Conjure a Choir of Enchantment

When we sing we pray twice.  When we loop our voices we create a quantum choir of intentional & mesmerizing vibration for healing, ritual, and entertainment. Welcome to the magical mystical world of looping where you can conjure a pagan choir of enchantment with your voice & your FEET!  That’s right.  Your feet.  

The Musical Magic of Looping

Looping is a relatively new technology that allows an artist to use a foot pedal to record a track, play it back, & add a new recorded layer each time the loop comes around. This all happens live & in real time.  The majority of looping artists use loopers as a practice tool to create a rhythm track & play lead over the top.  I use my looper in live performance to include all of my instruments (guitar, bodhran, ukulele, pads, percussion, & voice).  

I receive the most powerful feedback from fans about how magical it is to specifically hear the harmonic layers of the VOICE.  The result is like “listening to a chorus being called into being from the air itself.”  Richard Hoagland~Fan

One of my most popular seasonal looped recordings is of “Silent Night, Solstice Night” that I wrote on & for the looper:

Looping calls in powerful energies & organizes sound in a way that is “Mesmerizing.  The repetition is somewhat ritualistic & hypnotic.  Craig Schwalenberg ~ Fan.  

I have noticed that when I am looping my voice the trancelike frequencies seems to magically draw others in & attracts young children & animals.  

I took a break from looping to get a snack & found Julin the Cat in my spot!

The Looper Doesn’t Lie

If you own a loop pedal & possess a modicum of humility, pitch, patience, & persistence you have what it takes to loop layered vocals.  But be forewarned. Looping will test you & challenge you in ways you may not expect.

Do you remember the first time you heard a recording of your own voice?  Most of us react with something like:  “Is THAT really how I SOUND”?  When you loop you get an audio acid mirror demonstrating to you EXACTLY what you just sounded like.  All the perfections & imperfections that might “scroll” away in a live performance are right there in your face & reflected back to you over  over again.  You may find yourself cringing over what is actually happening vs. what your brain previously perceived to be happening.  

I have heard of musicians buying a looper and getting so frustrated that they throw it across the room & promptly shuffle it to the back of a dark closet.  But if you stick with it you can create magic.  Looping will also help you to hone new skills & chisel you into being a much better musician/performer. I use the Boss RC-50 Loopstation, which, unfortunately, is now discontinued. The Boss RC-300 might be a good alternative, and there are many entry-level Loop Stations available, too.

The looper can also be a wonderful writing tool.  I wrote “Ave Grace” specifically for the looper by combining “Ave Maria”, “Amazing Grace”, & “Alleluia”.  Note:  I consider Mary/Maria to be a Goddess & treat this song as a Goddess chant.  Here is the Live Looped version along side the studio recording (tracked).

and the studio version…

5 Principles for Creating a Successful Live Loop

Assuming you have a looper & you understand the basic technological workings here are 5 tips for creating Magical Loop Creations.

Humility:  

Take a moment & come to terms that this is a learning process.  It is very unlikely that you will get it right the first time or even the second or third or 500th time.  As I mentioned above:  The looper doesn’t lie.  Be gentle with yourself.  You may be stunned to find out that you were way off on the beat or that your pitch was a bit wanting.  I implore you to embrace this.  In any case it will make you a MUCH better singer.  Use the loop as feedback & adjust accordingly.  Do it again, and again, and again until you can approach your voice objectively.

Vision:  

You must start with a solid idea of a song that you would like to loop and layer.  It is important that you choose a song/project that you LOVE because this will take patience, practice, and inspirational fuel to get you past those moments when you want to throw the looper across the room.

Foundation/Precision:  

The first track that you lay down on the looper needs to be solid.  It is the base for all the layers you will add.  Your pitch & rhythm must be precise but also alive with artistic expression.  If something goes wrong with your bed track it’s best to just start over.  Each layer’s success is contingent on the precision of the track recorded before it.  

Presence/Awareness/Consistency:  

You must be hyper aware at all times.  Of course you must push all the right buttons at all the right times to operate the looper properly.  But you ALSO must be hyper aware of your performance to match the resonance of each word/note every time you add a new layer.  You must be aware how long you held a note & hold it just a bit shorter than the first track.  You must be aware of how you articulated a word & the vocal tone of each note so you can match & blend each harmony as you lay it down.  And here’s a fun part.  If you made a lyric mistake you must be so aware of this that you intentionally make the same “mistake” each time you add a layer to your loop!

Persistence:  

Do not give up.  Step away & take breaks.  But do NOT give up.  Learning to loop is like learning a new instrument.  It takes practice & perseverance.  Get curious.  Try new things.  Mistakes can turn into magic with the right mindset.  Do not give up.  

Benefits to Looping

There are so many personal & professional benefits to looping. Looping has made me a MUCH better live performer.  Looping has given me an outlet that requires SO much focus that I must turn off my mind & be fully in the moment.  It is also very rewarding to be able to create my own chants & a world of musical trance to share with others. 

Looping is transformative.  It can create something from nothing.  It is healing, soothing, and otherworldly. I hope you will consider it as a magical musical practice for yourself.  But don’t take my word for it.  Here are some comments from fans about their experience being on the receiving end of looping.

“A transcendent experience that has moved me to tears on multiple occasions.”  Kelmie Blake 

“It was like being able to witness a flower blooming as it happen.”  Cheryl DeDecker

“I get carried away on wings of sound.”  Bonnie L. Smith

“The loop becomes a very immersive experience like the waves of the ocean as the tide rises around you.”  Kristina Sullivan

“It is a spectacle of wonder and a delight to behold.”  Rick Gramlich

“Delightfully rhythmic. Enchantingly Tantric.”  S. Pauline Michalovic

I will leave you with my Looping Playlist on You Tube where you can peruse many of my Looped Creations.

Blessed Be.

For more information about Celia, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Celia’s sites on the web, check out Celia’s page on Pagan Song.

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