chords. These can be all dominant chords or even all minor chords, but the form of the 12 bar progression remains relatively the same.
Having a form allows an improvisor to be grounded in a framework. Knowing when chords and sections begin or end makes it easy to solo over a song. Memorizing these forms makes it possible to use them in any key.
When it comes to live looping, a beat tends to set the stage for what is to come. This doesn't have to be drums. A beat can be any rhythm marking. In today's music I hear the trap beat used in excess. I've heard it and the melodic rhythms with it so much that they have all started to blend together and become nauseating. I've also heard many songs like Love On by Selena Gomez use the four-on-the-floor format found heavily in disco songs. While disco isn't my go-to sound, the use of and modifications of four-on-the-floor feels like both a revitalization of an old sound and fresh interpretation for new ideas.
Without a beat, the melody has little to adhere to and can fall flat. So having “beat forms” tend to be the predominant factor in “looped forms”. Chord progressions, A-B sections, and the like are secondary. Still, having other beat forms to go to will help looped songs evolve and refrain from becoming stagnant.
My Big Takeaway
When I've played completely improvised pieces in the past, I've always had a melodic form in mind. Now I am looking at the rhythmic form to give a melodic line the stabily it needs to be a foundation. Maybe in the first section I'll play a rhythm with degrees 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 in a major key. In the next section I'll play the same rhythm in a minor key and use degrees 1, 2, b3, 4, and b7. Now the same general idea can be worked out in major a minor with the same rhythm giving a solid foundation to both sections.
Another thing I can do that is used in live looping is to omit ideas. Having sonic space and being brave enough to inject completely new ideas can take a song into a space all its own. In the 12-bar blues bars 1 through 4 use the I chord. Bars 5 through 8 use the I chord twice followed by the IV chord twice. The final four bars use chords V, IV, I, and V before starting over. I could omit everything except the middle and use two bars of I followed by two bars of IV as a vamp. From there I'll look to what I was playing over that section and develop that melody into something all its own.
As you observe other musical styles, be sure to take note of the elements that you enjoy. Not everyone enjoys every style, but we can all find positive aspects to appreciate. Try incorporating parts of other styles and see where that takes you. Feel free to share what you find positive in your favorite styles of music in the comments below. We can all grow into our own niches more quickly the more we expose ourselves to the ideas of other people.
