Wax Cylinders at the Earth Science Museum

Alden Olmsted, John’s son, stopped by just in time to see us standing over one of the record players from the 1930′s listening to “Poor John” by Ada Jones on 180 gram (see video on the “news” page). He may have mentioned that John had a self-proclaimed recorded sound obsession. Alden also shared a great story about John harvesting cacti needles on a camping trip in the desert so they could listen to a portable record player. “The needles only lasted one or two songs, but they worked, and he had collected hundreds of them.” It seems to me there wasn’t anything about recorded sound John didn’t collect.

This is an exceprt from a really great blog post that curator Amanda Mayo, of the Earth Planet Museum, wrote on the fascinating collection of John Olmstead. She also posted a fantastic video of an early wax cylinder from the days of Edison:

Posted by Dave Wirth
 

A silly little thought about the death of classical music.

Here are some basic things a person needs to write and record pop music:

1. Instrument
2. Microphone
3. Recording Medium
4. Speakers/Headphones
5. Inspiration

Here are some basic things a person needs to write and record classical music:

1. Ensemble or solo instrument.
    a. If you know how to play classical music on it already, consider how much money it took to get lessons, education, etc.
    b. Or you can rent the instrumentalist(s)
2. Room Rental (especially in the case of the ensemble)
3. Microphone
4. Recording Medium
5. Speakers/Headphones
6. Inspiration

Ok, so I remember people in music school bitching and moaning about how classical music was dying. What do they expect? Their tools have not been democrasized, as pop music's tools are. It's easy for some kid to go to a friend's house, plug a microphone into a computer, and record something. It's just as easy to post it on the web, because they created it. No copyright problems. Do you want to save classical music? Democratize all the tools that a person needs in order to write it and/or record it, and you'll save it.

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Much sincere appreciation to Chris Anderson and his brilliant book entitled The Long Tail. This entire post is based on his insightful observations.

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Posted by Dave Wirth
 

Don't Be Vanilla. Please Don't Be Vanilla.

I remember reading a quote about six years ago from a major label executive:

"Did you know that vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor? It sells more than any other variety. What I do as a major label rep is find the very best vanilla."

I hope you don't feel the same way. I consider vanilla to be pretty boring.

What's the alternative? Well, maybe first admitting that being different is scary. Maybe also admitting that being different may also bring the most rewards eventually. Nobody can say so for sure, but nobody will say that being different is boring.

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Posted by Dave Wirth