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Tape loop

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For the song, seeWho Can You Trust? (album).

Inmusic,tape loopsareloopsofmagnetic tapeused to createrepetitive,rhythmicmusical patterns or dense layers ofsoundwhen played on atape recorder.Originating in the 1940s with the work ofPierre Schaeffer,they were used amongcontemporarycomposers of 1950s and 1960s, such asÉliane Radigue,Steve Reich,Terry Riley,andKarlheinz Stockhausen,who used them to createphasepatterns, rhythms, textures, andtimbres.Popular musicauthors of 1960s and 1970s, particularly inpsychedelic,progressiveandambientgenres, used tape loops to accompany their music with innovative sound effects. In the 1980s,analog audioand tape loops with it gave way todigital audioand application of computers to generate and process sound.

A looped tape, capstans, and multiple magnetic heads for multiple echos on aRoland RE-101Space Echo unit

Description

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In a tape loop, a section of magnetic tape is cut and spliced end-to-end, creating a circle or loop which can be played continuously, usually on areel-to-reeltape recorder, making the sound repeat endlessly.

Simultaneous playing of tape loops to create patterns and rhythms was developed and initially used bymusique concrèteandtape musiccomposers, and was most extensively utilized by Steve Reich for his "phasing"pieces such as"Come Out"(1966) and"It's Gonna Rain"(1965), and by Karlheinz Stockhausen inGesang der Jünglinge(1955–56) andKontakte(1958–60). Stockhausen also used the technique for live performance inSolo(1965–66).

If, instead of simply playing back a recorded loop, something is done to progressively alter the recorded material between cycles, such as re-recording the sound before it passes the playback head or adding new material to the loop, then a process of change will occur in the content, quality and complexity of the material.[1]

On a standard reel-to-reel tape recorder, one loop can be no more than few seconds long. Some composers were satisfied with this approach, but there were other methods to allow for longer loops. For example, placing two reel-to-reel machines side by side with the tape path running from the one to the other. By using this method, some composers could create very long loops which allowed for sounds of greater duration. When recording his landmark 1978ambientalbumMusic for Airports,Brian Enoreported that for a particular song, "One of the tape loops was seventy-nine feet long and the other eighty-three feet".[2]The longest open tape loop ever created was made by Barry Anderson for performances of Stockhausen'sSolo,[3]but closed cartridges commonly make much longer lengths available.

By accelerating the speed of a loop to a sufficient degree (e.g., 1,280 times faster), a sequence of events originally perceived as a rhythm becomes heard as a pitch, and variation of the rhythm in the original succession of events produces different timbres in the accelerated sound.[4][5]The maximum available acceleration of most three-speed tape recorders is four times.

History

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In the late 1940s,Pierre Schaefferused special phonograph discs with asillon fermé(closed groove) to repeat segments of sounds in hismusique concrètestudio in Paris. When magnetic tape technology became available, he replaced this technique with tape loops, where such segments could either be simply repeated, or could undergo electronic transformation during repetition.[6]

In 1955,Éliane Radigue,an apprentice ofPierre SchaefferatStudio d'Essai,learned to cut, splice and edit tape using his techniques. However, in the late 60s she became more interested in tape feedback. She composed several pieces (Jouet Electronique[1967],Elemental I[1968],Stress-Osaka[1969],Usral[1969],Ohmnht[1970]Vice Versa, etc[1970]) by processing the feedback between two tape recorders and a microphone.[7]

Halim El-Dabh,who experimented withtape musicfrom the early 1940s to the 1950s, also utilized tape loops.[8]Beginning in the late 1950s, theBBC Radiophonic Workshopbegan using tape loops to add special effects to some BBC programming.[9]Several different configurations of tape loops were employed in the early years of theWDR Studioin Cologne. One such arrangement was used to build up multilayered textures by sequentially recording sounds with theerase headdisconnected or with a customised arrangement of the heads.Gottfried Michael Koenigapplied this method in 1954, in hisKlangfiguren I.[10]

In Canada,Hugh Le Caineproduced "a particularly clear and memorable example ofmusique concrète"in 1955 titledDripsody.It was built from the sound of a single drop of water, using a variable-speed tape recorder, tape loops, and just 25 splices.[11]At this same time in Cologne, Karlheinz Stockhausen produced a more ambitious work,Gesang der Jünglinge(1955–56), which made extensive use of tape loops, particularly for its stratified impulse groups and choral swarms.[12]

Minimalist composerTerry Rileybegan employing tape loops at the end of the 1950s. Using simpleWollensaktape recorders, he recorded piano music, speech and other sound samples, which he would reproduce on speakers surrounding the audience along with live performance, creating "orchestral textures", as Edward Strickland puts it. With assistance ofRichard MaxfieldandRamon Sender,Riley combined tape loops withechoplexdevices, producing an "acid trip" pieceMescalin Mix(1961), made from sound samples from his earlier works. Later, he experimented with combining different tapes together, producing pieces such asMusic for the Gift(1963) and culminating in his use of a tape delay/feedback system employing twotape recorders(collectively described by Riley as the "time lag accumulator" ) in live solo performances.[13][14]

The use of tape loops inpopular musicdates back to Jamaicandub musicin the 1960s. Dub producerKing Tubbyused tape loops in his productions, while improvising with homemadedelayunits. Another dub producer, Sylvan Morris, developed a slapbackechoeffect by using both mechanical and handmade tape loops. These techniques were later adopted byhip hop musiciansin the 1970s.[15]

Steve Reichalso used tape loops to compose, using a technique which he called "phasing".He would put two tape loops together at slightly different speeds, so they would start playing simultaneously and then drift apart. Pieces created by this method areIt's Gonna Rain(1965) andCome Out(1966). InViolin Phase(1967) he combined the tape loop with an instrumental score. Later on,Gavin Bryarsexplored a similar concept in composition1, 2, 1-2-3-4(1971), played by a small ensemble in which every musician independently tried to reproduce tape recording.[16]

In the 1960s and 1970s, use of tape loops made a breakthrough inpopular music.As they progressed towards their "psychedelic"phase,the Beatlesincreasingly experimented with new technology and tape recorders, a process which culminated withRevolver(1966) and its last track "Tomorrow Never Knows",based on five tape loops running simultaneously."Revolution 9"(1968) was an even more experimental venture, consisting almost entirely of tape loops fading in and out.[17]

Introduction of new technologies, such as analogmusic sequencersandsynthesizersin the 1970s, followed by digital sequencers in 1977, marked an end of the tape loop era in the music industry. With the advent ofMIDIin 1983, computers and digital devices took over the production of sound effects from analog devices.[18]Tape loop compositions have seen only sporadic revivals since, such asWilliam Basinski'sThe Disintegration Loopsseries (2002–2003), evidencing the slow death of his tapes originally recorded in the 1980s.[19]

Recordings

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  • Sounds of New Music.LP recording 1 disc: 33⅓ rpm, monaural, 12 in. (New York City: Folkways Records, 1957, FX 6160). Reissued on CD, asSounds of New Music: Science Series.CD recording, 1 disc: digital, monaural, 4 3/4 in. (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1990s, FX 6160).
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen:Solo,für Melodie-Instrument mit Rückkopplung;Vinko Globokar:Discours II pour cinq trombones;Luciano Berio:Sequenza V;Carlos Roqué Alsina:Consecuenza.Vinko Globokar (trombone). Avant Garde. LP recording.Deutsche Grammophon137 005. [Hamburg]: Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft 1969.
  • Jean Jacques Perrey & Gershon Kingsley:The In Sound From Way Out(Vanguard Records, 1966, VSD 79222),Kaledoscopic Vibrations(Vanguard Records, 1967, VSD 79264),Moog Indigo(Vanguard Records, 1970, VSD 6549).
  • Knut Sønstevold, bassoon. Knut Sønstevold; Miklós Maros; Carel Brons; Arne Mellnäs; Lars-Gunnar Bodin; Karlheinz Stockhausen; Sten Hanson. [Solorecorded at Danviken Hospital Church, 23–26 June 1977]. LP recording Fylkingen Records FYLP 1011. [Stockholm]: Fylkingen Records, 1977.
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz:Solo(Version für Flöte);Solo(Version für Synthesizer);Spiral(Version für Oboe). Dietmar Wiesner (flute),Simon Stockhausen(synthesizer) Catherine Milliken (oboe). CD recording. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 45. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1995.
  • Sönstevold Plays Stockhausen.Karlheinz Stockhausen:Solo,In Freundschaft,Spiral,Tierkreis.Knut Sønstevold (bassoon); Kina Sønstevold (piano). Nosag CD 042; [Solorecorded by Swedish Radio on 4 October 1985 during the EAM Festival,Berwaldhallen]. [Sweden]: Nosag Records, 2000.

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^MaconieOther Planets(2005),p. 263.
  2. ^Prendergrast (2000),p. 123.
  3. ^MaconieAvant Garde(2012),p. 286.
  4. ^StockhausenConcept(1962),p. 42.
  5. ^StockhausenVier Kriterien(1978),p. 362–363.
  6. ^Kane (2014),pp. 16–17.
  7. ^Rodgers (2010),p.[page needed].
  8. ^Holmes (2008),p. 154.
  9. ^Marshall (2008).
  10. ^Morawska-Büngeler (1988),p. 44.
  11. ^Ultan (1996),p. 155.
  12. ^Decroupet & Ungeheuer (1998),pp. 110, 118–119, 126.
  13. ^Potter (2002),pp. 98–100, 166.
  14. ^Potter & Gann (2013),p. 245.
  15. ^Veal (2007),p. 115.
  16. ^Collins (2007),pp. 44–45.
  17. ^Millard (2012),p. 182.
  18. ^Théberge (2003),pp. 258–259.
  19. ^Frere-Jones (2014).

Sources

Further reading

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  • Bill Gibson;Sequencing Samples and Loops(Hal Leonard Recording Method Book 4); New York: Hal Leonard Books, 2007.ISBN978-1-42343-051-3.
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