A Circular History of the Loop

“Without repetition, I wonder if music is meaningless.” Jonathan Morton

A Circular History of the Loop is a truly immersive sonic journey that tells the story of the loop using loops themselves. Voices repeat, overlap, decay and return.

Beginning with the physical manipulation of recorded sound and the pioneering musique concrète experiments of Pierre Schaeffer, the programme explores what happened when musicians discovered the possibilities of magnetic tape. Tape loops lead us through music concrete, minimalism and the studio experimentation of the 1960s and 70s, before sampling, digital technology and looper pedals opened up entirely new ways of making music.
“Looping is the best way I know of making a lot of noise with one guitar.”

Musicians Robert Fripp, Cosey Fanni Tutti, FM3’s Christiaan Virant, Son of Dave, Paul Cousins, Jonathan Morton, Pippa Reid-Foster, Lewis and Suzi Cook, Dusty Ohms and authors Barry Cleveland, David Stubbs, John Cavanagh, producer David Singleton and YouTube influencer Hainbach contribute thoughts, demonstrations and specially recorded performances. In this immersive collage, their voices don't simply tell the story - they become part of it.

This ambisonic-rendered version surrounds the listener with voices, music and loops, creating a three-dimensional sound world in which the subject is experienced as much as explained, so listening in headphones is recommended.

“A good loop is one that you can sit with for hours – there’s a whole world in there.” A Circular History of the Loop enters that world.

Unique musical contributions from Pippa Reid-Foster, Son of Dave, Paul Cousins, Dusty Ohms and Lewis Cook.

Technical assistance in ambisonics from Ronan Breslin, Glasgow School of Art, School of Innovation and Technology.

Produced, edited and sound-designed by Angus McIntyre

Additional info:

This binaural version of the programme was originally mixed in ambisonics 3D sound using a 16 speaker array at The Glasgow School of Art's School of Innovation and Technology. The ambisonic mix was then optimised for headphone playback via binaural rendering. Ambisonics enables full 3D sound playback either on speakers or on headphones. It is used extensively used in electronic games and virtual reality platforms.