[78-L] How well did they do it.

[Bill McClung]

A question I have pondered for awhile is, "Why don't I have an 'ear' for
many 78s recorded before 19XX?"  I love my postwar 78s and many "modern"
sounding prewar 78s but oftentimes when my fellow 78Lers are debating the
relative glories of Vaughn de Leath or What is Sweet I am lost because the
music being debated doesn't excite me and I haven't explored it.

This is in no way a value judgement or a question of what is "good" or
"valuable".   I'm not really asking about genres.  I'm asking about sound.
And the components of one's personal "ear". 

Is it pre-electric guitar versus post-electric guitar?  Is it sweet band
versus swing versus bebop?   Again, not genres but sound.

Is it what one heard growing up?  Is it the music a person first claimed as
one's own?  Is it historical as in the knowledge that one's favorite band
leader was once a sideman in an earlier band or that someone was a mentor
or influence?  Is it because you are a musician?

I love Emmitt Miller and Annie Ross, Gid Tanner and Merle Travis, early
Louis and late Louis. Harlem Hamfats and the Treniers.  Blind Blake and
Mickey Baker. Some Ethel Waters and most Muddy Waters.

But there is a huge range of music that just hasn't touched me yet.  I can
approach it academically but not emotionally.  My "ear" just doesn't
respond.

Has the march of time changed what you like or what excites you musically? 
Is there a time or a sound that just doesn't work for you?  How many eras
are there in 78s history and which ones have you embraced?

I'll hang up and listen.



> [Original Message]
> From: warren moorman <wlmoorman3 at yahoo.com>
> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Date: 4/29/2009 4:57:53 PM
> Subject: Re: [78-L] How well did they do it.
>
>
> This is certainly an issue for listeners, but let me mention a similar
thing from the other direction. Psychologists have suggested that for some
longtime performers, part of the reinforcing lure of a performing life is
that the actual sound of applause (or for comics, laughter) is literally
the same over time, and thus offers the illusion of having suspended the
march of time. 
>
> Warren
>
>
> --- On Wed, 4/29/09, soundthink at aol.com <soundthink at aol.com> wrote:
>
> > From: soundthink at aol.com <soundthink at aol.com>
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] How well did they do it.
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 2:45 PM
> > When I was in New York recently, I saw Vince Giordano &
> > his Nighthawks perform at Club Cache. The musicians are all
> > seasoned studio performers,?most play on period instruments,
> > and the group uses original charts - for me, that's as
> > close as I will get to hearing what a '20s jazz/dance
> > band might have sounded like.
> > 
> > Cary Ginell
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: DAVID BURNHAM <burnhamd at rogers.com>
> > To: 78-L at 78online.com
> > Sent: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 2:42 pm
> > Subject: [78-L] How well did they do it.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > ?I've been thinking about exactly how accurately
> > recordings were able to capture 
> > the sounds of the 20s, over 80 years ago.?? It's almost
> > impossible to compare a 
> > recording with the original sound.? Any singers which were
> > around then who might 
> > still be here certainly don't have the same voice.?
> > Orchestras develop over the 
> > years and don't sound like they did 80 years ago.? I
> > don't think any concert 
> > hall or recording studio has remained unchanged for that
> > time.? Even if we could 
> > find instruments which were used on recordings then, the
> > artists are all gone 
> > and the instruments also change with time.? One may find a
> > pipe organ that 
> > hasn't been modified in 80 years but I can't think
> > of one which was recorded 
> > back then which might still sound the same - Temple church
> > was bombed in WWII, 
> > Royal Albert Hall's organ and acoustics have changed
> > drastically since then.? I 
> > don't know if Mark Andrews', Jesse
> > Crawford's?or Lew White's organs are still 
> > around.?
> >  Choruses and choirs, of course are constantly changing.?
> > 
> > What brought this thought to mind was that I was listening
> > to records the other 
> > day recorded in 1927 which, I believe, are unique in that
> > they are probably a 
> > few of the only recordings which can be compared today the
> > their original 
> > source.? Those are the 5 Victor sides which are?recordings
> > of the Carillon, (to 
> > avoid the word "Biels),?at the Victory Tower, Ottawa,
> > (now the Peace Tower).? 
> > I've heard that Carillon many times and it's
> > interesting to compare the 
> > recordings to the sound of the Carillon.
> > 
> > db
> > 
> > P.S. as soon as I finished this letter I imagined some
> > mention of Herbert Von 
> > Carillon, so I'm glad I got that out of the way
> > _______________________________________________
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> > 
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