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Is Greg Kot pulling my leg?


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OK, so I was reading "Learning How to Die" a couple weeks back, and naturally, I was very enlightened by Chapter 15, but this part blew my mind:

 

For "Radio Cure," Kotche created a steady pulse beat on a Turkish hand drum and then a faster temp on a brush-stroked snare, which were then run through a gauntlet of effects until they morphed into into what sounds like a keyboard or treated guitar.

 

At first I thought, "No way."

 

Now here I am listening to it tonight, over and over again. I'd imagine that Kot is talking about the intro, where you have the clearly audible thumping and the piano. But the guitar part is, no question, a guitar. There's no way you could get a snare drum to sound like that... Is there? I know that effects and processors can do amazing things - I go to a college that has a $2 million studio for a class room, and it's loaded with things that can do amazing things - one particular gizmo is able to take, say, the recorded signal of an acoustic guitar and give it the effect that the musician was playing electric the whole time, with the specific amp sound of your choosing. But no way that that's a snare.

 

Or am I just misreading Kot because it's late and I'm tired?

 

Or... Does Kot has no idea what he's talking about? I understand that sounds can be hard to explain, but really!

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I don't think it's the intro. I think the rapid snare thing is scattered throughout in the background. Listen from about 3:35 to 3:55 (for example) -- I think that's probably what he's referring to. It's elsewhere too -- runs through the whole song, in and out.

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I don't think it's the intro. I think the rapid snare thing is scattered throughout in the background. Listen from about 3:35 to 3:55 (for example) -- I think that's probably what he's referring to. It's elsewhere too -- runs through the whole song, in and out.

 

Now that's it not 2 in the morning... I see what you mean now. I also don't see how he can think those brush strokes could be mistaken for a processed guitar. It's pretty clearly a snare being brushed.

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yeah and if you ever get the chance to see him work live, solo, you may see how kotche could do this stuff that you're reading.

 

pretty talented. it made me look at the drumset in a new light when i saw him at work in nashville a few nights ago...

 

i'm not sure, but i think he even used live crickets... there was something that sounded like crickets in many little black boxes that he put a mic over and used them as percussion.

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yeah and if you ever get the chance to see him work live, solo, you may see how kotche could do this stuff that you're reading.

 

pretty talented. it made me look at the drumset in a new light when i saw him at work in nashville a few nights ago...

 

i'm not sure, but i think he even used live crickets... there was something that sounded like crickets in many little black boxes that he put a mic over and used them as percussion.

 

It wasn't some of these, was it? The one in the picture is orange, but they come in black, too...

 

BuddhaMachine.jpg

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i'm not sure, but i think he even used live crickets... there was something that sounded like crickets in many little black boxes that he put a mic over and used them as percussion.

Not real crickets..I don't think they would travel that well. No, I believe they are mechanical ones, in little Chinese boxes.

 

LouieB

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Apparently there is some sort of improv show Glenn is playing at the Hideout in a few weeks. Also a gig in Elmhurst.

 

LouieB

 

 

sweet

 

thanks for the info Lou.

 

off topic: glad to hear that you're digging the Hellwood album.

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It'd be way more interesting if he knew what was actually doing rather than just saying "running them through a gauntlet of effects"... I mean maybe Glenn wouldn't tell, but it wouldn't hurt to have a bit or detail - not that a want to copy or anything! But if you're writing a book about a band, the more interesting detail the better, rather than vague kinda clich

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At the solo Tweedy show in Grand Rapids last year, Glenn told us his little "cricket" boxes were running down on batteries, and that he gets them in Chinatown (Chicago, I presume).

 

He added, "They're not real -- that would be cruel!" :blush

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Apparently there is some sort of improv show Glenn is playing at the Hideout in a few weeks. Also a gig in Elmhurst.

 

LouieB

 

God bless you that is 20 minutes away from where I live. I just Google it and I believe he is playing at Elmhurst College on March 7, 2007. I believe he is a guest musician with the school's percussion assemble.

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It'd be way more interesting if he knew what was actually doing rather than just saying "running them through a gauntlet of effects"... I mean maybe Glenn wouldn't tell, but it wouldn't hurt to have a bit or detail - not that a want to copy or anything! But if you're writing a book about a band, the more interesting detail the better, rather than vague kinda clich
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