Earliest Minimalist Frippertronics Improvisations

by -ING

In mid 1979, Charles Rice Goff III was inspired by witnessing some performances from Robert Fripp’s “Frippertronics” tour. He began to experiment with applications of Fripp's tape loop set-up on his own reel-to-reel tape recorders. From this point onward into the next decade, tape loop experiments and tape loop compositions became a regular part of Goff’’s life. Naturally, Goff brought together his musical collaborators to join him in this sonic experimentation. The earliest of these tape loop experiments were loosely referred to as products of a project called “-ING.” Goff used the term “-ING”, which distinguishes the present participle form of English verbs, because in his mind it somehow related to the improvised nature of these recordings. In 1980, Goff also founded “Taped Rugs Productions” as an umbrella company for the artistic endeavors of him and his associates.

Goff's closest partner in tape loop experimentation was Steve Schaer, and by the end of 1982, the name "-ING" referred specifically to Goff and Schaer as a duo recording/performing act. In 1983, Goff and Schaer spent many hours performing as –ING at night clubs and parties in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and in other Bay Area cities. Their final performance as –ING was at the San Francisco International Dada Festival in September, 1984. Schaer made several appearances with Goff on Herd The Ether Space recordings over the following thirteen years. He also played with Disism and Robert Silverman as a member of the “Musical Muscles” at Disism’s first public performance in 1986. He and Goff recorded together as –ING one final time in 1991.
Sadly, Schaer took his own life in 1998.

Archived here are some of the earliest Goff-Schaer Frippertronics-style tape loop improvisations. The minimalist instrumentation used on these recordings consists of Goff playing a Fender Telecaster electric guitar through a series of distortion effects and a volume/wah wah pedal and Schaer playing an ARP Odyssey Synthesizer through a series of effects, occasionally playing a Peavey electric guitar plugged through the ARP synthesizer.

Some Specifics:

Tracks 1, 2, and 3 are from the very first Goff-Schaer Frippertronics session, recorded in Berkeley, California, in 1980. Two edits from Track 3 appear on the first Taped Rugs Productions cassette album: "Might As Well Beyond Venus," as the songs: "The Aquarium" and "You Sap Me I Sap You." Goff and Schaer later learned how to actually play The Aquarium, and it became a regular part of -ING’s performance repertoire.

Track 4 was recorded in 1980 in Oakland, California. An edit from this recording was used to mold the piece "Whirring During" at San Francisco's Hyde Street Recording Studios in 1981. Goff and Schaer later learned how to play this improvisation as well, and Whirring During also became a regular part of -ING’s performance repertoire.

Tracks 1, 3, and 4 appeared on the -ING cassette album "Stays Crunchy To The Bottom Of The Brain," released by Taped Rugs Productions in 1999.

Tracks 5-9 were all recorded in Berkeley, California, in 1981 and showcase an aggressive use of repetition and tape manipulation, exhibiting the beginning stages of –ING developing its own unique style. These recordings have never appeared on a Taped Rugs cassette nor CDR.

Track 10 was recorded in Oakland, California in 1981 and features a long minimalist electronic guitar tape loop duet. It also has never appeared on a Taped Rugs cassette nor CDR.



Copyright 1980, 1981, 1998

by Taped Rugs Productions

www.geocities.com/padukem





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