Well, I hadn't looked into the possibility of there actually being a
Lost Lagoon in Vancouver, but that certainly makes sense! Also, as
you may or may not know, the full title of the piece is "Lost Lagoon
Suite, Vancouver, Canada", with the commentary going on to state:

"Theoretically a four movement symphony for the 12 string.

Walking in the forest
Prelude
Blue Wolf
Sky Medicine
Finale
Walking out of the forest."

My scans of the front and rear of the Falconer's Arm I LP (and
others) are still available on the Wikipedia page.

So, our man must have visited there at some point and been deeply
impressed by the place. I have a feeling the notes to Seal of the
Blue Lotus mention briefly his early travels to Canada. Perhaps he
visited it then. Those notes are now available here in the files
section.

Just a thought: how close are you to this place? It would be really
great if you could get some photos for us to put on here, just for
fun of course. As I say though, just a thought... !

About learning the piece. That big sitar-like sound is, of course,
the appeal of the 12-string over the 6-string, and indeed they are
two very different beasts. Basho's compositions for each instrument
are very different. I find that with 12-string pieces, he tends to
dwell on tone colour and harmonics to a greater degree than his work
for 6-string, which can be more nuanced in a straightforward melodic
sense. That's just a big fat generalisation of course.

Then again, if you're anything like me, you don't own a 12-string.
Personally I find this lack prohibitive when it comes to learning
those pieces. Even the project of figuring out tunings for the 12-
string pieces seemed unnecessarily complicated on a 6-string. (Mainly
because of the obvious fact that the higher octave string on the 3rd
string is often pitched higher than the 1st and 2nd strings, which
are just straight unison couplings, without the extra string being
tuned an octave higher, as is the case with the remaining 4 strings.)
Anyway, that experience definitely put me off bothering with 12-
string pieces.

Nevertheless, as long as you've got the tuning (DADFAD isn't it?)
down, and are at the correct pitch, you should be able make some
progress, as I'm sure you have already. As far as achieving a better
tone goes though, I have no help to give. Being a left-hander (and
poo!), and thus having less chance to try out other guitars, my
knowledge of guitar tone, material, customisation etc. is sadly
nonexistent. Having said that, you could experiment with a kind
of `sawari' effect by placing something to buzz the strings near the
bridge, sitar style. Other than that, just get some fat picks, some
relatively heavy strings, and go for it!


--- In robbiebasho_forum@yahoogroups.com, "dropsonde2"
<dropsonde2@...> wrote:
>
> --- In robbiebasho_forum@yahoogroups.com, "Robbie Dawson"
> <robbie.dawson@> wrote:
> >
> > Dear All,
> >
> > I've just uploaded a recently finished transcription of Babs to
the
> > files section. The format is pretty much the same as the Golden
> > Shamrock effort that went up in January (and which is still to be
> > completed). It's in pencil, with fairly strict spacing to
indicate the
> > beat and offbeat. I have also added bar lines which are useful at
> > times, maybe not so at others. There is also the odd symbol that
may
> > need explanation:
> >
> > a forward slash for a slide up, and a backward slash for a slide
down.
> > A slash on the beat (i.e. on the beat line) to indicate a slide
> > executed on the beat, and a slash before the beat line to
indicate a
> > less emphasised or off-beat slide. A 'T' here and there is used to
> > suggest the use of the thumb where it may not be obvious. And
perhaps
> > the most ambiguous/frustrating/important of all- the brackets.
These
> > variously indicate a quiet, secondary, or accidentally struck
note,
> > or, most crucially, a note that follows a slide (for example) and
> > which is not struck. Normal slides/slashes don't indicate a struck
> > note either of course, but when a slide is delayed or otherwise I
have
> > found it useful to emphasise the fact that the the newly arrived
at
> > note is definitely not struck. Lastly, bracketed notes may even be
> > included if the note is very faint, but nevertheless shed
important
> > light on the wider chord shape.
> >
> > The piece is constructed largely out of different barre chords-
using
> > from just the two top strings (i.e. 1 and 2) to a whole barre. The
> > extent of the barre should be apparent from the notes (or numbers)
> > present in the tab itself- I have not indicated it elsewhere.
> >
> > I welcome any and all comments and criticisms on the
transcription,
> > and invite everyone to have a go at playing, if so inclined. I'm
going
> > to keep on practicing Babs and hope to get some kind of rough
> > recording up here at some point, just for fun of course!
> >
> > All of my pencil transcriptions are drafts of varying roughness. I
> > ultimately hope to find a decent computer programme to make them
look
> > a bit smarter (any suggestions?), but for the time being I find
the
> > pencil/jpeg approach the easiest.
> >
> > After finishing The Golden Shamrock I'll hopefully be starting on
> > another, but can't quite decide which one- any suggestions or
> > requests? Bearing in mind that I don't yet own a 12-string and I'm
> > still having trouble with his wild tremolo technique- which kind
of
> > narrows down the choice!
> >
> >
> > Best wishes to all,
> >
> > Robbie
> >
> I have been trying to decipher Lost Lagoon Suite but it's a tough
one.
> It is pretty hard to get the same sitar-esque sound with a 6 string.
> Any tips for a new Basho lover?
>
> ps. does the title of the piece have anything to do with the Lost
> Lagoon here in Vancouver?
>