A Blast from the Past: "Mountain Music"

It's been described as a warning against too much technology too fast, but I think it can also be interpreted as "where much of modern music went wrong".



source: Classic Will Vinton- Mountian Music

It's not that electronics in music is bad. But how you use it, makes all the difference. If you use technology to increase volume and sound power and generate a lot of inharmonious noise, it ceases to be music, in my opinion. And inharmonious noise CAN be destructive.

I remember seeing this movie by Will Vinton in my film studies class. It made a lasting impression. I even attempted clay animation at school. I sometimes wish I had pursued it further, but the fact is it takes a lot of patience. At least it did in those days, animation was not computerized, and everything had to be done by hand. And claymation was still a very new artform.

Will Vinton, an Oregon native, went on to do a lot of interesting things. He persevered with clay animation when most people were dismissing it as too unwieldy and difficult to work with. He created the term "claymation", and was very active in refining and developing it as an artform. Most people would recognize his work in TV commercials for California Raisins, and M&M's.

Also see:

Wikipedia: Will Vinton

WILL POWER: INTERVIEW WITH CLAYMATION PIONEER WILL VINTON

     

To Les Paul: "Thank You for the Music"

Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, died on Thursday. He was 94.

According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side.

He had been hospitalized in February 2006 when he learned he won two Grammys for an album he released after his 90th birthday, "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played."

"I feel like a condemned building with a new flagpole on it," he joked.

As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the "tracks" in the finished recording.

With Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records and 11 No. 1 pop hits, including "Vaya Con Dios," "How High the Moon," "Nola" and "Lover." Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul the inventor had helped develop. [...]

Read the rest for a brief synopsis of his career. Last year, one of our tenants gave us a cassette collection of the Guitar Music of Les Paul, accompanied by his wife Mary Ford. It really brought back some memories, and demonstrated how advanced his techniques were in their time. Many musicians have indeed built on his work since then.

He was quite a cheerful and clever fellow, he'll be missed by his many fans.

Visit these links for more information about the man and his music:

Guitar, studio wizard Les Paul dies at 94

NYT's Obituary for Les Paul

Wikipedia: Les Paul

Les Paul Online