Frippertronics
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Frippertronics is a system of tape loops developed by composer Brian Eno with guitarist Robert Fripp.
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 separated by a distance of several feet. 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 8 to 10 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.
When Fripp started working with Eno on combining guitar performance with tape delay, it produced two albums: No Pussyfooting, and Evening Star. These recordings were not purely tape loops, since some after-the-fact processing, overdubbing, and editing were done as well. These are sometimes incorrectly considered examples of Frippertronics.
Actually, the term was created later to label a simplified version of the system, that Fripp felt he could operate by himself, as a solo performer. In what he called Pure Frippertronics, it was strictly the creation of 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 system 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: Let The Power Fall and God Save the Queen (Side A of an album with two names).
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.
In the 1990s, Fripp largely abandoned the tape loop system, in favor a digital system he has dubbed "Soundscapes," which is a dramatic extension of the original concept.