Live Looping Performance
Global grooves, ritual energy, creation in real time
I am Arystan – live looper, DJ and multi-instrumentalist. In the late 1990s I began with vinyl DJing and first beat productions, later studied jazz trumpet. After formative years in Madrid, I now live and work mainly between Umbria and eastern Germany. Field research into the ritual music of the Gnawa in Morocco – and my ongoing research into ritual space – sharpened my sense of how repetition, pulse and collective focus can turn a room into a shared living pulse.
In today's performance culture, flawless execution is often valued more highly than responsiveness – leaving less and less room for the unexpected. I cultivate the opposite: a practice of listening and responding in real time, where improvisation is one factor among others – alongside groove, structure, timing and shared attention in the room.
Live Looping
At the centre of every performance is the human voice – extended through trumpet, ngoni, flutes, percussion and electronics, and guided through a loop machine into multilayered, breathing soundscapes. Each layer is recorded, transformed and released again in real time. Nothing is pre-programmed; the music emerges on site, from silence to full arrangement.
The loop station becomes an instrument in its own right – not just a tool for layering sounds, but a compositional partner that shapes structure, tension and release. Loops decay, mutate and interrupt one another. The result is music that feels both composed and alive: repetitive enough to invite trance, unpredictable enough to stay present.
For the audience, this means witnessing the creation of a piece of music – from the first breath through the full groove to the gradual dissolution. The process has a transparency that invites attention and an immediacy that studio recordings rarely offer.
What I Offer
Live Looping Performance ↗
A fully live, polyinstrumental performance. Voice, instruments and electronics are layered and transformed throughout the set – driving beats, global patterns and meditative phases.
45–90 minDJ Set ↗
Long dance journeys through global sounds – Afro, Latin, Balkan, dub, jazz and funk. Fluid transitions, patient build-up and attentive reading of the room.
60 min – all nightHybrid Performance ↗
A seamless flow between DJ set and live looping. The DJ set moves into a live performance with voice, trumpet and loops, then returns to the groove without interruption.
90 min – 3 hoursExtended Dance Journey
A longer, continuous musical space for ecstatic dance and conscious movement. Slow build-up, energetic peaks and an integrating close. Optional guided warm-up for breath and body.
2–3 hoursSee & Hear
Hybrid Performance bei Porto di Terra (IT)
Portrait – approach & live moments
Extended Movement – building tension & sustained drive
Club-Reel – Live-Looping-Workflow
Ballo Strade
About instruments and sound layers → Instruments & Sounds
Experience
Clubs, basement parties, exhibition openings, theatre premieres and festivals in Europe, West Africa and the Caribbean. I prefer intimate situations in which the performer remains present and responsive – part of the room, not separate from it.
My ongoing practice-based research into ritual space and altered states of consciousness shapes my understanding of music as transformative practice – not in an esoteric sense, but a functional one: rhythm, repetition and collective presence can shift something in a room.
Tech & Downloads
Technical Setup
- Live Loop: stereo output (L/R) + optional vocal microphone
- DJ-Set: standard booth setup (CDJs or laptop)
- Hybrid: DJ setup + one stereo channel for the live system
- Goal: fast changeovers, clean signal flow
Festivals & Venues
New Fire Festival (Trinidad & Tobago) · Operndorf (Burkina Faso) · What is Music Festival (ES) · Folk'n'Fusion (DE) · Dissidance Festival (IT) · Porto di Terra (IT) · Badehaus Berlin · Scheune Dresden · Staatsschauspiel Dresden · and others in Europe
Get in Touch
Live set · DJ · Hybrid · Extended Journey – tell me about your event.
Send a message„Resonance = listening × responding × availability beyond control“