[Harp-L] Re: Another Dylan Harp Question

["Jonathan Metts" <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dylan's harp on "Every Grain of Sand" is very likely amplified with what I 
call "smooth distortion".  It's when you set the amp distortion to make your 
playing sound very clean, yet not the same as acoustic.  I'm not a gearhead 
at all, so maybe someone else can improve this description.  It also helps 
that Dylan plays almost all clean single notes on this performance, which 
makes it stand out from his usual harp playing.

By the way, "Every Grain of Sand" is the BEST Dylan harp recording and is a 
strikingly beautiful song in every way.  The harp solos are magnificent. 
Unfortunately, it's an obscure song, but well worth the effort to find.

Dylan has played amplified harp on other recordings, mostly during the 80s. 
He uses an echo or delay effect on "Man in the Long Black Coat" and "What 
Was It You Wanted?", both from the Oh, Mercy album.  The latter is played in 
fourth position for a very ghostly sound.

Jonathan Metts