Loop Station is a journal entry by Jack Rusher, published here Monday, August 30, 2004. It is part of Journal.
We made some noise, would you like some?
My friend Michi called to tell me that she had something special to show me. She brought over a queer little device, resting in her purse like a tiny pet, that records layer after layer of sound into a ever-repeating pool of loops. Its function is strictly additive; there’s no undo, no “do-overs,” and no mercy for our frailties and creative failures. We took turns playing various instruments into the device, building tiny songlets out of improvised chords and melodies.
The magic of the Loop Station is that it prevents obsession and endless re-recording, returning the process to a simple form of play. Here are the fruits of our efforts:
- Rising Slowly in a Hot Air Balloon
- Dancing in Circles, Throwing Flowers
- Hypnosis in the Afternoon
- Chirping Baby Birds
- Filmed in Black and White
More strange loops will doubtless follow as additional afternoons are sacrificed to the little red box that lives in Michi’s purse.