If you've been holding your breath for a new post for the last 6 months or so, my apologies. I have to say it's no coincidence that this post is appearing one day after regular season City League Basketball ended.
I came across this stellar interview with Nels Cline that covers many aspects of his approach:
In other news from my personal realm of music, I bought an Akai XR-20 drum machine to use in my new project with Rebecca Brown called the Young Architects. It has been so helpful for writing, practicing, and for generally providing a lot more sounds than two people can make at one time! If you don't spring for a drum machine at least use a metronome for practice because playing the right notes are only half the battle at best...it's all about the feel baby!
Getting down to the minute details, I tried the D'Addario half-round strings for the first time. I had previously wavered from regular .11 round-wounds to .11 flat-wounds on my Jazzmaster. The flat-wounds definitely have a jazzier, darker sound that helps make the Jazzmaster my anti-Strat on occasion. When I gigged with the Kentucky Shoes often last year, I was using the round-wounds for a brighter sound and easier bending. So far, both types of strings have been well-suited for slide playing. I am hoping the half-rounds (or half-flat depending on your perspective) will be a happy middle ground. I really dig the tone I get from them, but the store only had .12s at the time of purchase. I have used .12s before but my Jazzmaster has relatively high action so this week I felt like a crying newbie with sore fingers and wrists after a couple hours of playing! Don't let this deter you from trying these strings though; if you are looking for something different, or want a warmer sound without venturing all the way into flat-wound territory these puppies are a good place to start. I like to keep my action fairly high for clarity and for slide use so I am thinking some .11 half-rounds will be my new choice pack-o-strings.
I'll leave you with a parting video of a nice jazz lick to work on til next time:
