INTERVIEWS (The Straits Times)
What got you started on this style of music?
I was always fascinated with sound. From young I’ve always loved music, that was a given but it was later in my teens that I discovered that I loved sounds and especially sounds made by and with the guitar whether pure or distorted or processed. I discovered early on the joys and wonderous dicoveries of patching every available gadget between the guitar and the amplifier and the constant playful experiments with turning knobs this way and oh the world of otherworldly sounds I heard just got me hooked! I later learned that The Beatles were already experimenting with loops and sound effects as evident in the 1966 track Tomorrow Never Knows and then it was Pink Floyd followed by The Police and then U2’s Unforgettable Fire album in 1984 and then King Crimson and eventually Brian Eno. I realized that music and sound recreated a whole world of colours in mood, emotions and ideas.
What's your album about?
CCCD is a one take unedited live recording in the home
studio which originally ran 1 hr 45 mins. Because of the limitations of
the cd format I chose to release the 67 min version from the complete
take. Basically the album is a personal and artistic statement and my
offering of something truly unique for everyone to enjoy and live with.
The creative decision arrived with full consideration on my part that
with all my acquired knowledge, experience, skills and know how with music,
gear and technology and the temptation to create an album of sample resolution,
cut and paste edit and autotune virtual perfection I decided to truly
reveal myself captured in the process of creating...one that’s truly me.
I’ve many of such recordings in my own archives but this particular take
had something going, a flow if you will but most important of all the
entire piece had a a certain enigmatic power to transport,and evoke deeper
emotional responses. I’m making the album available in different formats
including free downloads of excerpts or the full album in mp3 resolutions
or the purchase of the cd itself. Further down the road are plans to release
the album in 5.1 mix with accompanying HD Video Art loops perhaps in 2012
if the world doesn’t end that is. On the coming concert and album launch
on 28th Oct I will perform the re creation of CCCD for the audience.
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Who would be the grandfathers of live looping?
- Terry Riley
- Steve Reich
- Karlheinz Stockhausen
- The Beatles
- Pink Floyd
- King Crimson
- Brian Eno
- Robert Fripp
- Jaco Pastorius
- Pat Metheny
The technology of Live Looping came about shortly after
the invention of tape recording devices in the last century but the concept
of musical loop goes way back to call and answer chants and songs in Africa.
The song The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a musical loop, so is Pachabel's Canon
in D. Most of Pop, Rock and Dance and even in Jazz are based on if not
incorporate the use of musical loop arrangements. For me it was Brian
Eno and Robert Fripp back in 1973 who were the true pioneers of fine tuning
the use of reel to reel tape recorders as a live looping device that introduced
new creative possibilities in spontaneous improvisation/compositional/performance.
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How different was it back then? How has modern tech helped make things easy?
Back in the early 70's Brian Eno and Robert Fripp relied on the use
of reel to reel tape recorders and you had to physical run the tape
cross the room so the distance between the record head from the playback
head would achieve about 5 seconds of loop time. This was how the '73
album No Pussyfooting was created. Starting from the mid 80's Digital
Delay (Echo) pedals became commercially available and most significantly
affordable and by early 90's came about the advent of the first dedicated
live looping devices specifically the Echoplex Digital Pro which was
designed by Mathhias Grob sold under Gibson Oberheim. I met Matthias
through my performances in Northern California for the Y2KX International
Live Looping Festivals (I was one of 4 headliners among 75 artists from
around the world) and am honored to be friends with him and many other
brilliant and creative individuals in both music and technology.
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What's your gear like now? is there a difference in what you do in the studio, at a gig etc.
Over the years I have been observing and acquired music gear that have
evolved with the times but it was only within the last decade that we've
begun to see some serious leaps in processing power and memory capacity
at much more reasonable costs for them to create live looping capabilities
way beyond the limitations and high costs of equipment in the previous
decades. Obviously I have acquired quite a range of equipment in the
home studio but I have to configure my gear to achieve a fair balance
between achieving sonic intentions and mobility so I can easily travel
for gigs locally as well as overseas. Currently Live Looping technology
is already available for laptops but from a performers perspective the
audience here is largely still not ready to appreciate it as they always
quickly assume that it's all "karaoke" which is something
I avoid for now but I can see myself eventually going that route down
the road.
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What's the most interesting thing you've done with looping so far?
I use live looping for different applications including art, production entertainment, education. but my most interesting experience of late happened just last August when I was invited to perform in Bangkok Thailand playing my Ambient Live Looping together with Gary Hall (USA) for spiritual purposes specifically for a meditation gathering at Budhadasa Indapanno Archives. Truly one of a kind experience and I look forward to more in the future around the region and the world.
Best way for a noob to start?
My no. 1 recommendation is to find a used Line 6 DL4 and play with
it’s built in looping setting which achieves up to 28 secs of loop time
or one of the many RC loop pedal models from Boss and practice practice
practice until it becomes play play play. Just remember that the looper
is the most untiring and brutally honest musical partner you can ever
dream to have. Rubbish in is rubbish out in live looping....well most
of the time at least LOL
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You've modified your stuff extensively by yourself. Are you a true techie?
I’m a very hardware based techie and also like to make things work
better than they were originally designed for. I’m a longtime huge fan
of overclocking pcs and modifying all kinds of electronic gear especially
electric guitars, pedals and tube amplifiers I used to be from the Electronics
Manufacturing Industry as was working in the R&D Dept at Wearnes
Technology involved in design, fabricatiion, testing and and troubleshooting
prototypes of mainboards, expansion cards and the early competition
to Creative Labs multimedia soundcards. I took up Electronics at that
time because we didn’t have as much choices as what’s available these
days after O levels. My most recent creations are my own guitar to smartphone
interface that allows the guitar to be fed into the smartphone to be
processed and then sent out again to the external pedals. The smartphone
is also mounted ergonomically on my Klein Electric guitar that my son
Ramon calls “Optimus Klein” (check my facebook for pics). I went about
creating solutions for myself because there were and still there are
no such commercially available product solutions.
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What other kind of tech are you interested in?
Digital Photography especially Infrared or IR is my other
passion and
creative medium. I started with using a modified Sony Digital camera but
these days I shoot all my infra reds (hand held)with a modified Nikon
digital camera. I’m very interested in Digital Video technologies which
I’ve been exploring and eventually intend to work towards creating my
own ideas of Video Loops for future Audio/Visual medium album releases
as well as for expanding my live performances. Along the way I see myself
eventually creating apps for mobile as well as desk bound devices . These
ideas are currently in the making as we speak and one of them will be
coming out as a follow up to the CCCD album. Exciting times ahead that’s
for sure.
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Apple or Android? And why?