Tape Loops of the 60s/70s

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by RedRoseSpeedway, Aug 12, 2018.

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  1. RedRoseSpeedway

    RedRoseSpeedway Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Michigan
    I really like when songs from the 60s/70s employ the use of tapeloops! What are some notable examples or some of your favorites? One of my favorites is Flying by The Beatles
     
  2. Sweet Cheerio

    Sweet Cheerio Forum Resident

    Terry Riley - Music for the Gift (1963)
     
  3. gd0

    gd0 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies

    Location:
    Golden Gate
    Terry Riley - You're No Good

    Please set aside 20 minutes. :laugh:

     
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  4. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Daevid Allen learned tape composition in France with Francoise Bayle at GRM and was inspired by Terry Riley as were The Soft Machine.

    Gong Camembert Electrique seems to incorporate elements of the Switch Doctor tape-work, as did their live shows.
    Gong Continental Circus - one track uses found sound (interviews) with loops.
    David Allen - The Switch Doctor - a 30 min tape work made at GRM, elements of which were used by Francois Bayle in his own work.

    Does 'We Did It Again' by The Soft Machine use a tape loop? It sounds like it does but they may just be playing it that way.
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2018
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  5. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Poppy Nogood and The Phantom Band's All Night Flight is also based on Terry Riley's tape technique. The 'time-lag accumulator' as he called it.
     
  6. Mal

    Mal Phorum Physicist

  7. elaterium

    elaterium Forum Resident

    Back in the USSR
     
  8. no.nine

    no.nine (not his real name)

    Location:
    NYC
  9. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    steve reich it's gonna rain, 1965.

    (And others from same period.)
     
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  10. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Orchid Spangiafora. Flee Past's Apes Elf. 1979

     
  11. karmaman

    karmaman Forum Resident

    David Bowie - Station To Station (intro... BBC sound effects record looped on tape if that qualifies).
     
  12. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees: The drums are a tape loop taken from a short snippet of the drum track of "Night Fever."
     
  13. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Think About It

    Yardbirds 1968

    ....Or do i have my FX mixed up?
     
  14. Motown Junk

    Motown Junk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wales, UK
    The Who - Baba O'Riley

    Although not strictly a tape loop, I think it was a repeat function on Pete's organ, but wasn't he trying to recreate the tape loop effects of the aforementioned Terry Riley?

     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2018
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  15. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    Tape loops as in Mellotron?
     
  16. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    Mellotron does not use a loop. It has a 8 second length of tape. Also it is restricted to taping sequences of notes for playback, so I would suggest that is an early kind of sampler.

    The OP should correct me if I'm wrong, but I read this thread as about early use of tape-loops running on tape decks. Such methods use hand-splicing, or transfer of the signal onto a pre-made loop during live performance or composition. Pre-sampling technology.

    I know the difference between sampling and tape loops can be seen as subtle but it's about the constraints of technology, how that was used creatively and how it led to a particular aesthetic.
     
  17. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    The classic The Beatles deconstruction by tape composers The Residents:
    The Residents - Beyond the Valley of a Day in the Life. 1977
     
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  18. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    My point being that I don't hear loops in Flying, just a Mellotron.
     
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  19. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    You may be right. I was wondering myself but assumed OP knew more than me about that track.

    EDIT. But they seem to be correct through (wiki):

    'It was recorded on 8 September 1967 with mellotron, guitar, bass, maracas, drums, and tape loops overdubs on 28 September.'
     
  20. Cassiel

    Cassiel Sonic Reducer

    Location:
    NYC, USA
    Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet - Gavin Bryars
     
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  21. numer9

    numer9 Beatles Apologist

    Location:
    Philly Burbs
    The original track is 9 minutes long so that's possible. I sure don't hear them in the released version.
     
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  22. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    No idea. There are some repeating figures in there. There's a repeating organ sound all the way though in the left channel. Could that be it? Also some backward sounds at the end?

    It's hard to tell. Even listening to the 4 or 5 outtakes and the alt. mix. It's not an obvious candidate for talking about tape-loops.
     
    Last edited: Aug 13, 2018
  23. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Yoko's Greenfield Morning, isn't that a loop of George Harrison's sitar?
     
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  24. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I don't know, but I like this piece.
     
  25. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Luc Ferrari, "Éphémère II"

    [​IMG]
     
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