livelooping

andy butler

poster

LiveLooping music is a way of extending your musical possibilities without resorting to the use of pre-recorded or pre-programmed material. Sounds can be layered, altered, mixed and edited as the music is performed. andy butler produces a wide range of sounds from his guitar by use of special techniques, and by electronic modification. Melodies, rhythms and a whole range of distinctive guitar and 'non-guitar' tones.

Download mp3s click here

Forthcoming Events include the 2008 Norwich Festival of Live Looping, Norwich Arts Centre, 11 October 1pm, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts(UEA) 15 October 5pm. Scroll down for line-up.

Check out last years Norwich Festival of Live Looping , which has a page dedicated to it here, with links to mp3s and photos.

...and don't forget the Philip Shamino Quartet at Epic Studios, regular gigs, next one on Fri 17 Oct, 8.30pm.

livelooping cd
now available
livelooping cd

11 tracks of looped guitar, each exploring a different possibility, and each a single unedited performance. Angular melodies, world-beat rhythms, lush chords in classical type harmony, trance sequences, abstract electronica, all woven into a cohesive album of compelling music.

listen to a playlist of excerpts from the album, should work on Windows Media Player, Winamp and i-Tunes.

Find Out More about the CD.

BUY for £6 (GB Pounds Sterling)(+£1 p&p)

Credit card transaction handled by Paypal, or use your paypal account. email me if you'd like to send payment by post.

Now Available, Looper's Delight Compilation Vol3
with an otherwise unavailable andy butler track.
BUY for £4 (GB Pounds Sterling)(+£1p&p)

MP3 Downloads
backwater(3.4M), the first track from the livelooping cd, available free for personal use, and to share with friends.

live recordings and more ....enjoy.

Guitar Player Magazine recommends the livelooping cd
hey, andy's 'livelooping' is top of the list
Guitar Player Magazine has an article on looping in it's April 2006 edition.
download a scan of the article page 88, Higher Education, Looping.Want to be on the cutting edge? Then dig this tutorial...

Gear

For those who like to know. I'm using a stereo pair of Gibson Digital Echoplexes to recycle and re-edit my sound. The guitar sound is DI'ed through an ADA MP1 valve pre-amp equaliser and modified through a Lexicon Vortex (see Vortex database).
I run this rig directly to the pa, which by preference is my pair of JBL Eon15 powered speakers for a fantastically detailed and rich sound.
Currently I'm also using an EH Stereo Memory Man to varispeed loops, and a Lexicon JamMan fed into a MAM RS3 filterbank for extra texturing.
The guitar's a vintage SG copy by Hofner, with my own customisations, which include an onboard distortion with unusual sonic properties. I get those long sustained notes using a device called an Ebow.
Many thanks to inventor Matthias Grob for programming some of my special effect suggestions into the Echoplex.
gear

Events

Norwich Arts Centre
11th Oct 1PM FREE

2008 Festival of Live Looping

Steve Bingham, Per Boysen, Steve Lawson, Lobelia and andy butler.

Each artist presented here this afternoon has been able to develop their own unique style of music, so it's not only an ideal opportunity to see live looping in action, but also just an afternoon of great music.

Per Boysen from Sweden plays alto flute and EWI. Per's control of his looped sounds is second to none, allowing him to create complex accompaniments from just short flute phrases. The EWI is an Electronic Wind Instrument, which can be played like a sax, but sound like any instrument Per imagines. Per's quirky arrangements are guaranteed to delight and intrigue.

Steve Bingham, a solo violinist with a successful career in classical music who also finds time to loop his violin, creating an eclectic mix of classical, folk and minimalism, with some gorgeous arrangements of well known songs thrown in for fun.

Steve Lawson is a solo bass guitarist, using real time looping to layer up processed bass sounds to build an orchestral soundscape that blends jazz, ambient, electronica, funk and folk music.

Lobelia's acapella voice sings us songs of love and loss, blending hook-laden adult pop with a more spacial ambient sensibility. Expect angelic choirs and witty observation.

andy butler uses special guitar techniques to create drum beats, dub bass lines, orchestral washes and all manner of sounds, combining them together into a seamless mix with some unexpected twists and turns.

check out the venue

...and a complementary event
LiveLooping Improvisers at the Late shift

Wednesday 15 October, 5PM-8PM Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts (UEA),FREE

The Late Shift hosts a range of multi-media events throughout the building, including sets from some of the worlds most accomplished live looping improvisers.

photo chosen by venue..honest Per Boysen & andy butler
Rhythm, melody and spontaneity. A duo performance from two of live looping's prime innovators. (details for these 2 performers given above)

Jeremy & Chris (aka Masse) with Stephen Scott
Jeremy Trantor (flute, kalimba, bass etc) and Chris Leeds (udu drum, cajon, assorted percussion) build up ultra-chilled world beat electronica, displaying consummate skill on their assortment of instruments. Then Stephen weaves in his aural guitar tapestries to complement .

check out the venue

Current Activities

CT-Bugs is a cd project by members of the Chain Tape Collective. Available for free download as mp3, or buy a high quality cd here for the cost of manufacture. Interestingly, my track from this has been played on Swedish radio already.

Currently ongoing are studio sessions with Tim Bowness and Alistair Murphy. An album of songs and improvisations with plenty of looping and vintage keyboard sounds. Forthcoming CD release

Current focus is on organising gigs in Norwich.

Burning Shed have released a looping piece for "solo" voice that I looped up (and edited) for Tim Bowness. Available as an mp3 download from their site www.burningshed.com. They also have plans to release a piece that I made with Hugh Hopper.

Graham Halliwells new CD, Recorded Delivery (distributed by Erstwhile), features some looping I did for him of his "saxophone feedback".


Currently in the software department I'm working with Matthias Grob (inventor of the Gibson Echoplex) on looping software for a vst plug-in and maybe new looping hardware.

Contact info@andybutler.com


Links

  • Philip Shamino Quartet Post Jazz Electric Instrumental, with andy butler as "other guitarist".

  • If you're a musician wanting to find out about looping go to www.loopersdelight.com. Join the mailing list and you could find yourself part of an international community ( or just knowledgable about loops ).

  • Looping Music Forum

  • Burning Shed, an online label that kindly agreed to distribute the livelooping cd. Many excellent artists on the label so well worth a visit.

  • Matthias Grob, inventor of the Echoplex Digital Pro, amazing looping guitarist and we program music software together as Mathons.

  • Bernhard Wagner guitarist, looper, programmer, multi-media artist. Check out his 4th Night cd, which was mostly recorded in my loop studio.

  • Stephen Scott Looping guitarist local to the Norwich area.

  • Rick Walker, live looper, percussionist and, it seems, we're working together on a recording project.

  • Nick Robinson, live looping guitarist from Sheffield, and origami genius.

  • Chopitch, the pitch shifting, beat chopping vst plug-in. A beat remix tool, a 'drum enlarger', or a way to make a regular guitar sound exactly like a bass.

  • Vortex database, not really a database any more, but full of useful info on the Lexicon Vortex. Sorry about the background graphic.

  • Meditation techniques, useful info.

  • Cellular Automata Demo. A javascript page which lets you play with J.H.Conway's simple approximation of living organisms. I think this needs Microsoft Internet Explorer to work at all.

  • Andy Butler's MySpace Profile Can't take this too seriously, music for listening and download as well as a couple of cd tracks. Some good visuals in the 'pics' section.