At our BLU FM s./songwriter comp final last night (the reason I couldn't be in Sydney to see Howe's Factory show... grrrr) someone pulled out a nice 12-string.
Which got me wondering... has K ever played / recorded with a 12-string? Not that I'm trying to hassle her into doing so, but it did occur to me that some of her songs would sound interesting played on one. Say, Vitamins V, e.g.?
curiously enough, i listened to "pale" yesterday and wondered if it was played with a 12-string guitar
Of course, it must be said that Kristin has a way of playing a Collings 6-string guitar that makes it *sound* like a twelve-string...
@BlankFrank: Kristin has played 12-strings from time to time (in fact, Torque is played on a 12-string electric) but the acoustic 12-string has been less than necessary in her recording life because of a nifty lil' thing called "multitrack recording with a Nashville strung guitar." That's an acoustic that is strung with only the unwound strings from 12-string set. It makes an awesome overdub and is well-used by Miss K.
Pale is a good example of this, but so is almost any of her acoustic studio tracks with a particularly chiming acoustic tone. She prefers that Nashville treatment because it's so un-balanced. Whereas many would choose a 12-string precisely because it's smooth and balanced and shimmery -- it can seem kinda "twee" for K's sensibilities.
Hmmm... thanks, Billy.... very interesting. Truly K is as masterful a user of studios as she is an instrumentalist & arranger.
Actually, as it happens, I'd been thinking about overdubs in this 12-string context... wondering what would happen if you overdubbed the same (or slightly altered) guitar at a very small delay, effectively creating a "12-sting effect". But it sounds like she's had this one sussed long since.
One track that has a "12-string sound" to it (to me) is 'Jesus Christ' from The Holy Single.
Instead of "has a way of playing a 6-string", I should have said "has a way of recording".
Instead of "has a way of playing a 6-string", I should have said "has a way of recording".
Well, no, I think that's accurate too. Sometimes when we're recording 10-4s, I could swear there were 2 guitars playing...but of course, it's only the one little woman.
On 'Teeth', (the bass string + up the top of the frets part) I've used to think she made her left hand go in two different directions.
'course, I realized that if you overdub at a slight delay, all you get is echo. That's how the old echo boxes used to work, no?
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