Frippertronics
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Frippertronics is a system of tape loops originally developed in the electronic music studios of the early 1960s and first used by composers Terry Riley and Pauline Oliveros. It became popular through its use in ambient music by composer Brian Eno with guitarist Robert Fripp[1].
Frippertronics (a term coined by Joanna Walton, Fripp's poet girlfriend in the late 1970s) is an analog delay system consisting of two reel-to-reel tape recorders situated side-by-side. The two machines are configured so that the tape travels from the supply reel of the first machine to the take-up reel of the second, thereby allowing sound recorded by the first machine to be played back some time later on the second. The audio of the second machine is routed back to the first, causing the delayed signal to repeat while new audio is mixed in with it. The amount of delay (usually 3 to 5 seconds) is controlled by increasing or decreasing the distance between the machines.
Fripp used this technique to dynamically create recordings containing layer upon layer of electric guitar sounds in a real time fashion. An added advantage was that, by nature of the technique, the complete performances were recorded in their entirety on the original looped tape.
Fripp first used the technique while recording with Brian Eno in Eno's home studio, combining guitar performance with two-machine tape delay, on the 21-minute song "The Heavenly Music Corporation" released on the album No Pussyfooting in 1972.[2] Later they recorded the song "An Index of Metals" and the album Evening Star, released in 1974. These recordings were not purely tape loops, since some after-the-fact processing, overdubbing, and editing were done as well.
This delay system was first utilized in live situations for a short European Fripp & Eno tour in May/June 1975.
The term "Frippertronics" was created later to label this same delay system, that Fripp felt he could operate by himself, as a solo performer. In what he called "Pure Frippertronics", Fripp created the loops in real time with no additional editing. Included was the method of rewinding the recorded tape, to be played back while Fripp would improvise a guitar solo on top of it.
Fripp utilized this type of Frippertronics to perform live solo concerts in small, informal venues. It allowed him to be what he referred to as a "small, mobile, intelligent unit", as opposed to being part of a massive rock concert touring company.
Only one and a half albums of Pure Frippertronics were produced: Side A of an album with two names God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners in 1980 and Let The Power Fall in 1981 .
Frippertronics was also used by Fripp in more conventional rock recordings, replacing what could be viewed as musical parts normally served by orchestral backing. He referred to this as "Applied Frippertronics". Several of Fripp's albums, as well as albums by Peter Gabriel, Daryl Hall and The Roches, featured this usage. Also, Side B of God Save the Queen/Under Heavy Manners included what Fripp termed "Discotronics", mixing Frippertronics and a disco-style rhythm section.
According to Eric Tamm,[3] the first album to feature "proper" Frippertronics was Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs (recording 1977, released 1980).
In the 1990s, Fripp largely abandoned the tape loop system, in favor of a digital system he has dubbed "Soundscapes," which is a dramatic extension of the original concept.
[edit] References
- ^ Synapse Magazine - Electronic Music and Synthesizers
- ^ Prendergast, Mark (2001). The Ambient Century: From Mahler to Trance: The Evolution of Sound in the Electronic Age. Bloomsbury Publishing, p119. ISBN 1582341346.
- ^ Robert Fripp by Eric Tamm
